Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Review: Choose Your Own Bonus Category
The Bottom Line
4.0
The option to choose your 3%-back category is appealing, if a bit complicated. If you qualify for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards® program, the card can be even more valuable. But its spending caps mean it's not a strong choice for big spenders.
Rates, fees and offers
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1%-3%
Bonus offer
$200 online cash rewards bonus after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
Intro APR
0% intro APR on Purchases for 15 billing cycles and 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 15 billing cycles for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days
Ongoing APR
APR: 18.49%-28.49% Variable APR
Cash Advance APR: See Terms
Penalty APR: 29.99%, Variable
Balance transfer fee
3% for 60 days from account opening, then 4%
Foreign transaction fee
3%
More details from Bank of America
- $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.
- Choose 3% cash back on gas and EV charging station, online shopping/cable/internet/phone plan/streaming, dining, travel, drug store/pharmacy or home improvement/furnishings purchases.
- If you're a Bank of America Preferred Rewards® member, you can earn 25%-75% more cash back on every purchase. That means you could earn 3.75%-5.25% cash back on purchases in your choice category.
- No annual fee and cash rewards don’t expire as long as your account remains open.
- 0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases, and for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days. After the Intro APR offer ends, a Variable APR that’s currently 18.49% - 28.49% will apply. A 3% Intro balance transfer fee will apply for the first 60 days your account is open. After the Intro balance transfer fee offer ends, the fee for future balance transfers is 4%.
- 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.
Pros and Cons
Pros
No annual fee
New cardholder bonus offer
Rotating bonus categories
Relationship rewards for customers
Intro APR period
Cons
Requires good/excellent credit
Complicated rewards
Spending caps on bonus rewards
Best rewards limited to certain customers
Detailed Review
The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card stands out among other cash-back cards as a great option, despite its complicated terms.
Unlike other cards, the $0-annual-fee card lets you choose your own 3% bonus category from a list of options and change that selection up to once a month. It's an especially good deal for those who can boost their rewards rates by keeping large balances with Bank of America® or Merrill.
The main downside: The card comes with bonus category spending caps, so it's not a good pick for big spenders.
Bank of America® also issues a different version of this card that's marketed toward students. To learn more about the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card for Students, read our review.
Key features of the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
Card type: Cash back.
Annual fee: $0.
Sign-up bonus: $200 online cash rewards bonus after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
Ongoing rewards:
While the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card offers potentially valuable rewards for those who spend modestly, its rewards structure is fairly involved.
3% back on a category of your choice (options listed below) and 2% back on grocery stores and wholesale clubs for the first $2,500 of combined bonus category/ grocery store/wholesale club spending per quarter; after hitting that threshold, you’ll earn 1% back on these purchases.
1% back on all other purchases.
When selecting a 3% back bonus category, you can choose one of the following six options:
Gas/EV charging.
Online shopping (including cable, streaming, internet and phone plans).
Dining.
Travel.
Drugstores.
Home improvement and furnishings.
You can change this category up to once a month. If you don't make a selection, the default 3% cash-back category will be set to gas, according to the issuer. Your selected category will remain the same from month to month, unless you change it.
APR: 0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for purchases, and for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days. After the Intro APR offer ends, a Variable APR that’s currently 18.49%-28.49% will apply.
Other benefits:
Cardholders who are eligible for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards® program can earn higher rewards rates.
With this card, there’s no minimum redemption requirement when doing a one-time redemption of cash rewards into your Bank of America® account or statement credit, but there’s still a $25 minimum redemption requirement for other redemption options. Cash back can be redeemed for statement credit, a check, a direct deposit into a Bank of America® checking or savings account, an eligible 529 account or a contribution to an eligible Merrill account. You can also opt to register for automatic redemption.
Before pouncing on this offer, pay close attention to the spending caps on the bonus categories. If you spend far more than $2,500 per quarter on this card's 3% and 2% categories, you might earn more rewards with a different card that doesn't impose such caps.
Compare to Other Cards
Benefits and Perks
Ability to choose your own 3% category
There aren’t many rewards credit cards that allow you to choose your own bonus categories. And of those that exist, none of them lets you change your selection up to once a month, as the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card does. That makes the card valuable for cardholders who want choice — especially because the card defines its rewards categories quite generously.
Consider the online shopping category, for example. This category includes purchases made with the following retailers, among others:
Amazon.com.
Bestbuy.com.
Groupon.com.
Target.com.
Apple.com.
Macys.com.
Walmart.com.
The dining category is similarly wide-ranging. This bonus category isn't just limited to sit-down restaurants; it also includes other eating places, fast-food restaurants, bars, cocktail lounges, nightclubs, taverns and drinking places. That would include, for example, Starbucks, GrubHub and McDonald's, among many other merchants, the issuer confirms. Consider, too, the breadth of the card's home improvement category, which covers retailers from Ace Hardware to Williams-Sonoma, but also things like air conditioning repair, plumbers, landscapers, antique shops, florists and much more. It's one of NerdWallet's top credit cards for new homeowners.
Remember, though, you'll only earn bonus rewards on the first combined $2,500 in purchases on the card's 3% and 2% categories each quarter. After that, you'll earn only 1% on those purchases.
Loyalty bonuses
While the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card promises plenty of choices, its rewards rates are unremarkable compared with other no-annual-fee cards — that is, unless you qualify for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards® program.
