Ask not what your bank can do for you; ask what your bank can do for your country's sullen consumers.

Next week, when Bank of America Corp. takes over the Upromise credit card from Citigroup Inc., it plans to eliminate a $300 annual limit on cash-back loyalty-rewards bonuses that Citigroup had imposed.

WSJ.com blog The Wallet reports on the Upromise promise. Until now, customers who spent $30,000 a year on the card maxed out their 1% annual cash-back limit. No longer.

Upromise is designed to help parents save for their kids' college. But beyond its educational goals, is the Upromise move an act of patriotism? After all, President Obama is pleading with increasingly nervous (and increasingly unemployed) Americans to please, please part with just a little loose change. The card's cash-back savings can be funneled straight into a Upromise-managed 529.

While spending $30,000 on a Upromise card isn't quite enough to buy a year's tuition at Harvard, it's enough to put you in Benjamins sufficient to acquire the stuff of your dreams (base price, 16GB 3G version). Spend 'em if you got 'em.