topic Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal? in Credit Cards

BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

MaisCher — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 02:13:33 GMT

All,

My oldest son has turned 18 and because I had so little lessons on credit I've been hammering the importance of a good credit score/management in his head for years. Years ago I added him as an authorized user on two of my cards. We checked his score a month after he turned 18 this summer and his scores currently hover around 740.

He's working and I want him to have a card in his own name (just one) for gas and his cell phone bill. It would be paid in full on pay day but I want him to get used to the responsiblity. He's had my Amex Delta Gold for gas and incidentals since he started driving and we haven't had any issues.

He received a preselected offer from BofA for the cash rewards. I'm wondering if this is the card for him. Details below:

1% cash back everywhere

2% cash back grocery store and 3% cash back gas - first $1,500 each quarter

100 bonus after $500 purchases/90 days

0% APR for 15 mths than 16.99%

I was also considering the Discover card for him since those limits start fairly small but this seemed like a good deal for him.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

kdm31091 — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 02:17:00 GMT

The rewards are decent especially for someone just starting out! Keep in mind BOA also offers Amerideals, which are random 10% offerings on certain merchants. No guarantee they'll match up with one's spend of course, but they are better than nothing. People report the deals frequently including certain restaurants, etc.

Discover is also a great option with rotating 5% categories and 1% on everything else. If you sign up before the year's end, they are running a double cash promotion, so those rates jump to 10%/2% for the first year. Discover also has their Chrome card, geared toward students, with 2% restaurants and gas, and 1% elsewhere. This one also is eligible for the promo, so 4%/2% for year one.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 02:31:36 GMT

Bofa bbr is a better card. He can put his cellphone bill on it. $100-120 cash back per year.

chase aarp is a great card, 3% gas and 3% restaurants. Bonus, your son will not be whipping out that card in front of friends

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

kdm31091 — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 02:52:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Bofa bbr is a better card. He can put his cellphone bill on it. $100-120 cash back per year.

chase aarp is a great card, 3% gas and 3% restaurants. Bonus, your son will not be whipping out that card in front of friends

BBR is only better to some extent. It's 25 a quarter, roughly $8 a month. If he would spend enough to get $8 in rewards on the Cash Rewards, then that's the better choice, IMO. Now, that would require $800 in spend at 1%, or $400 in groceries, or roughly $300 in gas. Certainly a somewhat tall order for someone just starting out, but the BBR is not automatically better is my point. Now, for lower spend than that, the BBR's rewards will eclipse the Cash, but there are also some technicalities with BBR, having a balance so the $25 isn't forfeited, etc. Might be a bit too much micromanaging involved for someone new to credit and probably not all too interested in optimizing rewards.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

MaisCher — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 02:55:21 GMT

His spend is not much. $50/mth cellphone $80/month gas and about $100 on fast food, clothes or other random purchases.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 03:10:56 GMT

Bbr for cell. Chase aarp for gas and restaurants. Kids that age, you want to limit their spending. There spending is mostly gas and food.

Under my plan

cell

$50 = $8.33-$10 / month

Gas and food

$180 = $5.40

Total cash back $13.73-$15.73

under kdm

cell

$50 @ 1% = $0.50 / month

Gas

$80 @ 3% = $2.40

food

$100 @ 1% = $1.00

total cashback $3.90

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

kdm31091 — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 03:12:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Bbr for cell. Chase aarp for gas and restaurants. Kids that age, you want to limit their spending. There spending is mostly gas and food.

Under my plan
cell
$50 = $8.33-$10 / month
Gas and food
$180 = $5.40
Total cash back $13.73-$15.73

under kdm
cell
@$50 @ 1% = $0.50 / month
Gas
@$80 @ 3% = $2.40
food
@$100 @ 1% = $1.00
total cashback $3.90

Now that we know the spend, it makes sense....as I said, it depends on the spend level.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 03:16:21 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Bbr for cell. Chase aarp for gas and restaurants. Kids that age, you want to limit their spending. There spending is mostly gas and food.

Under my plan
cell
$50 = $8.33-$10 / month
Gas and food
$180 = $5.40
Total cash back $13.73-$15.73

under kdm
cell
@$50 @ 1% = $0.50 / month
Gas
@$80 @ 3% = $2.40
food
@$100 @ 1% = $1.00
total cashback $3.90

Now that we know the spend, it makes sense....as I said, it depends on the spend level.

Bbr is free money, brought to you by the good folks at bofa.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 03:46:18 GMT

@MaisCher wrote:
His spend is not much. $50/mth cellphone $80/month gas and about $100 on fast food, clothes or other random purchases.

That's a lot of money spent on fast food, so I don't think we should be encouraging that type of behavior.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 03:24:52 GMT

@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
@MaisCher wrote:
His spend is not much. $50/mth cellphone $80/month gas and about $100 on fast food, clothes or other random purchases.
That's a lot of money spent on fast food, so I don't think we should be encouragng that type of behavior.

Oh please. We are talkin teenage boy here.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 03:45:25 GMT

I think teaching him the benefits of having a cash back credit card are important and earning money for doing the things he would regularly do is an added bonus. I have both the Cash Rewards and BBR and I love them both. He would definitely earn more cash back with the BBR based on his current spend.

