Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card - $200 Cash Rewards Offer Review

Overall Ranking

4.7/5

Overview

Rewards

4.25/5

Bonus

4.75/5

Annual Fee

5/5

Customer Service

4.9/5

If you have a Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card – $200 Cash Rewards Offer, there’s a new change you’ll want to take advantage of. And if you don’t have one, our review will cover why you might want to consider applying for this card.

Chris Muller

Editor's Note

You can trust the integrity of our balanced, independent financial advice. We may, however, receive compensation from the issuers of some products mentioned in this article. Opinions are the author's alone. This content has not been provided by, reviewed, approved or endorsed by any advertiser, unless otherwise noted below.

Update – This offer is now EXPIRED.

The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card has been around for a long time. Historically it has been underwhelming against its competition for other cash back credit cards. But now, Bank of America has made some significant changes in how you select and earn rewards. Will it be enough to make it a top cash back card? Find out below.

About the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card

The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card is often called the Bank of America 1-2-3 card. That’s because of its reward structure.

The card earns 1% cash back on your everyday purchases, 2% cash back at wholesale clubs and grocery stores, and 3% cash back on a choice category for the first $2,500 in combined grocery/wholesale club/choice category purchases each quarter. There is no annual fee, either.

Features and Benefits of the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card

Bonuses

Signup Bonus. The signup bonus is $200 in online cash rewards after a $1,000 minimum spend in the first 90 days of your account opening, which is a nice bonus.
Balance Transfer Bonus. A lot of people get this card for the balance transfer offer, which is rather competitive. You’ll get a 0% intro APR for your first 15 billing cycles for purchases, and for any balance transfers made within 60 days of opening your account.

Bank of America Preferred Rewards

The big advantage of this credit card is Bank of America Preferred Rewards. Basically, the more cash you hold with Bank of America and/or Merrill, the more you’ll get in cash back. If you’re a Bank of America Preferred Rewards client, you could increase your cash back bonus as high as 25 to 75%.

So for example, if you have up to $20,000 in total assets (including checking, savings, general investments, and retirement accounts) with Bank of America, you’ll earn at the standard 1%-2%-3% rate.

Gold Level

If you have between $20,000 and $50,000 in total assets, you’ll reach the Gold Level and receive a 25% bonus on your cash back. This means 1% is actually 1.25%, 2% is actually 2.5%, and 3% is actually 3.75%.

If you’re at the Gold Level, then the “everything else” category still doesn’t really make the card worth it. But for your chosen category, wholesale clubs and grocery stores, it starts to get a touch more competitive.

With wholesale clubs, it’s pretty straightforward. If you have the Costco or Sam’s Club card, you earn 2% and 1%, respectively. So 2.5% with the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card, versus 2% or 1% with the wholesale club cards make it a pretty logical move.

For the grocery stores, I think really depends on how you use it. Some cards earn more than what this credit card will give you, but there are also more strict caps.

Platinum Level

Moving up one level, you have Platinum. Platinum Level is reached once you have $50,000 to $100,000 in total assets with Bank of America and Merrill. The cash back reward boost at this level is 50%.

This makes gas 4.5% cash back on your choice category, 3% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, and 1.5% cash back on all other purchases. The “everything else” category still doesn’t make enough sense from a rewards viewpoint. But the choice category, wholesale clubs and grocery store categories make plenty.

Platinum Honors Level

Lastly, those with at least $100,000 in total assets are considered to be at the Platinum Honors Level. This level comes with a 75% cash back boost, which means you get 5.25% cash back on your choice category, 3.5% cash back at wholesale clubs and grocery stores, and 1.75% cash back on all other purchases.

The only category that doesn’t make total sense here is the “everything else” category – merely because it’s still less than 2% (and you can find similar cards as I mentioned before).

But for cash back at wholesale clubs, grocery stores, and on your selected category, this card becomes an excellent option. What you need to consider, though, is that a bunch of cash with Bank of America and/or Merrill is required to get the best cash back rates. Because of that, it might not be the best cash back credit card for everyone.

Other Features

Fraud Protection. Bank of America will prevent likely fraud if unusual spending patterns are detected on your card and let you know if they suspect fraudulent activity. You also receive a $0 Liability Guarantee for fraudulent transactions with this card.
Chip Technology. Your Cash Rewards card will come with chip technology for extra safety and protection when shopping at chip-enabled terminals.
Optional Overdraft Protection. You can link your eligible Bank of America checking account to your Cash Rewards card as an elective service so you can avoid having your purchase declined or check returned when using your checking account.
Digital Wallet. The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards card can be linked to Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay. This gives you more flexibility and security when you shop using your mobile device in-store or in-app.
Online and Mobile Banking. Bank of America has an excellent online and mobile platform for banking. This allows you to bank on the go wherever you are safely and securely while using a user-friendly (and aesthetically pleasing) system.
Custom Alerts. You can pick from different types of email or text alerts to stay on top of purchase activity, due dates, balances, and more.
Text Banking. Bank of America likes to keep it old-school in some ways. With text banking, you can send a text and get a reply in a few seconds that tells you things like your balance or due date.
FICO Score. Bank of America now offers an optional service for you to get an updated FICO Score given to you on a monthly basis for free. You can access it through your mobile app or via online banking.

