Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card review
This no-annual-fee rewards credit card from Bank of America offers cardholders the opportunity to earn 2% cash back in the first year, and 1.5% thereafter. Better yet, Bank of America preferred customers can earn 25%-75% over the average cardholder.
Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card
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- Welcome Bonus
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- Annual Fee
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Key Features
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- If you are a Bank of America Preferred Rewards member, you can earn 25% to 75% more cash back. So instead of 1.5% cash back, you might get as much as 2.62% cash back on every purchase.
- This card works great along other Bank of America credit cards which earn cash back in bonus categories. Use this card alongside those cards for a bonus on all "other" purchases.
- New cardholders can earn a $200 online cash rewards bonus after spending at least $1,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of opening an account.
- If you're willing to be savvy with how you use your cards, you could stand to earn more with other cash-back rewards cards as there are other options with higher cash-back rates; however, these cards often charge annual fees or only offer bonus rewards in select categories. This is a good card to use alongside those cards, or on its own if you're looking for a simple and easy way to earn rewards on all purchases.
The Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card is a great no-annual-fee credit card for anyone looking to earn cash back on all purchases, but it’s a particularly good option for Bank of America customers. Here’s why: Bank of America Preferred Rewards members can earn 25%-75% more cash back on every purchase, meaning that this card could earn eligible cardholders up to 2.62% back on every purchase – a great offer for a card with no annual fee.
Bank of America(R) Unlimited Cash Rewards Credit Card benefits
There are a number of benefits offered with the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card. The main ones you’ll want to consider include:
- Solid cash back rewards – you’ll get 2% cash back on all purchases for the first year, and 1.5% cash back on all purchases thereafter. And there is no limit to the cash back that you can earn.
- No annual fee. Annual fees often mean the potential for more cash back, but at the same time it can be nice to not have to hassle with an annual fee.
- You will earn a $200 online cash rewards bonus after spending at least $1,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of opening an account.
- Are you a Bank of America Preferred Rewards member? (In order to be one, you need to have an active, eligible Bank of America checking account and a three-month combined average daily balance of $20,000 or more in qualifying Bank of America deposit accounts and/or Merrill Investment accounts.) If you are a Preferred Rewards member, you can receive a 25% to 75% bonus on rewards earned. That means you could earn 1.87%-2.62% cash back with Preferred Rewards. The Preferred Rewards bonus does not apply to the .5% first-year bonus.
- You’ll receive IntroAPRRate, and balance_transfer_intro_apr,balance_transfer_intro_duration. After the introductory APR offer is over, the card will have a RegAPR. The intro balance transfer fee is balance_transfer_fees.
Who is a good fit for the Bank of America(R) Unlimited Cash Rewards Credit Card?
The Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card is a good credit card for anyone who wants a credit card with no annual fee – and who wants to earn a little more than the standard 1% fee on all purchases. If you want to earn considerably more, like, 3% or 5% cash back, you generally will have to pay an annual fee, or those bonus rewards will only be on select spend categories.
If you are a Bank of America cardholder, it starts to make even more sense to have this card because – well, it’s a good credit card at your own bank.
That said, if you’re a Bank of America Preferred Rewards member, it really begins to make sense because, as noted, you’ll be getting more back than 1.5%. You’ll receive 25% to 75% more than 1.5%, which comes to about 1.87% to 2.62% cash back on every purchase.
Moreover, if you have other Bank of America credit cards that earn cash back in bonus categories, the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card can be a good one to use in addition to those cards for all of those "other" 1% purchases.
In other words, if you really play your cards right (that is, your Bank of America credit cards), you can strategically save more money than the average consumer.
Potential downsides of the Bank of America(R) Unlimited Cash Rewards Credit Card
Every up has a down, and the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card is no exception. A couple downsides include:
- There is a foreign transaction fee of foreign_fee, which is common with no-annual-fee cash-back cards, but when you have a credit card with that type of fee, it makes traveling internationally more expensive. If you have another credit card without a foreign transaction fee that you can use abroad, then this card becomes even more appealing.
- Also, if you aren’t a Preferred Rewards member of Bank of America, and if your bank account simply isn’t full and robust enough to become one, you might feel like you’re losing out a bit on the cash back rewards available.
How the Bank of America(R) Unlimited Cash Rewards Credit Card compares to other credit cards
Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card vs. Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card
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At first glance, the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card seems to wallop the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card in the rewards department.
The "customized" version gives you 6% cash back for the first year in the category of your choice: gas and EV charging stations; online shopping, including cable, internet, phone plans and streaming; dining; travel; drug stores and pharmacies; or home improvement and furnishings. You’ll automatically earn 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, and unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. After the first year from account opening, you’ll earn 3% cash back on purchases in your choice category. Earn 6% and 2% cash back on the first $2,500 in combined purchases each quarter in the choice category, and at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, then earn unlimited 1% thereafter. After the 3% first-year bonus offer ends, you will earn 3% and 2% cash back on these purchases up to the quarterly maximum.
Because there is a limit to how much you can earn in bonus categories, and because some cardholders don’t like dealing with categories of their choice and just love the simplicity of saving money and figuring nothing out, the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card might be the better way to go. However, savvy cardholders could benefit from having both cards in their wallet by using the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card for bonus category spend, and then the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card for all "other" purchases earning 2% cash back for the first year, and 1.5% thereafter.
Learn more about how these two cards compare side-by-side.
Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card vs. Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card
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These are both pretty equally matched cards. The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card offers unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day. Capital One’s intro perk for this card is a $200 cash bonus once you spend $500 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. The Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card gives you $200 after you spend $1,000 in 90 days. Both have intro APR offers. With the Quicksilver card, cardholders can look forward to 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months (then, RegAPR; balance transfer fee applies.
If you frequently travel aboard, the Quicksilver card might be of more interest to you though as it doesn’t charge fees on foreign transactions – a rare perk for a no-annual-fee cash-back card.
Is the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card a good card?
Yes, particularly for Bank of America Preferred Rewards cardholders, the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card is good credit card. Unlimited 2% cash back for the first year, no annual fee, a $200 welcome bonus after you spend $1,000 in 90 days, and additional bonus rewards for preferred cardholders makes this a good, easy-to-use and easy-to-benefit-from credit card option for a variety of different types of credit card users.
Frequently asked questions
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Our Methodology
Survey methodology: CardRatings commissioned Slice MR in November 2024 to survey 1,666 cardholders nationwide. CardRatings’ website analytics from Jan. 1, 2024-Oct. 31, 2024 were used to determine a selection of the most popular cards. Responses to 10 questions were given on a scale of 1-10. For nine of these questions, respondents’ scores were averaged under broad topics. The overall rating represents an average of respondents’ responses to their overall rating of each card.
Disclaimer:The information in this article is believed to be accurate as of the date it was written. Please keep in mind that credit card offers change frequently. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information in this article. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards. Please verify all terms and conditions of any credit card prior to applying.
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