Bank of America's Add It Up program gives free cash for shopping online

The past week you might have overheard an advertisement or two about Bank of America's new Add It Up program. Basically if you have a Bank of America debit or credit card, you can earn free money just by shopping online from more than 270 stores -- most of them big brand-name merchants. You can earn up to 20 percent back on your purchase, depending on the site you are shopping from.

To make sure you get the cash back, you have to visit the stores by first logging into the Add It Up website and following the link for the store you want to shop at. (Don't close your browser in between, or you'll have to start over to earn the cash back.)

And there are a ton of really good stores: Target, Banana Republic, Urban Outfitters, Victoria's Secret, Gap, Overstock.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Toys 'R' Us, The Apple Store, Dell, TigerDirect, OfficeMax, Best Buy, Nike, Expedia, Priceline, Holiday Inn, Marriott.... the list just keeps going! You can even get cash back from Match.com (wouldn't guess that one).

David Owen, Bank of America's senior vice president of checking and debit products, said in a phone interview that the bank is launching a very aggressive campaign to get the word out about the program. Other financial companies offer similar things, like ways to earn points, but this program is cash back on either debit or credit cards.  "We step back and say cash is king right now," he said.

The online stores for Wal-Mart, Sears, Staples, Target and Home Depot will double the amount you get back from now until July 12th.

On around the 25th of every month, the savings that have accumulated will be paid to your account. And you can combine Bank of America's other programs with this -- like the Keep The Change program, which rounds your purchase to the next dollar and puts the extra change in your savings. The cash back will be applied to the rounded up amount, so badda-bing, even more savings.

I usually don't shop online. Since I have such a great mall and many big box stores within 10 minutes from my house, I rather shop in person to browse and touch what I'm going to buy and avoid the hassle of shipping. But perhaps in some cases it would be much more worth it to shop online to get the cash back, especially if it is for a big-ticket item.

What about you? Would you go online to shop instead of driving to the store if it meant getting 20 percent cash back?

Comments

[Ashley]

I'm using the "Add It Up" program for some of my house purchases. Example - the dining room set and patio set I want at Walmart have free shipping with site to store. Target has been giving out free shipping and 15% off on purchases over $125, which is perfect for the two cabinets I need. And my kitchen island? From Amazon. The plan is to charge each item and pay off my card, charge the next, pay off card, that way I get the savings without the interest. :)

[Bridget Carey]

Ashley - Sounds like you found the perfect way to take advantage of it! I forgot that Wal-Mart lets you pick up online orders in the store. It wouldn't be much of a deal if you had to pay for shipping on those big items.

[Leafgreen]

Hi Bridget,
Thank you for the info!!! It made me aware of a way to save money that didn't know about before.

However, the big problem with Add It Up is that you must become a Bank of America customer. As a former customer, I really dislike them for many reasons, and I won't join them again to get access to this program.

So I went searching for similar programs. I found several, signed up for them, and sorta tested them out. This one came out the winner: http://PaymentKey.com. I am very pleased. They have paid me everything promised. And they have ways to make money, not just get rebates for spending money.

Perhaps you could do a review of it next.

Best,
Leafgreen