2021 Bank of America Cash Rewards Credit Card Review

John S Kiernan, Managing EditorJan 11, 2020

This content is not provided or commissioned by any issuer. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of an issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by an issuer. Bank of America is a WalletHub partner.

EDITOR’S RATING

4.0 / 5

bank of america cash rewards credit card

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® Cash Rewards credit card is a good everyday rewards card for people with excellent credit scores. For starters, the Bank of America® 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® 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.

Below, you can find more information that will help you decide whether or not to apply for the Bank of America® 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 1.08% 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.

No 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.

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 12 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.

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 13.04%, while the average “fair credit” credit card charges 23.13%, 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® 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.

	Sponsored Bank of America® Cash Rewards credit card	Sponsored Citi® Double Cash Card – 18 month BT offer	Sponsored Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express	Sponsored Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card
Annual Fee	$0	$0	$0 intro 1st yr, $95 after	$0
Rewards Bonus	$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 12 billing cycles	N/A	0% for 12 months	0% for 15 months
Transfer Intro APR	0% for 12 billing cycles for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days Transfer Fee: 3% (min $10)	0% for 18 months Transfer Fee: 3% (min $5)	N/A	N/A
Regular APR	13.99% - 23.99% Variable	13.99% - 23.99% (V)	13.99% - 23.99% (V)	15.49% - 25.49% (V)
Editors' Rating	4.0 / 5	5.0 / 5	4.7 / 5	4.4 / 5
Details, Rates & Fees	Learn More	Learn More	Learn More Rates & Fees Terms Apply	Learn More

Questions & Answers (6 questions)

Ask your Question

Is it good for building your credit? I primarily want to use it as my gas card.

Upvotes

WalletHub

@WalletHub

As long as you use them responsibly all credit cards help you build your credit in the same way so you should apply for the card that best meets your needs in terms of rewards and interest rates.

How much are the Bank of America Cash Rewards points worth?

Upvotes

ROBERT SAMBRICK , FinTech entrepeuner

@robsam

The Bank of America Cash Rewards card actually offers cash back, which means no conversions are necessary.

You earn 3% cash back in the category of your choice, 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.

It is also important to note that you'll get a 10% bonus if you redeem your earnings for a deposit into a Bank of America checking or savings account. With that being said, 2,500 points from one of Bank of America's travel rewards cards would be redeemable for a $25.00 statement credit or $15.00 cash back, just to name a couple of options.

You can learn more about how much Bank of America rewards are worth based on different redemption methods here.

Do I have to pay my Bank of America Cash Rewards bill every month?

Upvotes

WalletHub

@WalletHub

You do not have to pay your Bank of America Cash Rewards bill every month, but paying off your card monthly means you'll completely avoid the interest charges.

If you can't pay off your card monthly, you should make at least the minimum payment in order to avoid being classified as late.

Which grocery stores and gas stations are eligible for Bank of America Cash Rewards cash back?

Upvotes

Benny Joseph , Football and Finance!

@Benjy_1

To identify the grocery stores and gast stations that enable you to earn cash back on these transactions with your Bank of America Cash Rewards card, simply go to this page and look for the MCC codes 5411 for grocery stores and 5541 or 5542 for gas stations.

I see rewards are earned from gas stations, grocery stores etc... but what about buying items online?

Upvotes

Benny Joseph , Football and Finance!

@Benjy_1

For online purchases, you will earn 1% cash back with this Bank of America Cash Rewards, unless you are purchasing from an online grocery store.

I have a rebate card and was trying to find out the balance on it.

Upvotes

WalletHub

@WalletHub

You can see your current balance using online banking. You can enroll into online banking here.

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