BOA Cash Rewards?

[Anonymous]

I currently have a BOA cash rewards card with $2,000 limit with a APR of 22.99%. Any good reason to keep this account open? I was trying to lay out the benefits on the table but couldn't find any. Are there any benefits of this card that I don't know of?

[gdale6]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I currently have a BOA cash rewards card with $2,000 limit with a APR of 22.99%. Any good reason to keep this account open? I was trying to lay out the benefits on the table but couldn't find any. Are there any benefits of this card that I don't know of?

---

I would not close anything if all you have is 3 cards you need that many open for Fico scoring purposes. As to the benefits of this particular card someone else will have to chime in.

[Anonymous]

Gdale6 advice is always right on. We love you! 

           _       _        __  
          | |     | |      / /  
  __ _  __| | __ _| | ___ / /_  
 / _` |/ _` |/ _` | |/ _ \ '_ \ 
| (_| | (_| | (_| | |  __/ (_) |
 \__, |\__,_|\__,_|_|\___|\___/ 
  __/ |                         
 |___/                          

[Anonymous]

The Cash Rewards does offer 3% on gas purchases which is more than the 1.5 for QS and 2 for DC.  

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

The Cash Rewards does offer 3% on gas purchases which is more than the 1.5 for QS and 2 for DC.  

---

So 1% more on gas purchases. Anything else?

[Anonymous]

You get a 10% bonus on any rewards transferred to a BoA checking or savings.

[Anonymous]

Oh, and so far at least, the most courteous, professional and knowledgable customer service.

[Anonymous]

Bump. Anyone else have something different?

[Anonymous]

I'll be honest with you, I didn't think it was the best card when I had it. I only used it to buy gas when I couldn't get 5% back from Discover, and I paid in full every month. I've since product-changed it to the Better Balance Rewards, because I was getting less than $100 cash back per year from the amount I used it.

A couple months after switching, I got them to reduce the interest from 20.24% to 17.99%. It does have a $39 annual fee (left over from when it was a secured card), but I got them to waive it this past January. Since you don't have the annual fee and they don't let you PC to the Better Balance Rewards anymore, I would suggest keeping it, but just use it for gas and pay in full every month.

[chwebb1]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Bump. Anyone else have something different?

---

1. Good customer service.

2. Will negotiate APRs if you call the Backdoor number. I got mine lowered from 18.99% on my BBR and 19.99% on my Cash Rewards to 11.99% and 12.99% respectively.

3. Generous with CLIs. I just put in a CLI, and although it was a HP, I went from $2500 to $6500. I also called the regular number to get an upgrade to Visa Signature, which they happily granted.

4. Gas and Grocery categories. You get 2% back on groceries and 3% back on gas.

5. If you have a fairly significant amount of money and a checking account with them, you can enroll in Preferred Rewards. This will grant you an extra 25%, 50%, or 75% cash back depending on the amount of money you have there. So this card could be even better than your Citi or Cap 1 IMO, with a 1.75% cash back on everything, 3.5% back on groceries, and 5.25% back on gas. That cash back rate is very competitive if you ask me. You can reach this amount by transferring any brokerage accounts/retirement accounts from previous employers (into Merrill Edge, and also get free trades)/checking accounts (into BoA), etc. This is my next big financial goal (to get to the top tier of Preferred Rewards, I'm currently the lowest tier and get a 25% bonus).

6. If you are unable to qualify for Preferred Rewards, if you have your bonus deposited into a BoA account, you get a 10% rewards bonus. So your cash back amounts are 1.1%, 2.2%, and 3.3%. Gas and Groceries here are better than either of your other cards.

7. You really want a minimum of 3 bank cards for FICO scoring. It appears that you currently only have 3 bank cards.

That's all I'm thinking of at the moment, but I'm sure there are other reasons too.