Daily Deals From — Bank of America?

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) may not have much to worry about, but Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) is elbowing into the daily deals business. Well, sort of.

The giant bank that everyone loves to hate is trying out a new strategy that it hopes will endear it, even ever so slightly, with its customers. Called BankAmeriDeals, the program aims to reward BofA customers who do their banking online. Deals, in the form of discounts at participating merchants, will be offered to BofA cardholders based on their spending patterns. If you�ve been swiping your card at upscale apparel retailers, you�d be likely to get a discount offer to a shop that offers such goods.

As NPR points out, the deals aren�t paid for by the bank but by the merchants. BofA expects the plan to increase customer loyalty � and perhaps ease the sting of less popular attempts to wring more revenue out of customers via higher fees.

The program is launching on very limited basis, open only to BofA employees in North Carolina, South Carolina and Nevada. Before it�s made available to consumers, the bank will enroll the rest of its workforce. Seems clear that BofA is moving slowly to ensure that it doesn�t barge right into yet another public relations fiasco.