BOFA Secured Card - Why Apply?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
I'm pretty neutral on BofA. Their checking is more than fine, no fees, I can quickly transfer funds in and out, mobile deposit works. I now have their BBR, for $538.80 in spend per year, I earn $120 per year in rewards, that card is awesome FOR ME. I'm would apply for a second one of that pesky garden didn't have me locked in it.

Point is, there are tons of cards that work FOR ME, many that work for you. Just because we can't see value in what someone else likes or chooses, doesn't mean the value isn't there.

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So what "value" is there to having a Bank of America account?

Pretty much every financial institution offers what Bank of America has, except with lower or no fees in each individual category, while their return rates are higher

Let us not forget this is the same bank that wanted to add a $5/month debit card fee.

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My value is this.....

For $300 a year in a savings account, I earn $15 per year on the additional rewards on my BBR because of the additional 10% back for having a BofA account.  I spend $538.80 a year (one bill) to get $120 in cash reward.  If my math is correct this early in the morning, that rewards rate ends up being about 22% on this spend.  Please tell me where I can get something better?!?  Please show me a better card out there for this amount of spend.......

I honestly don't care what BofA tried to float in the past.  All of these banks and CC companies float ideas internally and externally to see if they can increase their revenue.  Some of the ideas are horrible and never get implemented, others do.  At the end of the day, it's about maximizing profits for shareholders.  Thankfully, there are a LOT of banks and CU's out there so we are stuck with only this one.  We can make choices that fit our spend habits and credit profiles.

[dragontears]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Late fee shouldn't matter for obvious reasons.  The other things aren't a big deal as it's designed for people to get their feet off the ground and not meant to be a long term card.

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Come to think of it most card's have a rather high late fee, regardless of whether they are secured or not. 

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Late fees are capped at $25 for the first missed payment in a six month period. Bank of America is going to end up getting sued for having a $37 first time late fee on their secured credit card. I haven't even checked the terms for their other cards, but I know it's trouble waiting to happen. 

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/feds-cap-credit-card-late-payment-fee-25.php

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Looking at their T&C it states Up to $37 late fee so that allows them to stay within the law and still have the ability to charge higher fee on the second late. I guess you haven't looked at your DC T&C recently or $2 is a really big deal since they state their late fee is up to $35 after the first late....

You also seem to be under the impression that all CU are equal in their offerings, none of my local CUs offer a secure card with rewards and the "rewards" card they do offer tend to be with points that can only be used for crappy over priced merchandise. The only reason I have a card with them is for a low APR emergency card.

It boils down to not every card is suitable for every person. Just because a card doesn't match your spend/profile/needs/wants doesn't mean others won't find it useful.

[Anonymous]

For $300 a year in a savings account, I earn $15 per year on the additional rewards on my BBR because of the additional 10% back for having a BofA account.  I spend $538.80 a year (one bill) to get $120 in cash reward.  If my math is correct this early in the morning, that rewards rate ends up being about 22% on this spend.  Please tell me where I can get something better?!?  Please show me a better card out there for this amount of spend.......

Perhaps your math is just terrible. What is a BBR? A credit card? You're the only person that's ever mentioned "BBR" before on this board.

An extra 10% on your rewards is equal to 3.3% back on gas, 2.2% back at supermarkets/warehouses, and 1.1% back on everything else.

I have no idea what you're even talking about.

[Anonymous]

Looking at their T&C it states Up to $37 late fee so that allows them to stay within the law and still have the ability to charge higher fee on the second late. I guess you haven't looked at your DC T&C recently or $2 is a really big deal since they state their late fee is up to $35 after the first late....

My T&C on my DC says $0 for first late payment, $25 for (any lates after the first waived fee), and third is $35 if you do it again within six months. 

You also seem to be under the impression that all CU are equal in their offerings, none of my local CUs offer a secure card with rewards and the "rewards" card they do offer tend to be with points that can only be used for crappy over priced merchandise. The only reason I have a card with them is for a low APR emergency card.

Are you for real? Look around online. You're not just limited to your local community credit union(s). I understand they aren't all created equal, but the "crappier" ones probably have an extremely small number of members, so their budget is small. 

[dragontears]

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@Anonymous wrote:

For $300 a year in a savings account, I earn $15 per year on the additional rewards on my BBR because of the additional 10% back for having a BofA account.  I spend $538.80 a year (one bill) to get $120 in cash reward.  If my math is correct this early in the morning, that rewards rate ends up being about 22% on this spend.  Please tell me where I can get something better?!?  Please show me a better card out there for this amount of spend.......

