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The Bank of America Preferred Rewards program is designed to attract casual Bank of America (BofA) clients and turn them into loyal customers. By consolidating your checking, savings, investments and retirement banking into BofA and Merrill accounts, you’ll get access to a variety of banking perks. Including a 25% to 75% points and cash back boost on qualified BofA credit cards. The more total combined assets you have across eligible accounts, the more benefits you’ll get.
In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know about Bank of America Preferred Rewards.
Bank Of America Advantage Banking $100 Bonus Offer
- What you’ll get: $100 bonus offer
- How to earn it:
- The $100 bonus offer is an online only offer and must be opened through the Bank of America promotional page
- The offer is for new checking customers only
- Offer expires 6/30/2022
- To qualify, open an account through the promotional page and set up and receive qualifying direct deposits of $1000 or more into that account within 90 days of opening.
- Bank of America will attempt to pay bonus within 60 days.
- Additional terms and conditions apply. See offer page for more details.
- Member FDIC
Preferred Rewards 101
To qualify for Bank of America Preferred Rewards, you need:
- A BofA personal checking account, and
- At least $20,000 in eligible BofA accounts, including Merrill Edge and Merrill Lynch investment accounts.
The Preferred Rewards program has three tiers, based on your three-month average combined balance:
| GOLD | PLATINUM | PLATINUM HONORS |
| $20,000 – $49,999 | $50,000 – $99,999 | More than $100,000 |
Qualifying BofA and Merrill account include:
- Emergency accounts
- Holiday accounts
- Savings accounts
- Checking accounts
- Investment accounts (including IRAs)
Keep in mind, SafeBalance Banking accounts do not count towards Preferred Rewards balance requirements.
Balances don’t have to originate with BofA or Merrill in order to qualify. You can roll your existing investment accounts and IRAs over to eligible ones, then use those rolled over balances to establish the three-month average you’re aiming for.
You can move up a Preferred Membership tier in any month, when your average daily balance for the three previous month reaches the tier minimum. But moving down a tier can only occur once a year, when Preferred Rewards conducts an annual review of your account.
The information presented has been collected independently by MoneysMyLife. It is current at the time of publishing and will be updated from time-to-time but for the most up-to-date information, please click here to find our source.
Preferred Rewards Benefits
Let’s dive deep into what you get with your Preferred Rewards membership:
Preferred Rewards members get a 25% to 75% bonus on credit card points and cash back:
| TIER | REWARDS BONUS |
| Gold | 25% |
| Platinum | 50% |
| Platinum Honors | 75% |
If you want to make the most out of your Preferred Rewards membership, you’ll want the Bank of America Travel Rewards or the Bank of America Cash Rewards credit card.
Bank of America Travel Rewards earning rate with the Preferred Rewards boost:
| Non-Member | 1.5x on all purchases |
| Gold | 1.875x points on all purchases |
| Platinum | 2.25x points on all purchases |
| Platinum Honors | 2.625x points on all purchases |
Bank of America Cash Rewards earning rate with the Preferred Rewards boost:
| Non-Member | 3% cash back on a choice category 2% back at grocery stores 2% back at wholesale clubs 1% back on all other purchases |
| Gold | 3.75% cash back on a choice category 2.5% back at grocery stores 2.5% back at wholesale clubs 1.25% back on all other purchases |
| Platinum | 4.5% category of your choice 3% grocery stores 3% wholesale clubs 1.5% all other purchases |
| Platinum Honors | 5.25% category of your choice 3.5% grocery stores 3.5% wholesale clubs 1.75% all other purchases |
Not all BofA credit cards are eligible for the Preferred Rewards bonus. The following cards do not qualify:
- Non-rewards credit cards
- Business credit cards
- Bank of America Accolades
- Better Balance Rewards
- Merrill Lynch-branded
- U.S. Trust-branded
- AAA Gas Rebate
- Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard
- Alaska Airlines
- Allegiant World Mastercard
- Amtrak Guest Rewards
- Amway
- Asiana Airlines
- Celebrity Cruises
- Royal Caribbean International
- Sonesta World MasterCard
- Spirit Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic Airways
All Preferred Rewards members get:
- Monthly maintenance fees waived on up to 4 eligible checking and 4 eligible savings accounts.
- Overdraft protection transfer fees waived from linked savings accounts, secondary checking accounts or from a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC).
You’ll also enjoy fee-free:
- ATM or debit card replacement
- Standard check orders
- Cashier’s checks
- Check image service
- Check copies
- Stop payments
- Incoming domestic wire transfers
In addition to all of the above, Platinum and Platinum Honors members don’t have to pay fees for incoming international wire transfers and can access a small safe deposit box at a BofA branch for free.
Platinum and Platinum Honors members won’t have to pay non-BofA ATM fees in the United States. You’ll receive a refund on ATM operator or network fee for withdrawals, balance inquiries and balance transfers.
| TIER | FREE TRANSACTIONS |
| Gold | None |
| Platinum | 12/year |
| Platinum Honors | Unlimited |
To take advantage of this perk, you’ll need a BofA Rewards Money Market Savings account. Enrollment in Preferred Rewards will not automatically convert your existing savings account without your request.
| TIER | INTEREST RATE BOOST |
| Gold | 5% |
| Platinum | 10% |
| Platinum Honors | 20% |
| LOAN DISCOUNTS | GOLD | PLATINUM | PLATINUM HONORS |
| Mortgage reduced origination fee | $200 | $400 | $600 |
| Home equity rate discount | 0.125% | 0.250% | 0.375% |
| Auto loan rate discount | 0.25% | 0.35% | 0.50% |
| GOLD | PLATINUM | PLATINUM HONORS | |
| Guided investing (fee discount) | 0.05% | 0.10% | 0.15% |
The foreign currency exchange rate discounts below only apply to online orders and includes free standard shipping.
| TIER | RATE DISCOUNT |
| Gold | 1% |
| Platinum | 1.5% |
| Platinum Honors | 2% |
All of the information presented above has been collected independently by MoneysMyLife. It is current at the time of publishing and will be updated from time-to-time but for the most up-to-date information, please click here for details on Preferred Rewards benefits and here for details on free waivers.
Bottom Line
Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards is an underrated relationship rewards program that most BofA clients aren’t even aware of. Not only do members get boosted credit card rewards, but they’ll also benefit from waived banking fees, free ATM transactions and much more.
If you’re already a BofA customer, you should seriously consider moving all your banking and investing over to Bank of America to take full advantage of the perks that come with the Preferred Rewards program.
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Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Disclaimer: These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, credit card issuer, hotel, airline or other entity. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. It is not the bank advertiser's or any other entity's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.