Many people want to save more money but either lack the discipline or the time to set up a savings account. There are still others who have the discipline and time but think they have no available money to put toward savings. In reality with the exception of people facing a severe financial hardship, everyone should be able to cut costs and find money to save in their current budget.

Wachovia is offering a way for these consumers to save money with little to no effort on their part. The Way2Save program offers an excellent way to jump start your savings or put something aside for a specific goal such as holiday gifts or next years vacation fund. While there are some limitations (you won’t fund your retirement with this program) you can certainly benefit by saving money for short term goals. Here is how it works.

In order to participate in the Wachovia Way2Save program you must first have a Wachovia checking account. Wachovia offers a free checking account so this should not be an obstacle for persons not able to meet minimum fund requirements for other checking accounts. In fact you may be eligible for a sign on bonus by opening your free checking account through Wachovia. Once you have your free checking account opened you can then sign up for the Way2Save program. From there you can save money in two ways. 

• Each time you use your Wachovia check card for purchases they will automatically transfer $1 into your Way2Save account. This also happens each time you use your check card to pay a bill online or set up automatic debits.

• To really build your savings quickly you can also request an automatic transfer from your checking account up to $100 each month.

While it might not seem like a lot of money you will be surprised how quickly it can add up. In addition to painless and effortless savings, you will also benefit from a 5% bonus (up to $300) on your savings at the end of the year as well as 5% Annual Percentage Yield. It is important to note that after the first year the bonus as well as APY drops to 2%.

This program is ideal for people just opening checking and savings accounts. You not only receive a sign on bonus for a free checking account, but you begin to build your savings without even thinking about it. At the end of the first year you may want to withdraw or transfer your savings to a higher interest rate account. Until that point you can take advantage of a great bonus and APY without changing your current banking practices.

Tags: savings account, wachovia way2save

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 8:16 pm and is filed under reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.