BofA Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card: $200 Sign-Up Bonus + 6% Cash Back on Your Chosen Category in the First Year

This card now has a new bonus: the first-year 3% category cash back has been boosted to 6%, which means the 3% category you choose in the first year can earn 6%. After one year, it goes back to 3%, and the sign-up bonus is still $200.

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Note: according to the application page, this extra 3% cannot be boosted by BofA Preferred Rewards elite member bonuses.

Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card overview:

Highlights

• Wide 2% grocery coverage, high cap: The quarterly combined cap for the 3% gas category and the 2% grocery category has recently been raised to $2,500, and it also includes warehouse clubs (Costco, Sam's, BJ's), which is great for big families doing monthly shopping. If you pair it with a Preferred Rewards bonus, it gets even better: Costco can earn 3% cash back.
• 0 APR: For balances created within 15 months, you only need to pay the minimum each month to avoid interest. Please read "How to pay off a credit card with 0 APR" carefully. There is also 0% interest on Balance Transfers within 60 days, but there is a 3% fee; see: Balance Transfer overview
• Security card conversion: This card can be converted from a BofA Security Card (can be applied for without an SSN), which is pretty nice.
• Refer a Friend perk: Some cardholders are now receiving emails letting them refer this card to friends. The applicant can get the standard $150 sign-up bonus, and the referrer can get a $50 reward. If you did not receive the email, you can still refer friends using the link below, but it is not certain whether you will ultimately receive the $50 reward: Cash Rewards Refer a Friend link. See also: Refer a friend program introduction

BofA card benefits

• Free museum admission: On the first full weekend of each month, simply show a BofA credit or debit card and your own ID to enter more than 200 museums nationwide for free. If you are an authorized user, that works too. You can check the museum list at the link below and visit if you have time~ 2019 BofA free museum list
• BofA Deal: Offers 5%-15% cash back or a fixed cash amount at various merchants. Good deals that have appeared before include: Sears 15% cash back ($25 cap), Nordstrom Rack 15% cash back ($37.5 cap), and an extra $5 for using any BofA Deal. For details, see "BofA Deals usage guide"
• Free credit score: BofA credit cards now provide a free TransUnion credit score. See: Free credit score comparison

Cons

• The sign-up bonus is average; unless you have a Preferred Rewards relationship, it is not much different from a 2% cash-back card

BofA Rewards

If you enroll in BofA Rewards, everyday card spending can earn extra bonuses based on membership tier, and all purchases can earn up to 1.5%*1.75=2.625% cash back.

• The most comprehensive introduction to BofA Rewards benefits

Here is a summary:

• BofA Rewards Member (an eligible personal Checking account, no minimum balance requirement) gets an extra 10% cash-back bonus, bringing all purchases to the equivalent of 1.65% cash back
• Preferred Plus (three-month average balance of eligible deposit and investment accounts >$30,000) gets an extra 25% cash-back bonus, bringing all purchases to the equivalent of 1.875% cash back
• Preferred Honors (three-month average balance of eligible deposit and investment accounts >$100,000) gets an extra 50% cash-back bonus, bringing all purchases to the equivalent of 2.25% cash back
• Premier (three-month average balance of eligible deposit and investment accounts >$1,000,000) gets an extra 75% cash-back bonus, bringing all purchases to the equivalent of 2.625% cash back
• For the specific requirements, see: official link

My take:

Existing cardholders can now choose their own 3% cash-back category, and the new application page also shows the 3% category selection. BofA also provides sample merchants for each category, and the specific details and analysis are as follows:

• Online shopping: Includes the websites of Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, and Walmart that sell goods, and I would expect eBay and the like to count as well. Excluded items include bills such as hospitals, government, taxes, insurance, tuition, and utilities. BofA probably decides whether something qualifies for 3% based on the merchant category code. A few things worth testing are whether PayPal counts—if it does, a lot of spending can be routed through a PayPal layer. The same goes for Visa Checkout. Also, whether Plastiq counts; if it does, the 3% reward is still higher than the fee, so you could use it to pay loans and even come out ahead.

• Travel: In short, airfare, hotels, car rentals, rideshares, Airbnb, cruises, and tolls all count as travel. It is very broad. If you travel a lot during summer or winter break, this could be a good choice. Of course, there are many other cards that can cover travel, so choose based on your own setup.

