Bank of America Preferred Rewards: Your Complete Guide

Introduction to Bank of America Preferred Rewards

The Bank of America Preferred Rewards program can be extremely lucrative if you're a Bank of America customer or willing to become one. Here's what you should know about qualifications and participation. 

What is the Preferred Rewards program? 

The Bank of America Preferred Rewards program offers special banking discounts, bonus rewards on credit card spending, and other financial perks to consumers who keep a certain amount of money on deposit with the bank over time.

The minimum account balance requirements are high with Bank of America Preferred Rewards, but this program could be extremely fruitful if you move some of your savings over and take advantage of all the benefits you can.

Tiers and benefits of Preferred Rewards

The Bank of America Preferred Rewards program is offered in three major "tiers," with each tier offering a greater level of benefit than the one before based on your deposits. Your balance is reviewed monthly, so you'll automatically move to the next tier level if applicable. 

Program eligibility and enrollment process

Each tier requires a certain level of financial investment across Bank of America and/or Merrill, Bank of America's wealth management division. You'll find different increasing benefits at each tier level. 

Overview of tier levels: Gold, Platinum, Platinum honors

Here's a basic rundown of how you can qualify for each tier – and what you'll receive in return.

Bank of America Preferred Rewards Gold tier benefits

To achieve Gold status in the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program, you'll need a three-month average combined balance of $20,000 to $50,000 in your Bank of America banking and/or Merrill (Bank of America's wealth management division) investment accounts. 

• 25% more rewards on eligible Bank of America rewards credit card spending
• 5% interest rate savings booster on eligible savings accounts
• 0.05% fee discount on Merrill Guided Investing services
• $200 off your origination fee with a Bank of America mortgage
• 0.125% home equity line of credit (HELOC) rate discount
• 0.25% auto loan rate discount
• Waived monthly maintenance fees on up to four checking and up to four savings accounts
• No-fee banking services
• 1% discount on foreign currency exchange rates

Bank of America Preferred Rewards Platinum tier benefits

To achieve Platinum status, you'll need a three-month average combined balance of $50,000 to $100,000 in your Bank of America accounts. 

• 50% more rewards on eligible Bank of America rewards credit card spending
• 10% interest rate savings booster on eligible savings accounts
• Up to 12 no-fee ATM transactions per year at non-Bank of America ATMs in the US
• 0.10% fee discount on Merrill Guided Investing services
• Priority customer service
• $400 off your origination fee with a Bank of America mortgage
• 0.250% home equity line of credit rate discount
• 0.35% auto loan rate discount
• Waived monthly maintenance fees on up to four checking and up to four savings accounts
• No-fee banking services
• 1.5% discount on foreign currency exchange rates

Bank of America Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors tier benefits 

To achieve the highest tier of status in the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program, you'll need a three-month average combined balance of at least $100,000 in your Bank of America accounts. This tier of status comes with the following benefits:

Platinum Honors tier benefits: 

• 75% more rewards on eligible Bank of America rewards credit card spending
• 20% interest rate savings booster on eligible savings accounts
• Unlimited no-fee ATM transactions per year at non-Bank of America ATMs in the US
• 0.15% fee discount on Merrill Guided Investing services
• $600 off your origination fee with a Bank of America mortgage
• 0.375% home equity line of credit rate discount
• 0.50% auto loan rate discount
• Waived monthly maintenance fees on checking and savings accounts
• No-fee banking services
• 2% discount on foreign currency exchange rates

Earning and maximizing Preferred Rewards benefits 

Many Preferred Rewards program perks can you save money, but you'll likely only use them a handful of times over the course of your lifetime. For example, how often will you need to save on an origination fee for a new mortgage or take out a car loan?

How to earn points with Bank of America

This is why the additional rewards you can earn in this program with a Bank of America credit card are so intriguing. Unlike other Bank of America Preferred Rewards perks, the credit card benefit can help you earn considerably more travel rewards or cash back on everything you buy all year long. 

If you're already enrolled in the Preferred Rewards program, and your balance temporarily drops below the eligible minimum, there's no need to worry. You can keep your current Preferred Rewards status for a full year. After that, if your balance is still too low, you could be in danger of losing your current program status. 

