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BofA Rewards: More Rewards With Every Purchase
You can earn a 10% to 75% bonus on your points or cash back, though the biggest boosts require the heftiest balances with the bank.
Gregory Karp is a former NerdWallet writer and an expert in personal finance and credit cards. A journalist for more than 30 years, he has been a newspaper reporter and editor, authored two personal finance books and created the "Spending Smart" syndicated newspaper column. His awards include national recognition several times from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.
Erin is a former writer and assigning editor on the NerdWallet Content team who now heads NerdWallet's travel business. She's a credit card and travel rewards expert at NerdWallet, based in Baltimore, Maryland. She has spent nearly two decades showing readers unique ways to maximize their investments and personal finances. Prior to joining NerdWallet, Erin worked on dozens of newsletters and magazines in the areas of investing, health, business and travel with Agora Publishing. Her love of travel led to a passion for credit card and loyalty rewards to subsidize trips, and she thrives on teaching others how to harness the power of credit card rewards. When she's not helping NerdWallet readers find the best travel value, Erin is planning her next adventure for her family of four using points and miles.
Kenley Young directs daily credit cards coverage for NerdWallet. Previously, he was a homepage editor and digital content producer for Fox Sports, and before that a front page editor for Yahoo. He has decades of experience in digital and print media, including stints as a copy desk chief, a wire editor and a metro editor for the McClatchy newspaper chain.
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Bank of America® offers competitive rewards credit cards to the general public. But if you’re a banking or investment customer, the cards can become outstanding choices through its BofA Rewards® program.
That’s because the bank offers accelerated points and cash back from its rewards credit cards — along with other banking goodies — as part of that loyalty program, which can be especially lucrative for high-balance customers. Credit cards that qualify for a rewards bonus of 10% to 75% include:
You’ll earn a 10% rewards bonus for being a member of the BofA Rewards® program, which requires having a personal checking account with the bank. However, you’ll need to keep tens of thousands of banking and investment dollars with Bank of America® to qualify for a higher “relationship bonus,” as the bank calls it.
Credit card rewards probably aren’t the foremost factor when deciding on a financial institution for your household wealth. Still, if Bank of America®'s financial products appeal to you, consider its rewards program and the accompanying boost to credit card earnings.
Under the rewards program, Bank of America® customers get a bigger bump in credit card rewards if they stash mounds of cash at the bank or its Merrill-branded investment arms. To qualify for the BofA Rewards® program, you need a Bank of America® personal checking account.
The program’s rewards tiers are labeled Member, Preferred Plus, Preferred Honors and Premier. Your combined balances determine the tier you're in, and the tier determines how much of a boost you get in your credit card rewards. To determine tier eligibility, the bank looks at three months of average balances across qualifying Bank of America® and eligible Merrill investment accounts.
Program tier
Required balance
Rewards bonus
Member
None.
10%.
Preferred Plus
$30,000 to $99,999.
25%.
Preferred Honors
$100,000 to $999,999.
50%.
Premier
$1 million or more.
75%.
🤓Nerdy Tip
In February 2026, Bank America® announced updates to its loyalty program, including changes to its name, lifestyle benefit offerings and program tiers. The new program — BofA Rewards® — launched in May 2026. Customers who were enrolled in the previous "Preferred Rewards" program were automatically changed to the new BofA Rewards® program on or around that date. Previous Gold and Platinum tier members were changed to the Preferred Plus tier; Platinum Honors members were changed to the Preferred Honors tier; and Diamond Honors members were moved to the Premier tier.
Once you reach a rewards tier, you can keep the program benefits for a total of 15 months if your balances drop below the thresholds.
BofA Rewards® offers more than extra credit card rewards. You can also get interest-rate boosts on money market accounts, no-fee ATM transactions, reduced mortgage origination fees, loan rate discounts, exclusive cash-back deals, enhanced fraud and identity monitoring and more.
Plus, Preferred Honors and Premier tier members will get reimbursed for popular streaming, entertainment and news subscriptions like Paramount+ and Sirius XM, for example. Preferred Honors members can receive up to $96 per year ($8 per month maximum), and Premier tier members can receive up to $180 per year ($15 per month maximum).
Rewards credit cards under the Bank of America® brand qualify for BofA Rewards®. Excluded are business credit cards and such non-rewards cards as the BankAmericard® credit card, the bank’s secured cards and its non-rewards student card.
Here’s how the annual rewards rack up for a consumer charging $1,000 per month on the card.
Rewards level
Rewards boost
Points per $1 spent
Annual points ($12,000 in spending)
Member
10%
1.65
19,820
Preferred Plus
25%
1.875
22,500
Preferred Honors
50%
2.25
27,000
Premier
75%
2.625
31,500
Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card pays 3% cash back in a spending category of your choice and 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, on up to $2,500 in combined spending per quarter; all other spending earns 1%. Choices for the 3% category include gas/EV charging; online shopping (including cable, streaming, internet and phone plans); dining; travel; drugstores; or home improvement/furnishings. You can update your category for future purchases once each calendar month; do nothing, and it stays the same.
(Note: In the first year of having the card, it earns 6% back on a category of your choice 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.)
Here's how the card's normal ongoing rates translate when you take BofA Rewards® into account:
Rewards level
Choice category rewards
Grocery/ wholesale rewards
Other spending
Member (10% boost)
3.3%
2.2%
1.1%
Preferred Plus (25% boost)
3.75%
2.5%
1.25%
Preferred Honors (50% boost)
4.5%
3%
1.5%
Premier (75% boost)
5.25%
3.5%
1.75%
Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card
The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card earns unlimited 2 points per dollar spend on travel and dining and 1.5 points per dollar on other purchases. With Preferred Rewards:
Preferred Rewards level
Rewards boost
Points per dollar on dining/travel
Points per dollar on other spending
Member
10%
2.2
1.65
Preferred Plus
25%
2.5
1.875
Preferred Honors
50%
3
2.25
Premier
75%
3.5
2.625
Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card
The Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card earns a flat rate of 1.5% cash back on all purchases, with no limits or expiration rules. If you like the simplicity of earning cash and not worrying about categories, this card is a solid option.
Preferred Rewards level
Rewards boost
Points per dollar spent
Member
10%
1.65
Preferred Plus
25%
1.875
Preferred Honors
50%
2.25
Premier
75%
2.625
Why you might avoid BofA® Rewards
Compare Bank of America® account offerings for banking and investing with other choices. Higher fees and expenses on some financial products — or lower savings rates — could reduce or wipe out bonus earnings from credit card rewards.
NerdWallet rates Bank of America® banking offerings as fair overall, although the bank excels at some aspects and not others.
Credit card rewards shouldn’t drive your decision on where to do banking and investing. But if you already have a relationship with Bank of America®, the boost to your rewards is a valuable benefit.
Whether you want to pay less interest or earn more rewards, the right card's out there. Just answer a few questions and we'll narrow the search for you.