• Drugstores: If you simply want to buy Visa gift cards, drugstores are the most convenient option. CVS and Walgreens are both very convenient. Five Visa gift cards and you're done. Of course, drugstores also have a very wide selection of other third-party gift cards.

• Home improvement: This includes not only furniture retailers like Lowe's, IKEA, and Home Depot, but also various repair and cleaning expenses; in the end it probably still depends on the code.

• Gas: Nothing much to say about gas. Warehouse club fuel pump payments also count.

• Dining: Nothing much to say about dining either. There are plenty of alternative cards, so you do not necessarily need to choose this one.

This card has expanded the 3% cash-back categories. Now you can also earn it on EV charging, internet/TV/streaming/phone plans. Details below:

• The gas category now includes EV charging. Gas & EV Charging Stations
• Online shopping now includes cable/streaming/internet/phone plans. Online Shopping, Cable, Streaming, Internet & Phone Plans

Recently, I have seen quite a few people use this card for checking account funding and still get 3% for online shopping. You can give it a try.

• Summary: Which 3% category you choose depends on what cards you have. If you have a lot of cards, online shopping is probably the better choice, since currently only the AT&T card has this feature. Also, if you have a BofA premium checking account, your cash back can earn up to a 70% bonus, meaning 3% becomes 5.25%—very strong. A regular checking account also gets 10%. Whether a purchase earns 3% cash back depends on the merchant category code, so I recommend trying a small purchase first before making a larger one.

Of course, for groceries you can also use the AMEX Everyday Prefferred credit card to earn 4.5x MR points, and for gas I used a clever spending category swap together with AMEX Offer to stock up on gas gift cards at 20% off.

One good thing about BofA is that its Chinese-language customer service is quite helpful; the phone number is below. Still, I recommend calling English customer service to practice your spoken English.

In-branch application

According to reader reports, this card now also has a $200 welcome bonus when applying in a BofA branch, and one reader recently took two F1 students without SSNs to apply and both were approved, as follows:

• They first opened a BofA checking account and deposited $10,000-$20,000 for living expenses
• After waiting one month, they could go to a BofA branch to ask whether they could open a credit card. They needed to bring a passport, I-20, and similar documents; no SSN was required
• The banker said the in-branch application also had a $200 welcome bonus, and recommended Customized Cash or the 1.5% cash back Unlimited Cash. That one can probably also be applied for without an SSN. I still think this customizable 3% card is the better choice
• When applying, applicants under age 24 will be directed to the student version of this card (which also has the same $200 bonus), and it is said to be 100% approved. Those age 24 and above can only apply for the regular version, and approval depends on your checking-account balance.
• The banker will also count the living expenses your family gives you as annual income on the application. One person listed $60,000 and was given a $1,000 credit limit; another listed $100,000 and was given a $1,500 credit limit

In short, getting started is always the hardest part, so being able to open an account and get a bonus is pretty good. Credit history can be built slowly, and it can still be linked even without an SSN. If you do not have much in deposits and want to apply online, this may be worth considering, and it also does not require an SSN.

Application:

• This card is relatively easy to get approved for; even a little credit history can make approval easy
• This card also has a bonus when applying at a BofA counter (since 2021). If the banker does not mention the bonus when you apply, you can call and ask for it (see image above)
• If you have a BofA checking or savings account, that can greatly help with approval, and you may also receive targeted offers with a higher bonus

• BOA application status check link, or call: (800) 732-9194
• 2/3/4 rule: at most 2 cards approved within 2 months, 3 within 12 months, and 4 within 24 months. However, BofA’s system is not very reliable, and sometimes a card may be approved at first but later shut down.
• The welcome bonus on the same card can only be received once every 24 months, and you need to make sure the card is closed before applying again>
• You need to be a Resident to apply for a BOA credit card online: when applying for a BofA credit card online, if you select Non resident alien, you will not be able to continue and must apply by phone. However, BofA’s definition of Resident alien is different from the IRS definition of Resident alien for tax purpose. No matter what immigration status you used to enter the US, if you have lived in the US for 183 days within the past two years, then select Resident Alien. If you just arrived in the US and cannot meet this requirement, follow the prompt on the online application page and call 1.800.932.2775 to apply.
• You can call the reconsideration line (888-593-6092) to speed up credit card approval or request a review of a denied application.
• More about applying for BofA credit cards

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