Pros
- $200 initial bonus (online exclusive)
- Up to 3% cash back
- No annual fee
Cons
- Potential for a very high regular APR
- 3% foreign-transaction fee
Bank of America Cash Rewards Credit Card Review Summary
The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card is a good everyday rewards card for people with excellent credit scores. For starters, the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card has a $0 annual fee and offers a $200 initial bonus to new cardholders who spend just $1,000 within 90 days of opening an account.
The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card also supplements its base 1% cash-back earning rate with 2% back on groceries and wholesale clubs, and 3% back on a category of your choosing. But there’s a catch. Those bonus earning rates only apply to the first $2,500 in combined bonus-category purchases each quarter. If you wind up hitting the limit, you will earn just 1% back — slightly less than the market average — on all purchases for the rest of the quarter.
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
Transfer Fee: 3% (min $10)
Rewards Details
- $200 online cash rewards bonus after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
- Earn 3% cash back in the category of your choice, automatic 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (up to $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club quarterly purchases) and unlimited 1% on all other purchases.
- If you're a Preferred Rewards member, you can earn 25% - 75% more cash back on every purchase. That means you could earn up to 5.25% cash back on purchases in your choice category.
- No annual fee and no expiration on rewards.
Additional Info
- 0% Introductory APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases, and for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days. After the intro APR offer ends, 14.24% - 24.24% Variable APR will apply. A 3% fee (min $10) applies to all balance transfers.
- Contactless Cards - The security of a chip card, with the convenience of a tap.
- This online only offer may not be available if you leave this page or if you visit a Bank of America financial center. You can take advantage of this offer when you apply now.
- See More Details & Reviews About Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
Bank of America Cash Rewards Credit Card Highlights
$200 Initial Bonus For Online Applicants
The average consumer has more than $333 in credit-card eligible expenses each month. That means most qualified applicants will easily be able to meet the $1,000 threshold within the first 90 days of account opening and thereby claim their $200 prize. That’s effectively a discount of up to 20%, provided in the form of a statement credit.
Up To 3% Cash Back
You will earn 3% cash back in a category of your choosing: gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores, or home improvement/furnishings, and 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs - for the first $2,500 spent in those categories, collectively, every three months. That means this flashy feature is worth a maximum of $300 per year.
Beyond that, you will earn slightly less than the rewards-card market average of 1.11% cash back, driving the average person’s first-year rewards earnings to $477, according to our calculations. The best part: your rewards will never expire, unless your account is closed, in which case any unused portion will be forfeited by Bank of America.
$0 Annual Fee
Many rewards cards charge annual fees to offset the cost of providing users with cash back, points and miles. Such cards can still pay off for high-volume, high-value spenders, but some people would rather avoid the pressure of having to make their card worthwhile. No-annual-fee rewards cards such as Bank of America Cash Rewards help you avoid playing from behind, so to speak, while giving you the option of not using your card if you so choose.
Above-average 0% intro rates
This Bank of America cash card also has financing appeal, thanks to its 0% intro rates on new purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 billing cycles your account is open. You shouldn’t get too excited, though, as you need to transfer your balance within the first 60 days. Furthermore, there is a 3% (min $10) balance-transfer fee that spoils the transfer part of the deal. And after the intro APR ends, a 14.24% - 24.24% Variable APR will apply.
Bank of America Cash Rewards Credit Card Lowlights
Potential For A Very High Regular APR
You need excellent credit to get this card, but you may come to find that your interest rate is unbefitting of the term “excellent.” For a point of reference, the average credit card for people with excellent credit has a 13.1%, while the average “fair credit” credit card charges 23.05%, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report. That means you’re guaranteed to get an above-average rate for your credit rating, and it could even be higher than what a financially unproven applicant could expect to pay on the open market.
3% Foreign-Transaction Fee
The Bank of America Cash Rewards card is not a good travel companion for the simple reason that it will overcharge you on every purchase that you make, to the tune of 3%. That’s $150 on a $5,000 family vacation to Europe, for example. It also cuts your savings on currency conversion from 7.14% (relative to the average bank) to 4.14%. The same phenomenon also affects purchases made through internationally based merchants when you are physically in the U.S. So if you’re either a world traveler or a world consumer, you should probably find another card for related purchases.
Bank of America Cash Rewards Credit Card vs. The Competition
Rewards are perhaps the most popular aspect of credit-card use for consumers and, in turn, for issuers. Myriad attractive offers are available, with the value attainable from them near historic highs. There’s a lot of money riding on your decision, in other words.
So in the interest of helping you make an informed selection, we compared Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card to some of the other most popular cash-back offers on the market across five key categories. You can find the results below.
| Info | Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card | Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer | Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express | Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Fee | $0 | $0 | $0 intro 1st yr, $95 after | $0 |
| Rewards Bonus Offer | $200 | N/A | $300 | $200 |
| Rewards Rate | 1 - 3% Cash Back | 2% Cash Back | 1 - 6% Cash Back | 1.5% Cash Back |
| Purchase Intro APR | 0% for 15 billing cycles | N/A | 0% for 12 months | 0% for 15 months |
| Transfer Intro APR | 0% for 15 billing cycles for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days Transfer Fee: 3% (min $10) | 0% for 18 months Transfer Fee: 3% intro fee ($5 min) for each transfer in first 4 months, after that 5% ($5 min) for each transfer | N/A | 0% for 15 months Transfer Fee: 3% |
| Regular APR | 14.24% - 24.24% Variable | 14.74% - 24.74% (V) | 14.74% - 24.74% (V) | 15.24% - 25.24% (V) |
| Editors' Rating | 4 | 5 | 4.7 | 4.4 |
| Details, Rates & Fees | Learn More | Learn More | Learn More Rates & Fees Terms Apply | Learn More |
