Let Your Bank Help You Save Money
Whatever financial institution you use for your savings accounts, chances are they offer some kind of special program to help you build your savings.
Most of the big retail banks have competing programs designed to help you grow your savings with them.
- Wells Fargo has the “Way2Save” program, which features automated monthly transfers to your savings account and a small transfer to savings with every transaction you make. They also offer competitive interest rates and lower fees for these special accounts.
- USBank offers the S.T.A.R.T. (Savings Today And Rewards Tomorrow) savings account program, which allows you to have funds transferred to savings automatically either on a particular day of the month, or each time you use a USBank check card or credit card to make a purchase.
- Bank of America offers the “Keep the Change” savings program, which rounds up all of your transactions to the nearest dollar and puts the extra change into savings.
- These plans, and other programs like them offered by local credit unions and banks, often come with some sort of annual reward or savings match if you keep your new savings account intact for a set period of time (usually a year).
We’re not recommending these particular banks; we’re just providing examples of some of the savings products that are out there that you might want to take advantage of. Check with the bank or credit union you already use and ask them what kinds of special savings plans they offer. They may have some other options for you, like Christmas Club accounts or other goal-oriented targeted savings plans, like education, health or homeownership savings accounts.
America Saves Week isn’t over yet, so take this opportunity to pledge to save, then head down to you local bank or credit union and talk to them about any special savings programs they might offer.
Photo: Taxbrackets.org via Flickr CC
