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Merrill Lynch is getting ready to launch a proprietary program that will award Merrill Lynch Visa card holders with contributions to their 529 college savings accounts based on their,, purchases. Merrill Lynch runs the NextGen college savings plan. The incentive program, called the Visa Signature Program, is a home-grown version of Upromise, BabyMint and other consumer awards providers in the 529 world. Upromise, for example, makes contributions to an investor's 529 account based on purchases with a host of corporate sponsors, such as AT&T. The program is free to consumers, and paid for by 529 plans and participating companies. Chuck Toth, v.p., manager of education savings programs at Merrill, said the firm had been negotiating with Upromise, but couldn't reach an agreement. He declined to provide further details on the talks, but said investors tied in with the Upromise program are required to spend a fair amount of time registering store loyalty and other cards, a needless complication in the process. Toth added that Merrill's calculations showed that investors accumulated very little in their Upromise accounts despite large purchases over time.