Review of the Bank of America Accelerated Cash Rewards Credit Card
Last Reviewed: 8/1/2010
While the Bank of America Accelerated Cash Rewards card currently ranks 5th out of 32 cashback cards, as the table below shows, this card will earn you significantly less than the top-ranked Discover Escape and American Express Blue Cash Preferred Card. In short, PlasticIQ wouldn’t recommend this card for your portfolio unless you get rejected by higher ranked cards as presented by the PIQ Ranking Engine.
| Rank | 5 (out of 32 cashback cards tracked by PlasticIQ |
| Estimated net earnings* | $928 |
| Estimated net earnings for top cash-back card* (Discover Escape) | $1,466 |
*Based on PlasticIQ’s standard spending profile for 3 years of card usage. Includes impact of various fees, including annual fees and international fees. Assumes cardholder nevercarries a balance.
Bank of America Accelerated Cash Rewards
Here’s a quick table summarizing some of the key features of the card:
| Rewards | 1.25% cashback on all purchases. |
| Redemption requirements | Rewards redeemable in $50 increments as statement credits, checks, or direct deposit. |
| Sign up bonus | $50 (after spending $50 within first 60 days of receiving the card |
| Rewards expiration | None |
| Rewards Caps | None |
| Annual Fee | None |
| International Transaction Fee | 1.0% of each transaction after conversion to USD |
| Available card network | American Express |
Follow this link to see the full and current list of terms and conditions as provided by Bank Of America.
Bank of America Accelerated Cash Rewards Expenses and Fees
This BofA card doesn’t carry an annual fee (like most cashback cards), and does boast a relatively low 1% foreign transaction fee (since it’s an American Express card). The 4% balance transfer fee is onerous, and a sign of the times.
Wrapping up: PlasticIQ’s Position on the Bank of America Accelerated Cash Rewards Credit Card
As mentioned above, this card is simple unremarkable. The 1.25% cashback does succeed in pulling the BofA Accelerated Cash Rewards card ahead of the 1% cashback pack, but not by a whole lot. The lack of special bonus categories also really hurts its prospects for greatness. It’s lack of an annual fee and low 1% foreign transaction fee are nice, but not enough to really move the needle on PIQ’s recommendation to avoid this card unless you just can’t get a hotter date.
Tags: Cashback