Under this program, you can earn 25% to 75% more on your eligible Bank of America® credit card rewards, among other benefits. You can qualify for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards® program when your combined balances in Bank of America® or Merrill accounts surpass certain thresholds. For example, say you kept more than a combined $100,000 in Bank of America® and Merrill accounts, and qualified for the 75% rewards boost. Instead of the usual 3% cash back on the category of your choice, you'd effectively be earning 5.25% back on purchases in that category. That's more than you'd generally earn on other no-annual-fee cards.
Empty Table Header | Combined balance required to qualify | Effective rewards rate on the category of your choice | Effective grocery store/ wholesale club rewards rate | Effective rewards rate on everything else |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gold (25% boost) | $20,000 to $49,999 | 3.75% | 2.5% | 1.25% |
Platinum (50% boost) | $50,000 to $99,999 | 4.5% | 3% | 1.5% |
Platinum honors, Diamond and Diamond Honors (75% boost) | $100,000+ | 5.25% | 3.5% | 1.75% |
Introductory 0% APR period and no annual fee
With the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card, you can come out ahead on rewards no matter how little you spend. That's because the annual fee is $0. The card also comes with an introductory 0% APR offer.
Drawbacks and Considerations
Spending caps can limit earning power
The quarterly spending caps on the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card make it a less valuable choice for those who spend thousands of dollars each month. If this is you, a flat-rate rewards card that doesn't impose such restrictions could be a smarter choice.
Try the $0-annual-fee Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card instead. It offers 2% cash back on all purchases, with no spending caps.
Without loyalty bonuses, rewards rates are modest
The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card offers plenty of good bonus category choices, but if you don't qualify for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards® program, its rewards just go up to 3%, with spending caps.
For a card with customizable rewards that go a little higher, the U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature® Card could fit the bill. This card offers 5% cash back on your first $2,000 in combined eligible net purchases on two categories of your choice from a list (see it below), and 2% cash back on your choice of either gas stations/EV charging stations, dining or grocery stores. While the 5% categories on this card are relatively narrow — including, for instance, fast food, cell phone providers, and TV, internet and streaming services, among others — and you can't change your choices as often, this card might prove more valuable if you happen to spend an outsize amount in one of these categories.
Full list of 5% categories on the U.S. Bank Cash+
Fast food.
Home utilities.
TV, internet and streaming.
Department stores.
Cell phone providers.
Electronics stores.
Sporting goods stores.
Movie theaters.
Gyms/fitness centers.
Furniture stores.
Ground transportation.
Select clothing stores.
For more information on how these cards stack up with each other, see our roundup of best credit cards.
How To Decide If It's Right For You
The bonus-category spending caps on the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card can make it a less-valuable deal for those who spend thousands each month. But if you’re a frugal shopper and want to choose your own 3% cash-back bonus category — especially if you keep a lot of money with Bank of America® or Merrill — this card is an excellent pick.
To view rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express, see this page.
*Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.
This card pays 6% cash back at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $6,000 a year in spending (then 1%); 6% cash back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions; 3% cash back at U.S. gas stations and on transit (including such things as taxis, rideshares, parking, tolls, trains and buses); and 1% cash back on all other purchases. Terms Apply. There's a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95. Even with this cost, the high reward rates make the card worth it for many families.
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Methodology
NerdWallet reviews credit cards with an eye toward both the quantitative and qualitative features of a card. Quantitative features are those that boil down to dollars and cents, such as fees, interest rates, rewards (including earning rates and redemption values) and the cash value of benefits and perks. Qualitative factors are those that affect how easy or difficult it is for a typical cardholder to get good value from the card. They include such things as the ease of application, simplicity of the rewards structure, the likelihood of using certain features, and whether a card is well-suited to everyday use or is best reserved for specific purchases. Our star ratings serve as a general gauge of how each card compares with others in its class, but star ratings are intended to be just one consideration when a consumer is choosing a credit card. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bank of America® Cash Rewards credit card a good card?
For the right person, it can be outstanding. Unlike most other cash back cards, the $0-annual-fee Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card lets you customize your rewards by choosing a bonus category from a list of options.
How does the Bank of America® Cash Rewards credit card work?
The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card earns 3% back on a category of your choice and 2% back on grocery store and wholesale club spending, on up to $2,500 per quarter in combined spending in those categories. All other purchases earn 1% back.
You can change your 3% bonus category once a month. The options are: gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drugstores and home improvement and furnishings. If you don't choose a category, the default is gas.
Does the Bank of America® Cash Rewards credit card have a cash-back limit?
There’s no limit to how much you can earn with the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card. The card’s bonus rewards are capped at $2,500 in combined spending per quarter. But after that, you’ll still earn 1% cash back in those bonus categories. If you typically spend more than this on the card’s 3% and 2% categories per quarter, you might earn more with a different rewards card that doesn't have a spending cap.
What credit score do I need to get the Bank of America® Cash Rewards credit card?
If you have a good credit score of at least 690, you may be approved for the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card. Card issuers will also typically consider an applicant’s income, existing debts and other information.
How does redemption work for the Bank of America® Cash Rewards credit card?
The easiest way to redeem your cash rewards is for a statement credit, meaning the amount you redeem is subtracted from your account balance. You can also redeem as a check or as a direct deposit into an eligible Bank of America® account. All redemption options require you to have a minimum of $25 in cash rewards. Rewards do not expire.
Does the Bank of America® Cash Rewards credit card come with a sign-up bonus?
Yes, new cardholders get the following welcome offer: $200 online cash rewards bonus after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening..
What is the Bank of America Preferred Rewards® program?
The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card is eligible for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards® program, which can increase your cash-back rates on this card by 25% to 75%, depending on how much money you have in eligible Bank of America® or Merrill accounts.
