topic Re: Bank of America Product change? in Credit Cards

Bank of America Product change?

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 12:00:55 GMT

I have the BankAmericard Visa with no rewards. Has anyone had luck getting it product changed into the cash/travel rewards?

The first rep I had on the phone said that it was not possible. She also said it was not possible to get a 10 month old late payment fee waived. The next rep was able to refund the late fee. (and lower my rate)

Re: Bank of America Product change?

Glen_M — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 12:47:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have the BankAmericard Visa with no rewards. Has anyone had luck getting it product changed into the cash/travel rewards?

The first rep I had on the phone said that it was not possible. She also said it was not possible to get a 10 month old late payment fee waived. The next rep was able to refund the late fee. (and lower my rate)

Not speaking from experience yet, but I'm fairly certain that their standard rewards are essentially a feature that can be added to your current BankAmericard account, turning it from a plain credit line into a 3-2-1 or travel rewards card. Using automotive lingo you can think of those three (and the secured card) as the same 'base model' with different 'options packages'. I've read a number of stories of cards being graduated or upgraded with BofA, including some that got rewards added (even added to the secured card).

A new or otherwise inexperienced call center rep will often deny something that is completely possible. Sometimes it has to do with the way you word a request, sometimes they just don't know what you/they are talking about. The qualifications to become a call center worker are pretty low.

Re: Bank of America Product change?

MrDisco99 — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 14:36:45 GMT

If it's a MasterCard, it can't be converted to a Visa product.

Re: Bank of America Product change?

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 16:17:31 GMT

Both of my BofA cards have been PCed over the years-my BBR MasterCard has been a Visa and an Amex at one point. I would contact them through online chat or through Social Media to see if you can get some help that way.

One thing to note: BofA PC's take up to 45 days to take effect..its the strangest thing. Citibank does something similar; however, with CItibank everything is instant-they just give you 45 days to rescind before the PC is completely official.

Re: Bank of America Product change?

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 16:51:22 GMT

Yes the bank Americard can be PC’d to the cash rewards. MC to visa doesn’t matter. People switch sometimes to the MLB MC also which is the same as the cash rewards card. Like CO_Native says, it can take several weeks to process so don’t freak out if they say yes and you don’t receive it for awhile.

After it changes in your online profile, it’s about 7-10 days from that point.

Re: Bank of America Product change?

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 17:27:43 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have the BankAmericard Visa with no rewards. Has anyone had luck getting it product changed into the cash/travel rewards?

The first rep I had on the phone said that it was not possible. She also said it was not possible to get a 10 month old late payment fee waived. The next rep was able to refund the late fee. (and lower my rate)

I had absolutely no problem at all doing exactly this about 5 months ago. Not sure if they changed any rules, but I would try another rep. It's really just a gas card though. Might want to save a hard pull for another card. I think they did an inquiry when I did the PC. Not 100% sure on that. The travel one is not really a travel card.

Re: Bank of America Product change?

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 22:24:20 GMT

Thanks for the input guys. Its really not a huge concern of mine but it is one of my oldest cards so I use it once a month to keep it active.

Getting it to a rewards card would make it easier to use - haha. Its a "low intrest" card but still over 13% , so basically useless.

Re: Bank of America Product change?

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 22:33:16 GMT

Love to slide into the BBR but i think im a year to late

Re: Bank of America Product change?

BronzeTrader — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 22:36:29 GMT

@MrDisco99 wrote:
If it's a MasterCard, it can't be converted to a Visa product.

Not really true. I've converted AmEx into Visa. I've also converted MC to Visa, and vice versa.

It all depends. This is a manual process and they will only do if they want to keep you.

Re: Bank of America Product change?

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 01:06:37 GMT

@BronzeTrader wrote:
@MrDisco99 wrote:
If it's a MasterCard, it can't be converted to a Visa product.
Not really true. I've converted AmEx into Visa. I've also converted MC to Visa, and vice versa.

It all depends. This is a manual process and they will only do if they want to keep you.

My bankamericard mastercard was converted to cash rewards mastercard.

Re: Bank of America Product change?

DUISlayer — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 04:39:59 GMT

Hmmm... I should explore this. I really prefer to do the live chat or send a message, but I don't have that option on my account for whatever reason. I'm going to give them a call and see about changing it to a Cash Rewards card. I've had the BankAmericard Visa since '06. It was my first CC (secured 99/500). It's been unsecured for a while now, with little bumps in CLIs here and there. Probably my most frustrating card to get a CLI with.

Re: Bank of America Product change?

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 04:47:49 GMT

you can 100% PC with BOFA. Youre going to get different answers from different reps, its the typical pattern with BOFA. When I did my PC request. A rep swore up and down that it was no way possible. Of course, I just called back and got someone else to do it for me. You can read similar situations all the time in this fourm with that. Just keep calling till you have someone who is willing to do it.

