Bank of America serving 1 million online cash back deals weekly

Just weeks after launching a new online cash-back deal program, Bank of America is already serving 1 million deals per week, online and mobile banking executive Aditya Bhasin said Friday.

Called BankAmeriDeals, the program allows debit and credit card customers to pick from a list of deals at retailers based on the customer's purchasing history. Once activated, the customer goes to the store and makes a purchase. A portion of the purchase will later be added back to the checking or credit card account.

The program was tested early this year by employees, and was rolled out to customers in North and South Carolina in early May. Last week, it became available to customers in Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington D.C. -- with a target of being nationwide by the end of the year.

Both local and national retailers are signing up for the program, Bhasin said, drawn by the size of the audience Bank of America has -- more than 30 million online banking customers.

"We can target offers at scale really for the first time in this industry," he said.

In Charlotte, retailers using BankAmeriDeals include Dandelion Market and Dean’s Shoe Repair. National retailers participating include Aeropostale, The Body Shop, FedEx Office, Redbox and AutoZone. Atlanta-based Cardlytics has a sales force signing up retailers, and Bank of America's growing cadre of small business bankers is selling the program as well.

Bhasin said the bank has served about 16 million deals so far. The bank is now working on getting the program ready for its mobile platform.