Bank of America new promotion states, “Now that you’ve moved to a new neighborhood, maybe it’s time to move to a new bank.”  Hence the picture above with the woman moving boxes. 

Bank of America is offering $100 to open a new checking account.  That’s not bad! This offer is only available to new customers who open a qualifying personal checking account with a minimum balance of $500.  That’s an immediate 20% return in you deposit the minimum $500.  

Additionally, the new checking account must be open for at least 30 days and you must make a minimum of one transaction with the newly assigned check card.  That’s easy enough!  

To open a new checking account, apply online or go to a banking center and reference offer code AOU261009.

A Bank of America checking account offers you:

• Free MyAccess Checking with no monthly maintenance fee when opened online. Special online only offer
• Banking near home, work or school with over 6,100 banking centers
• Access to your money at over 18,000 ATMs
• Check balances, pay bills, and transfer funds with Online and Mobile Banking
• Effortless savings with Keep the Change

For more information visit BankofAmerica.com.

Keith Olbermann of MSNBC has been tirelessly supporting the public health insurance option and tonight’s show is bound to be powerful. Keith Olbermann has a goal of getting 50,000 people to take his pledge to watch his hour-long Special Comment on health care reform this Wednesday and to tell 5 of my friends to take this pledge.” Click here to take the Olbermann Pledge.

See the interesting video below of Keith Olbermann stance on the healthcare debate.

Related Articles:

• What is the Public Option Per Healthcare Reform?
• Why Aren’t Americans Mad About their Healthcare System?
• It’s Time to Fix the American Healthcare Crisis

Royal Banks of Missouri is offering 4.30% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) earned on daily collected balances up to $24,999.  Of course there is a catch.

You will have to complete 10 Point of Sale Debit Card Transactions, 1 Direct Deposit and/or ACH Debit/Credit and receive your statements via e-mail each statement cycle.  There is a $100.00 minimum to open an account; however, there is no minimum balance once opened and no monthly service fee.

If you meet the stated requirements each statement cycle, you will be refunded up to $25.00 in Foreign ATM service charges at the end of the current statement cycle.  If you fail to meet the above requirements, all Foreign ATM fees incurred will not be refunded.

The 4.30% APY will be paid on balances up to $24,999.  For balances over $25,000, a rate of 1.40% APY will be applied to the portion of the balance that exceeds $25,000.  In addition, if you fail to meet the above requirements, the interest rate will drop to .15% APY for the current statement cycle.

For more information visit RoyalBanksofMO.com.

Did you know your employer could take out a life insurance policy on you without you knowledge or consent?  The practice is called “Dead Peasant Insurance” where secret life insurance policies are taken out for low-level employees with the benefits paid to the company upon the employee’s death, regardless if they still work for the company.  The practice was highlighted in Michael Moore’s recent movie, “Capitalism, A Love Story”.  The video below is a report from ABC News regarding this practice.

Video: ABC News on “Dead Peasant Insurance”

Below is a very interesting interview by 60 Minutes with Marc Dreier who ran a $400 million Ponzi scheme.  Mr. Dreier was a respected, Yale and Harvard educated lawyer who ran a big Park Avenue law firm.  He was initially arrested in Toronto for impersonating an officer in a pension fund to get a loan from a hedge fund when his scheme began to unravel. 

Mr. Dreier is currently doing 20 years in prison.  It’s amazing that he could get away with his scheme for so long and that people were willing to lend him hundreds of millions of dollars without ensuring he was legit and capable of paying the money back.

Video: Marc Dreier’s $400M Ponzi Scheme

Related Articles:

• Millennium Bank $68 Mill Ponzi Scheme Uncovered
• The Madoff Affair by Frontline

Google has a neat service called Google Alerts which alerts you by e-mail when information is posted on the Internet with search terms you want to track, like your name. You can also monitor news stories, companies, competitors, celebrities, events, sport teams, etc.

To create a Google Alert you enter your search terms, the type of web sites you want to track (news, blog, web, comprehensive, and video, group), how often you want an alert e-mailed to you (as it happens, once per day, once per week) and your e-mail address to deliver the alert.

Below are screen shots of Google Alerts setup screen and a sample email.

Google Alerts Setup Screen Shot

Google Alerts Email Screen Shot

For more information and to setup Google Alerts visit google.com/alerts.

When I first saw the video below I was blown away.  Technology is advancing so rapidly it’s absolutely amazing.  The video below highlights Microsoft’s Project Natal, a revolutionary new way to play video games for the Xbox 360 with no controller.  

Project Natal is the future of playing video games, which is similar to the existing Nintendo Wii but way more advanced and requires no controller.  You will be able to play games where you can kick, hit, catch or trap things with voice recognition and even scan objects into the game.  This may definitely be a Nintendo Wii killer app.

Before Natal is launched, Microsoft announced it would add ways for players to connect with Facebook, Twitter and other social networks via the Xbox this fall. Way to go Microsoft!

Video: Project Natal Xbox 360

Microsoft has not announced any release date or price, however, development kits have been sent to partnering studios.  So it seems Project Natal is still a work in process. For more information about Project Natal visit xbox.com/projectnatal.