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Amtrak Weighs Shifting Credit-Card Portfolio Away From BofA

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FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Amtrak Weighs Shifting Credit-Card Portfolio Away From BofA

 
November 30, 2021, 10:02 AM EST
 

Amtrak is considering ending its credit-card partnership with Bank of America Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.

The portfolio, which Bank of America has handled since 2015, has roughly $100 million in balances, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing non-public information. Spokesmen for Bank of America and Amtrak declined to comment. 

Message 1 of 11
10 REPLIES 10
CreditMagic7
Mega Contributor

Re: Amtrak Weighs Shifting Credit-Card Portfolio Away From BofA

Sooner the better so long as they find a suitable replacement lender.

 

Thanks for this article.

Message 2 of 11
FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Amtrak Weighs Shifting Credit-Card Portfolio Away From BofA

It's under consideration, so nothing concrete as to whether they'll stay with BoA or explore other FIs.  They were already with Chase so maybe they'll go with either Barclays, SYNCB, Comenity... or dare I say, Capital One.

Message 3 of 11
ChargedUp
Senior Contributor

Re: Amtrak Weighs Shifting Credit-Card Portfolio Away From BofA


@FinStar wrote:

It's under consideration, so nothing concrete as to whether they'll stay with BoA or explore other FIs.  They were already with Chase so maybe they'll go with either Barclays, SYNCB, Comenity... or dare I say, Capital One.


All things considered, BoA has been good to me on the lending side, and I'd much prefer them over the others you list. I remember looking at this card when I was contemplating doing the Coast Starlight route but don't remember the rewards structure being anything special.

 

Upping the rewards ante would do more to promote the card than swapping lenders IMO, unless BoA isn't willing to play ball with that idea.

Message 4 of 11
YoungMoney06
Frequent Contributor

Re: Amtrak Weighs Shifting Credit-Card Portfolio Away From BofA

I, for one, am hoping they maintain with BOA. I got my BOA Amtrak AF card back in July 2021 and have been running practically everything through it. Even if they keep the existing rewards, I'm okay with it. Seeing how every dollar I spend, I'm getting roughly to what equates to as $0.025 cents (1 point = $0.025 cents) in Amtrak travel.

 

Doing the math, that beats 1.5% cashback. And as often as I ride Amtrak in the NER, this works for me.

 

Having said that- if Amtrak does look to go elsewhere, does anyone know if BOA would be willing to PC without me having to reapply and incur another hard inquiry?

My Wallet (Updated Sept 2023):
Store Cards:


Major Cards:


In Timeout:

Message 5 of 11
FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Amtrak Weighs Shifting Credit-Card Portfolio Away From BofA


@YoungMoney06 wrote:

I, for one, am hoping they maintain with BOA. I got my BOA Amtrak AF card back in July 2021 and have been running practically everything through it. Even if they keep the existing rewards, I'm okay with it. Seeing how every dollar I spend, I'm getting roughly to what equates to as $0.025 cents (1 point = $0.025 cents) in Amtrak travel.

 

Doing the math, that beats 1.5% cashback. And as often as I ride Amtrak in the NER, this works for me.

 

Having said that- if Amtrak does look to go elsewhere, does anyone know if BOA would be willing to PC without me having to reapply and incur another hard inquiry?


It's unclear whether they'd be able to PC this specific CC to anything else, so if you want to be proactive and plan ahead, reach out to BoA to see whether there are any PC options. If unable to PC then you'd need to decide on whether keeping the card makes sense depending which issuer picks it up.

Message 6 of 11
Cory88
Frequent Contributor

Re: Amtrak Weighs Shifting Credit-Card Portfolio Away From BofA


@FinStar wrote:

@YoungMoney06 wrote:

I, for one, am hoping they maintain with BOA. I got my BOA Amtrak AF card back in July 2021 and have been running practically everything through it. Even if they keep the existing rewards, I'm okay with it. Seeing how every dollar I spend, I'm getting roughly to what equates to as $0.025 cents (1 point = $0.025 cents) in Amtrak travel.

 

Doing the math, that beats 1.5% cashback. And as often as I ride Amtrak in the NER, this works for me.

 

Having said that- if Amtrak does look to go elsewhere, does anyone know if BOA would be willing to PC without me having to reapply and incur another hard inquiry?


It's unclear whether they'd be able to PC this specific CC to anything else, so if you want to be proactive and plan ahead, reach out to BoA to see whether there are any PC options. If unable to PC then you'd need to decide on whether keeping the card makes sense depending which issuer picks it up.


I have tried for about two weeks trying to do a PC and nothing so far I will now just sit and wait.

Message 7 of 11
YoungMoney06
Frequent Contributor

Re: Amtrak Weighs Shifting Credit-Card Portfolio Away From BofA

Just to follow up. Spoke to a CSR with BOA who said if Amtrak were to move their CC elsewhere, I could either move my account to the new bank. Or... BOA would be willing to entertain PCing the account to another BOA card without any additional HP.

 

Only time will tell if this is accurate, but I'm hoping Amtrak + BOA works this out.

My Wallet (Updated Sept 2023):
Store Cards:


Major Cards:


In Timeout:

Message 8 of 11
Spotsy
Frequent Contributor

Re: Amtrak Weighs Shifting Credit-Card Portfolio Away From BofA

I can't find the Amtrak CC on their website anymore (Amtrak's site that is)....I 'smell' a change coming... :-)

FICO 8: TU:831 / EQ:837 / EX:827 as of 12/25/2023
Message 9 of 11
FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Amtrak Weighs Shifting Credit-Card Portfolio Away From BofA


@Spotsy wrote:

I can't find the Amtrak CC on their website anymore (Amtrak's site that is)....I 'smell' a change coming... :-)


Application links were removed from the BoA and Amtrak website earlier this month.

Message 10 of 11
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