Perhaps your math is just terrible. What is a BBR? A credit card? You're the only person that's ever mentioned "BBR" before on this board.

An extra 10% on your rewards is equal to 3.3% back on gas, 2.2% back at supermarkets/warehouses, and 1.1% back on everything else.

I have no idea what you're even talking about.

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all I can say is wow.... BBR is a very popular Bank of America card on this forum. here is a link you can read about it https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/products/better-balance-rewards/?campaign=4009413~M4~en_US

Obviously you are convinced that this bank is the root of all evil and can't see that different cards work well for different people so I am not going to waste my time with this thread.

Disclaimer: I do not have nor plan on having any cards with BofA

[Anonymous]

I applied and was approved for the BoA secured card (HP from Experian) with a $300 deposit. The down fall initially was I realized that in order to put an additional deposit to increase my CL, they wanted to do another hard pull. After 8 months, they agreed to graduate me to unsecured, AND convert me to the 1-2-3 Rewards Visa, all on a soft pull. They didn't complain about all my inquiries and new Synchrony cards. The SP was on TransUnion.  I got my deposit back pretty quick too. So this was a great secured card. My other favorite secured card (that graduated automatically in 9 months) is FNBO. 

I was happy to graduate sooner on a soft pull. However if I waited my year out, I was told that the system often gives an auto-cli. 

[wmweeza]

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@Anonymous wrote:

For $300 a year in a savings account, I earn $15 per year on the additional rewards on my BBR because of the additional 10% back for having a BofA account.  I spend $538.80 a year (one bill) to get $120 in cash reward.  If my math is correct this early in the morning, that rewards rate ends up being about 22% on this spend.  Please tell me where I can get something better?!?  Please show me a better card out there for this amount of spend.......

Perhaps your math is just terrible. What is a BBR? A credit card? You're the only person that's ever mentioned "BBR" before on this board.

An extra 10% on your rewards is equal to 3.3% back on gas, 2.2% back at supermarkets/warehouses, and 1.1% back on everything else.

I have no idea what you're even talking about.

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Huh? There are many posts here about the card, it's BBR; Better Balance Rewards. Is the card for everyone? No, but in some cases it earns rewards faster then many other cards could. I have zero interest in another card but it's not a bad one, it's not perfect either but it's CERTAINLY not unknown as you implied.

There are 38 pages of topics when I type BBR into the search function for this board alone.

[Anonymous]

$30 per quarter is a pretty crappy card.

I could make that on $500 monthly spend on my Citi DC.

Do you really think a card that averages out to $10 a month (capped per quarter) in rewards is great?

Another example of BoA looking out for themselves first instead of the customer.

I'll tell you what, when I earn $800 back this year in rewards, the original replyer who thinks the BBR is a good card can compare it to how great a real card is.

I've lost some serious respect for this community with the comments from some people on this thread. Do you seriously not see how that's a subprime card like every other BoA credit card?

[baller4life]

OP you are entitled to your opinions of certain financial institutions and their card offerings as are others. Everyone has to make their own choice based on what they feel is best. However, we all must be FSR towards each other. Thanks in advance for your understanding.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Forum-Etiquette/m-p/2797115

[newhis]

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@Anonymous wrote:

$30 per quarter is a pretty crappy card.

I could make that on $500 monthly spend on my Citi DC.

Do you really think a card that averages out to $10 a month (capped per quarter) in rewards is great?

Another example of BoA looking out for themselves first instead of the customer.

I'll tell you what, when I earn $800 back this year in rewards, the original replyer who thinks the BBR is a good card can compare it to how great a real card is.

I've lost some serious respect for this community with the comments from some people on this thread. Do you seriously not see how that's a subprime card like every other BoA credit card?

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I think you are missing the point. The BBR is 'great' as extra card and not a main card. You said that you can get $30 per quarter with $500 monthly spend with Citi DC, the BBR is designed to spend only $30 or so a month and get $30 per quarter. Some people in this forum even have 2 or more BBR cards.

The secured card:

- graduate early

- grow fast

- AF removed

- 3-2-1 rewards

- Amerideals

- no SSN needed

- extra 10% with a savings account ($300 balance for no fee)

- approved with no FICO score (first card in USA)

- virtual numbers

- free museums

- BT offers

- lower APR by chat

Not for everyone and you can get better cards. Some people do like BofA, some don't. Just like everything else in life.