Bank of AmericaŽ Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card

[WonderingYid]

Has anyone else seen this? Looks like they are trying to compete with the Chase Freedom Unlimited.

$200 online cash rewards bonus after making at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of your account opening.

Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases.

No annual fee

No limit to the amount of cash back you can earn.

Cash rewards don’t expire.

Redeem your cash back for any amount, anytime for statement credits and deposits made directly into a Bank of AmericaŽ checking or savings account.

Preferred Rewards members earn 25%-75% more cash back on every purchase.


https://secure.bankofamerica.com/apply-credit-cards/public/icai-single/#/info/

[Shmelly]

Just got this offer. With Preferred Rewards I would get 2.62% cash back. Coupled with 15 month 0% APR, it's essentially a free almost 10% high yield savings account. Not bad.

[WonderingYid]

Just got this offer. With Preferred Rewards I would get 2.62% cash back.

That's on every purchase, correct?

[Shmelly]

That's on every purchase, correct?

Yep, unlimited 2.62%. Is there anything else giving that much (not including special categories on certain cards)?

[CountValentine]

Do not play games with it or they will shut down everything. Savings, checking, CC & brokerage.

[ExGingi]

The catch is that the level is based on (average?) balance over the last 3 months. So on a new account and 60k+ transferred into brokerage (took a very long time to transfer), they still only gave 1.5% on the last statement, waiting to see what the next statement will show, to now that PPBP is history, I'm not sure how lucrative this is.

Never mind that I'm still waiting for the Checking and Brokerage SUB (CC was paid out in the first month as soon as the spend requirement was met).

[ExGingi]

Thanks @WonderingYid for pointing out the 0% APR. I guess I ignored it because I figured cycling the CL using PPBP is more lucrative than just borrowing at 0% APR, but I guess I can leave the balance now for a year (though it will give a major hit to my credit score, as it is 99.9% maxed out)

[CountValentine]

The catch is that the level is based on (average?) balance over the last 3 months.

Call the brokerage side and they might be able to speed things up. Make initial deposit of 100k and they might waive the 3 months. You can also deposit 300k and you only need 1 month. You can then withdraw the funds and be good for 15 months.

[aygart]

Just hope to never need to have anyone doing anything through the estate department.

[ExGingi]

Call the brokerage side and they might be able to speed things up. Make initial deposit of 100k and they might waive the 3 months. You can also deposit 300k and you only need 1 month. You can then withdraw the funds and be good for 15 months.

Wasn't putting in any new money. Just rolled over some IRAs (~60k). It might be faster to wait than to explain DW what she should say over the phone, as these are her accounts.

[ExGingi]

Just hope to never need to have anyone doing anything through the estate department.

Hopefully since these accounts have named beneficiaries, it should never be an issue.

[Dan]

How does the brokerage side work? Does stock that you hold count towards the $100K?

[CountValentine]

How does the brokerage side work? Does stock that you hold count towards the $100K?

Yes as does T-bills. 

[aygart]

Hopefully since these accounts have named beneficiaries, it should never be an issue.

I can tell you from experience that this did not help.

[ExGingi]

Yes as does T-bills. 

But no option to buy online at auction (and setup auto-roll) as far as I can tell.

However they do have some high-yielding money market funds (Institutional Class, yet available on the retail platform with no or low minimums).

[ExGingi]

I can tell you from experience that this did not help.

OK. So I guess we will need to pull everything out before we kick the bucket.

[aygart]

OK. So I guess we will need to pull everything out before we kick the bucket.

שוב יום אחד לפני מותך

[CountValentine]

But no option to buy online at auction (and setup auto-roll) as far as I can tell.

Correct. You can buy at auction over the phone but make sure they waive the fee.
The play with T-bills is to transfer 100k-300k in and then out before they mature.

[Shmelly]

Do not play games with it or they will shut down everything. Savings, checking, CC & brokerage.

Would immediately maxing out the CL and then carrying that balance for 15 months at 0% APR fall under the umbrella of "playing games"? Not churning the CL, just maxing it out and paying the minimum each month. I have a a decade+ of history and a decent balance with both BoA and Merrill. 

[CountValentine]

Would immediately maxing out the CL and then carrying that balance for 15 months at 0% APR fall under the umbrella of "playing games"? Not churning the CL, just maxing it out and paying the minimum each month. I have a a decade+ of history and a decent balance with both BoA and Merrill.

All shutdowns I know of was for churning the CL numerous times a month. The interesting part is it seems the trigger was having the Preferred Rewards program. Extra eyes on the account?