Another thing that is true because Ive read it and then experienced it myself is.......the whole process does take about a month and a half!

Re: Bank of America Product change?

DUISlayer — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 04:54:46 GMT

I just called and attempted it. The rep I spoke with sounded familiar with the process. When I explained I wanted to switch to the Cash Rewards, he said, "so you basically want to do a product change?" Then after putting me on hold for about two minutes, he said I wasn't eligible to change it. I think I'm finally fed up with BoA.

Re: Bank of America Product change?

xenon3030 — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 04:52:02 GMT

Is it feasible to convert the BOA Travel Rewards to Premium Rewards? Is there any singup bonus for a product change? Also HP?

Re: Bank of America Product change?

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 11:48:37 GMT

This is some general information regarding BoA and product changes that may be helpful. As always, your mileage may vary:

1) If you have a Cash Rewards card and wish to convert to any other type of card within the Cash Rewards family, (i.e., MLB card, Wildlife Federation card, College Alumni credit card, professional association affiliate credit card), this is NOT called an actual product change (PC) by BoA, since you are essentially changing the card logo only and both are within the same cash rewards family.

It can still be done, and it can take as long as 4-6 weeks for them to complete their internal processing and for you to receive the new card.

Once again, this type of change is not called a product change by BoA as confirmed by two BoA managers. It is merely changing to a different pictured card within the same family.

2) The following information is taken from many reports of myfico members, as well as information obtained from several BoA managers.

BoA will only allow product changes within the BoA primary card family (i.e., Cash Rewards, Travel Rewards, basic BoA issued cards). BoA does not allow product changes to or from a cobranded card (i.e., Alaska Airlines, Amtrak), due to the nature of the cobranding agreements with the cobrand partners.

This is not to say there has never been an anomaly where such a change has actually occurred; but merely to say that is their official policy according to several discussions with management.

3) BoA is HP happy, as you may know. That being said, many people on myfico have reported being able to PC to another card within the BoA primary card family (i.e., Cash Rewards, Travel Rewards) without a hard pull.

It certainly depends on your profile - if BoA has a concern, needs additional information, or has not taken a HP in some time, they may request one for a PC.

The best advice is to always expect a HP and be glad if you don't receive one.

4) Any time you as a customer request something of a lender (i.e., card PC, lowering the interest rate, etc), the lender can and will take a look at your account(s) and in many cases will do a credit bureau SP as well.

Account changes such as a PC, a CLI, or lowering the interest rate are never a guarantee and are always dependent upon the lender's decision after reviewing your account and profile.

This is most likely why BoA stated that you were not eligible at this time for a PC, as allowing a PC is at the lender's discretion. It could be that your account is too new, your credit history is too new, that BoA has a concern about rising debt, concerns about high balance with another lender, or any combination of factors.

OP, you mentioned that you had a late payment with BoA that was only ten months old, and that can indeed be an important factor in them declining to grant you what you seek. Many lenders understandably become hesitant when a very recent late payment appears on a customer's account.

BoA can be conservative in a number of areas, as they once told me when I first applied that 7 years of credit history was too short of a credit history.

Take heart, however, once you are in with BoA, they can be very generous as long as you don't do anything to spook them. Currently they have given me $29,000 CL on my Alaska Airlines card, and that is more than I ever would have expected from them.

I mention this to illustrate that it is possible to go from BoA being lukewarm about a person (telling them 7 years of credit history was too short to get an Alaska card - and I was a current Cash Rewards cardholder), to opening the purse strings and giving a $29,000 CL. I went from being denied for an Alaska card to an Alaska Visa Signature approval at $13,000, and CLI's to $29,000 CL in about a year and a half, If I remember correctly.

Good luck OP and I hope the above information helps. BoA can be frustrating but don't give up the ship just yet. They can feel hesitant about you one moment and welcome you in the very next moment.

Re: Bank of America Product change?

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 11:58:06 GMT

Thanks for the very detailed response! I think that will helpful for me as well as many others who stumble upon this thread.

Do want to be clear about the late fee. It was one day late, and they took partial credit for it because of how they handled a payment.

I requested to have the Bankamericard converted to a visa. I think that might help me with the next CSR (in a few months haha) to get it changed to the cash rewards card. First time I called in earlier this year they flat out said that they can't convert a mastercard product into another visa branded product.

Re: Bank of America Product change?

MrDisco99 — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 14:07:33 GMT

You will not get a signup bonus with a product change. I think that's the case with any issuer.

Re: Bank of America Product change?

K-in-Boston — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 14:26:28 GMT

@MrDisco99 wrote:
You will not get a signup bonus with a product change. I think that's the case with any issuer.

+1, although a targeted offer to product change can often result in a bonus. I have never seen a targeted PC offer from BOA, though.