You have to be at least 18 years old and have both a U.S. mailing address and a Social Security number in order to apply for the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card.

You can do an application online or over the phone, and you’ll need to provide the following information:

Date of birth
Home address
Phone number
Total annual income
Your income source (i.e., employed, self-employed)
Email address

Once your application is done, you can get a decision in as little as 30 seconds. In some cases, Bank of America may need more information or time to make a decision, in which case it can take a little longer.

You have to be at least 18 years old and have both a U.S. mailing address and a Social Security number in order to apply for the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card.

You can do an application online or over the phone, and you’ll need to provide the following information:

Date of birth
Home address
Phone number
Total annual income
Your income source (i.e., employed, self-employed)
Email address

What Changed In January 2019?

Currently, with the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card, you get different cash back rates for different categories (as I described above) and you have a $2,500 cap per quarter. The big change is that in January 2019 Bank of America now allows you to be able to pick your 3% categories.

Instead of having an everyday rate of 3% cash back on gas, you now also have dining, drug stores, home improvement, travel, and online shopping to pick from. That means six total categories you can rotate in and out of if you so desire.

For someone who has their assets with Bank of America and Merrill, you’re going to qualify for higher multipliers depending on how much money you have. At the top of the list is a 75% cash back boost, which means 3% is really going to be 5.25% of the categories.

An official statement from Bank of America reads as follows:

“We understand that consumers’ lives and spending priorities change constantly, and clients tell us that they want the power to choose how they are rewarded,” said Jason Gaughan, credit card executive at Bank of America. “Clients can choose which categories best align with their life priorities, allowing them to maximize the rewards they earn.”

Selecting your bonus will be easy too. According to Bank of America, you “can easily change the 3% category for future purchases once each calendar month in their Mobile Banking app or Online Banking, or make no change and it stays the same,” while the “3% cash back category will initially be set to gas.”

This changes the game for many people. Without this change, I’d rate the card as mediocre, but this puts it into contention with some of the better cash back credit cards now.

Pros and Cons of the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card

The introductory bonus of $200 is simple to get - requiring only $1,000 in spending in the first 90 days of opening.
You can select from six different 3% cash back categories. And it can be changed each month if you desire.
If you have assets with Bank of America or Merrill, you can boost your cash back earnings.
You get a 0% intro APR on both purchases and balance transfers for the first 15 billing cycles (Regular APR is 13.99% to 23.99% variable)
There is no annual fee.

Even with the new changes, you'll earn 3% and 2% cash back on the first $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club purchases each quarter, then earn 1%; so you're capped.
The card charges a foreign transaction fee of 3%. Many competing cards don’t charge this fee.
There are no additional perks like purchase protection.
Depending on how you spend, you may be better off getting a straight 2% cash back card, like the Citi Double Cash Card.

The 1% and 2% cash back options aren’t that great because there are other cards out there that will get you a flat 2% back on all of your purchases. Cards like the Citi Double Cash Card come to mind.

The 3% back on a chosen category also isn’t astounding, because there are credit cards that give you 5% back on select categories and also don’t have annual fees.

Notwithstanding all of this, the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card is a solid beginner’s cash back card. And with the new changes, it might even become the best card in your wallet, depending on how you spend.

The $200 signup bonus is a rather good deal, but other cards give you the same bonus and give you several choices for exchanging that bonus.

Plus the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card doesn’t come with any extra perks, like an extended warranty option on purchases, purchase protection, or added travel protection.

So the card doesn’t really give you anything special.

This card is also a good option if you don’t want the hassle of having too many cards and you just want one. But again, if you’re willing to hack your wallet a bit and have several different cards, you can get much more value.

Overall, I don’t think it’s a bad card. I think it’s a rather good beginner card. It’s a reliable card to keep in your wallet, but if you don’t have the $100,000 in assets, it doesn’t make much sense to be your only card.

Once you have the assets, you don’t mind mixing and matching cards, or you just want to get the most cash back in particular categories, then the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card is fine as your primary card.

So the short answer to all of this?

It’s not the best cash back credit card, but the new changes make it better. My advice would be to keep it in your rotation of credit cards and use it strategically when you can get the full 3% cash back.