Bank of America Preferred Rewards is made to get casual Bank of America customers to convert into a loyal customer. They do this by consolidating checking, savings, investments and retirement banking into Bank of America and Merrill accounts, which gives you access to a variety of banking perks. This can include a 25% to 75% points and cash back boost on qualified Bank of America credit cards. Continue reading our Bank of America Preferred Rewards guide to learn more!
Bank of America Preferred Rewards Quick Facts
To qualify for Bank of America Preferred Rewards, you will need these two things:
- 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 |
Once you qualify for a BofA and/or Merrill account, you will have access to these features:
- Emergency accounts
- Holiday accounts
- Savings accounts
- Checking accounts
- Investment accounts (including IRAs)
Your balances do not have to come from Bank of America or Merrill in order to qualify. If you have an existing investment account and/or IRA, you can roll them over to eligible accounts. This will allow you to establish the three-month average that you are going for.
Upgrade to a Preferred Membership tier in any month once your average daily balance for th ethree previous months reaches the tier minimum. However, going down a tier can only happen once a year and that is when Preferred Rewards conducts an annual review of your account.
Credit Card Rewards Bonus
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 | 50% |
To get the most out of your Preferred Rewards membership, the Bank of America Travel Rewards card or the Bank of America Cash Rewards credit card is the way to go.
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 |
Preferred Rewards Benefits
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
Additionally, Platinum and Platinum Honors members don’t have to pay for any fees regarding international wire transfers and can access a small safe deposit box at a BofA branch.
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 |
In order to be eligible for this perk, you will need a Bank of America 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% |
| Tier | Guided Investing (Fee discount) |
| Gold | 0.05% |
| Platinum | 0.10% |
| Platinum Honors | 0.15% |
| Tier | Rate Discount |
| Gold | 1% |
| Platinum | 1.5% |
| Platinum Honors | 2% |
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Bottom Line
Bank of America Preferred Rewards is an overlooked relationship rewards program that even some Bank of America customers don’t know about. If you are a customer, definitely try to sign up for this rewards program to get boosted credit card rewards, waived banking fees, free ATM transactions and more.
If you’re liking our Bank of America Preferred Rewards guide, be sure to share it with a friend. For more posts like this check out our list of credit card bonuses and ways to save money!
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