Reuters reports that Bank of America rolled out its new Groupon-like service Wednesday that allows consumers to receive deals from retailers based on their prior spending.

Customers will receive offers through the bank’s Web site and be awarded through cash payments once a month. Customers won’t need to sign up for anything like they would with Groupon.

The new service, cleverly titled BankAmeriDeals, is looking to restore revenue lost from new regulations that lower the amount of money they receive from debit card swipes. Their previous attempt to make money through monthly debit card fees was met with massive backlash that forced the bank to drop it.

Bank of America, however, isn’t using its new deals service to make money, but rather “deepen relationships with existing customers and attract new ones,” David Godsman, Bank of America’s online and mobile solutions executive, said.

Analysts think the service will draw more account activity and card use for the bank. The key is that the rewards are tied to places customers already shop instead of products that they may only be vaguely interested in.

Bank of America has begun testing the service with its own employees in North Carolina, South Carolina and Nevada. It will expand the program to rest of its employees in February.

The bank does not have a time frame for when the program will become available to other customers.

The bank wants to assure customers that they will not share customer’s private data with third parties. The bank will track customer’s spending, but they hope that the appeal of the discounts outweigh any concerns.

For those wondering how the service works, it’s quite simple. When customers log in to their online accounts, they will see discount offers embedded in their statement. If the customer accepts the offer, it is applied to their account.

When customers make a purchase, they will pay full price, but the discount will be returned to them in cash form at the beginning of each month.

Customers can opt in to receive alerts about offers and how much money they have saved. They are also given the option to opt out of the service.

The bank is not saying which retailers are participating in the new service, but claim that major department stores, fast food chains and local restaurants are included.

The Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and The New Bottom Line teamed up to launch a blog called, Bankrupting America, trying to raise awareness towards the practices of BoA. Looking through their archive of posts since their launch, nothing was really generating a big response. That was until RAN started a prank which has gone viral.

This happened over the weekend, when RAN created non-adhesive stickers and replaced the BoA ATM screens across San Francisco with their own custom made menu. Creating what they call “Automated Truth Machines”. ATM visitors could make selections such as:

Invest in Coal-fired Power Plants
Foreclose on America’s Homes
Bankroll Climate Change
Fund Executive Bonuses

Ouch.

They hit over 85 ATM’s according to their article, and even provided a custom Google Maps so people could visit the targeted machines.

Each sticker featured a link to their tumblr page, which has gotten a huge spike in traffic since the prank. They’ve updated their article in response to the interest, letting people download high-res PDF versions of the stickers they used. Smartly, they aren’t suggesting anyone attempt their prank.

The site features characters that lead users through interactive demonstrations of each online and mobile banking product. Customers can find information on how to access accounts, pay bills, transfer funds, locate branches or ATMs and receive account alert text messages on their mobile phone.

Customers can also see how to gather information and accounts for a clearer financial picture, all with layers of security to keep customers personal finance information protected.

Users can stay up to date on their finances by viewing checking, savings and credit card statements through online banking along with receiving electronic versions of current and past statements.

"Our customers lead mobile lives and they need a bank with options, products and features that can keep up with that fast pace," said Lance Drummond, eCommerce/ATM executive at Bank of America. "With Bank of America, all you need is Internet access through your computer or mobile phone to be connected to your finances anytime, anywhere."

Bank Of America Launches Social Network

The site is called the Small Business Online Community.  User’s can network with others, share their business stories, and find experts on a variety of topics.

"We want to be that trusted resource for small business owners, to help them grow their business and be with them when they grow," Mark Hogan, Bank of America’s president of small business banking told the AP. "And we want to help them anyway we can to make that process easier for them."

Hogan said the goal of the site is to offer small business owners a place to share information, learn from others and find answers to questions without having to worry about an influx of marketing.

"The good news for banks is that the market is wide open for anyone who has had the winning formula," said Deloitte principal Frank Sui. "The bad news is that the market is so abstruse that no single bank has yet to discover what that winning formula is."

The largest business social network is LinkedIn, which had about 10 million visitors last month according to Compete.com.