Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Approval with Data Points

[NoHardLimits]

TLDR:

BofA Customized Cash Rewards (with first year 6% bonus category & $200 SUB):

no banking relationship

instant online approval

SL = $21,000

single EX pull (in Florida)

EX FICO8 = 843

prior EX inquiries = 0/24

new accounts = 0/6, 1/12, 2/24

income = low 6 figures (retired)

util = 1%

DTI = 1%

The unabridged version:

I closed my US Bank Shoppers Cash card earlier this year due to not getting enough value to offset the $95 annual fee and the hassle of maintaining another account.  Since then, I've been looking for a replacement with bonus rewards for Walmart shipping/delivery.  I waited for Walmart to announce their next co-brand partner (after parting ways with Capital One) and was not pleased with the One Pay / Synchrony arrangement revealed last month. 

I stumbled upon Bank of America's latest offer for Customized Cash Rewards with an elevated 6% cash back rate for one category in the first year.  The offer also includes a SUB of $200 after $1000 in spend.  The 6% category of online shopping has a cap of $2,500/quarter which is much more generous than USB's Shoppers Cash card, and it also covers a wide range of merchants with no annual fee.  Sounds like a winner for me.  However, I also had my sights on the Citi Strata Elite which is supposed to be launching soon.  I know Citi hates recent inquiries, so I held off applying for CCR until I learned more about Strata Elite's terms.  What a disappointment!  Strata Elite is not for me.  But, that disappointment also freed me up to apply for the CCR.

The approval data points are listed in the TLDR section at the top of this post. 

If I can max out the 6% category with $10,000 in spend (should be fairly easy to accomplish with organic spend), I would net an extra $400 in rewards compared to my 2% catch-all options.  Coupled with the $200 SUB, that adds up to $600 in first year value.  

[CreditMagic7]

[Rebuild2019]

Congrats on your approval and S/L @NoHardLimits 

[coreyb80]

Congrats on the approval!

[Patient957]

Nice!  Congrats!

[firefox100]

Congratulations on your approval, have the same creditcard from BOA and using it for Wallmart on line shopping.

[Meanmchine]

Congrats on your new  BoA plastic 

[NoHardLimits]

Thanks for all the congrats messages! 

I have one more data point to provide.  After the inquiry hit my Experian credit report, my FICO8 score dropped by 3 points.

[cashorcharge]

WOOHOO!! Congratulations on your Approval!!👏🏼🍾🥂

[Copenix]

Very nice. Congrats on your approval and a great SL.