If he opened a regular savings account with BoA for $300, he would earn $30 per quarter instead of $25 giving him a total savings of $120 a year instead of $100. I'm sure you've already taught him the importance of saving money and now he could save an extra $120 a year with very little effort on his part. It's a win-win. The BBR is also eligible to earn cash back via BankAmeriDeals which KDM mentioned.

I know it's not a lot of money, but I'm a big proponent of earning money for things one does anyway. Please let us know the outcome.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 04:35:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
@MaisCher wrote:
His spend is not much. $50/mth cellphone $80/month gas and about $100 on fast food, clothes or other random purchases.
That's a lot of money spent on fast food, so I don't think we should be encouraging that type of behavior.
Oh please. We are talkin teenage boy here.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 04:00:50 GMT

I love me some BBR, and it sounds like it would be a great fit for him with his low spending. If he is preapproved for Cash Rewards, he probably would also be approved for BBR. I don't think there is a drastically different level of underwriting between the cards.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

MaisCher — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 07:39:54 GMT

@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
@MaisCher wrote:
His spend is not much. $50/mth cellphone $80/month gas and about $100 on fast food, clothes or other random purchases.
That's a lot of money spent on fast food, so I don't think we should be encouraging that type of behavior.

Fast food, clothes, AND other random purchases. He's not spending $100 on just fast food. He's a teenage boy and an athlete, his eating habits are fine, but thanks.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

celluloid17 — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 07:55:21 GMT

What about Capital One Quicksilver?

It too has a $100 sign-up bonus for $500 worth of spend within the first 3 months. He would earn 1.5% back on all purchases, which would be more fun for him because he would get to watch his rewards grow as each transaction posts and redeem at any amount. Also, there's a very user friendly app and they offer a free FICO score, which would be useful for him to start being mindful of now. In addition, SP CLIs are much more likely with Cap1 than with BOA and there's no FTF if he gets the opportunity to travel abroad.

Granted, the Quicksilver doesn't offer the amount of cash back for his spend that the BBR would, but to me, that shouldn't be the primary goal when starting out an autonomous credit journey.

Capital One has a pretty accurate pre-qualifed tool to see if he would qualify for one of their products. It might be worth a look!

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 09:06:07 GMT

@celluloid17 wrote:
What about Capital One Quicksilver?

It too has a $100 sign-up bonus for $500 worth of spend within the first 3 months. He would earn 1.5% back on all purchases, which would be more fun for him because he would get to watch his rewards grow as each transaction posts and redeem at any amount. Also, there's a very user friendly app and they offer a free FICO score, which would be useful for him to start being mindful of now. In addition, SP CLIs are much more likely with Cap1 than with BOA and there's no FTF if he gets the opportunity to travel abroad.

Granted, the Quicksilver doesn't offer the amount of cash back for his spend that the BBR would, but to me, that shouldn't be the primary goal when starting out an autonomous credit journey.

Capital One has a pretty accurate pre-qualifed tool to see if he would qualify for one of their products. It might be worth a look!

Now, why would he need qs when he could get citi double cash. His spending doesn't justify cashback cards, hence my recommendation for bbr. Now if mom is smart, she would have him signup for a credit union that offers low apr auto loan.

Cap one score is not Fico.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 09:42:08 GMT

@MaisCher wrote:
@beautifulblaquepearl wrote:
@MaisCher wrote:
His spend is not much. $50/mth cellphone $80/month gas and about $100 on fast food, clothes or other random purchases.
That's a lot of money spent on fast food, so I don't think we should be encouraging that type of behavior.
Fast food, clothes, AND other random purchases. He's not spending $100 on just fast food. He's a teenage boy and an athlete, his eating habits are fine, but thanks.

You're welcome.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

icyhot — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 10:55:55 GMT

If his bill is going to be PIF every payday, depending on when that is, it may not even fall when the statement cuts to be eligible for the $25 on BBR. The BBR is supposed to be a balance transfer card, doesn't actually give rewards on purchases and I doubt a teenage boy will care to micromanage in that way, or even care to maximize rewards for category spending with multiple cards. Like mom said, she only wants to get him one card. The BofA cash is great IMO or the QS is a good option since he seems to be a light spender. The SP CLIs with Cap1 would put them over BofA IMHO but that's mom's call.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

MaisCher — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 11:07:43 GMT

Lots of great suggestions for some of you, thanks a bunch!!!

I hadn't even thought about having him join a credit union but that's a great call. I think we'll look a little harder at Citi DC and QS before making a decision.

Re: BofA Cash Rewards - Good Deal?

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 15:06:24 GMT

@icyhot wrote:
If his bill is going to be PIF every payday, depending on when that is, it may not even fall when the statement cuts to be eligible for the $25 on BBR. The BBR is supposed to be a balance transfer card, doesn't actually give rewards on purchases and I doubt a teenage boy will care to micromanage in that way, or even care to maximize rewards for category spending with multiple cards. Like mom said, she only wants to get him one card. The BofA cash is great IMO or the QS is a good option since he seems to be a light spender. The SP CLIs with Cap1 would put them over BofA IMHO but that's mom's call.

The BBR is a "balance transfer card" in the same way that Sallie Mae is a "student card" - that is to say, that's what BOA and Barclays would like you to believe for advertising purposes but there is a heck of a lot more utility to be had when used in another way.