Credit cards that earn Preferred Rewards bonuses

Most of Bank of America's branded consumer credit cards are eligible for the Preferred Rewards bonuses, but non-rewards cards, certain partnered cards (like the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® credit card ), and secured versions of Bank of America rewards cards can't earn Preferred Rewards bonuses. 

Also note that you can get some co-branded versions of credit cards above, including options like the Susan G. Komen® Cash Rewards Visa® credit card from Bank of America. These are simply "branded" options of other cards, so their reward structures are the same. 

Business credit cards eligible for Bank of America Preferred Rewards

It's important to note that Bank of America business cards technically have their own program: Bank of America Preferred Rewards for Business. However, eligibility for the business program, as well as bonuses rewards and benefits, are essentially the same as the regular Preferred Rewards program. 

Personal Bank of America accounts cannot receive Preferred Rewards for Business benefits and vice versa.

How to earn more credit card rewards by joining Bank of America Preferred Rewards

At this point, you're probably wondering how much more you'll earn in rewards by becoming a Bank of America Preferred Rewards member. Not surprisingly, this all depends on the card you sign up for, how much you spend each year, and the tier of Preferred Rewards you qualify for based on your deposits.

Let's imagine you sign up for the Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card instead and spent the following amounts the first year:

• $10,000 each year on travel and dining to earn 2x points
• $16,000 per year on other purchases to earn 1.5x points

In that case, you would rack up 20,000 points, worth $200, on travel and dining during year one, as well as 24,000 points worth $240 on other purchases for a total of $440. If you were a Bank of America Preferred Rewards member, however, your rewards would grow to these amounts during year one:

• Preferred Rewards Gold (25% bonus): $550
• Preferred Rewards Platinum (50% bonus): $660
• Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors (75% bonus): $770

If you add in the initial 60,000 online bonus points after you make at least $4,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening you can earn with this card, your first-year rewards haul would be at least $1,050, but could run as high as $1,320 depending on your rewards tier in this program.

Bottom line

If you're a Bank of America customer or thinking of switching over, it's hard to deny the power of the Preferred Rewards program. Considering you could move just $20,000 of your savings over to the bank to qualify, you may want to consider it.

Before you do, however, it makes sense to compare all the best Bank of America credit cards to see which one might fit your needs. Bonus rewards from the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program will be nice, but you should strive to pick a card that makes the most sense for your normal spending patterns, too. 

Bank of America Preferred Rewards program frequently asked questions

Holly Johnson

Holly Johnson is a credit card expert, award-winning writer, and mother of two who is obsessed with frugality, budgeting, and travel. In addition to serving as contributing editor for The Simple Dollar and writing for publications such as Bankrate, U.S. News and World Report Travel, and Travel Pulse, Johnson owns Club Thrifty and is the co-author of "Zero Down Your Debt: Reclaim Your Income and Build a Life You’ll Love."

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Tessa Campbell

Investing and Retirement Reporter

Tessa Campbell is an investing and retirement reporter on Business Insider’s personal finance desk. Over two years of personal finance reporting, Tessa has built expertise on a range of financial topics, from the best credit cards to the best retirement savings accounts.ExperienceTessa currently reports on all things investing — deep-diving into complex financial topics,  shedding light on lesser-known investment avenues, and uncovering ways readers can work the system to their advantage.As a personal finance expert in her 20s, Tessa is acutely aware of the impacts time and uncertainty have on your investment decisions. While she curates Business Insider’s guide on the best investment apps, she believes that your financial portfolio does not have to be perfect, it just has to exist. A small investment is better than nothing, and the mistakes you make along the way are a necessary part of the learning process.Expertise: Tessa’s expertise includes:

• Credit cards
• Investing apps
• Retirement savings
• Cryptocurrency
• The stock market
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Education: Tessa graduated from Susquehanna University with a creative writing degree and a psychology minor.When she’s not digging into a financial topic, you’ll find Tessa waist-deep in her second cup of coffee. She currently drinks Kitty Town coffee, which blends her love of coffee with her love for her two cats: Keekee and Dumpling. It was a targeted advertisement, and it worked.

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