Bank of America offers the BankAmericard Cash Rewards card, previously this was issue as a Visa and now it’s being issued as a Mastercard. Payment network changes like this are actually fairly common as card issuers negotiable themselves better deals. The reason why some people might care is that this card earns at the following rates:
- 1% cash back on every purchase
- 2% at grocery stores* and wholesale clubs*
- 3% on gas*
*for the first $2,500 in combined grocery/wholesale club/gas purchases each quarter
Don’t worry I haven’t gone crazy, I know those rates are not super attractive. They do get more attractive when you’re a preferred rewards customers, Platinum honors customers will get:
- 3.5% back on grocery store & wholesale clubs purchases
- 5.25% back on gas station purchases
Now obviously Costco only accepts Visa, so people with this card will lose their ability to earn 3.5% on those purchases. It’s worth remembering you can still purchase online using Mastercard though. It also isn’t clear if existing cardholders will be transferred over to the Mastercard, or if they will remain Visa cardholders.
Hat tip to reader PT
I received this card this month (PCed from an Alaskan card with an annual fee) and it was issued as a Visa.
Any Mastercard works well with Shell Fuel Rewards and any related programs like dining and grocery spending each $100 gets 15 cents per gallon off.
Both my BoA BBR and CR cards are MasterCard. My wife who got her cards a year or two later has them as visa.
I purposely picked up the BBR as Visa and MC.
I also purposely applied for, or converted old cards to the Cash Rewards, obtaining the Visa, MC, and the MLB MC versions. It’s nice to have the flexibility of card brand, and also effectively multiplies the monthly cap on category spending.
Existing BoA Cash Rewards Visa will remained as Visa unless they request or accept the invitation to convert to MC.
Is it possible to convert the travel rewards card from visa to mastercard?
Good question, would make plastiq more attractive for mortgage payments.
Mine has always been a Mastercard, but mine began life as an MBNA America card 20+ years ago, was acquired by BOA and product changed along the way.
Hah. I used this card to pay for Costco gas… Now I gotta reach into the sock drawer and figure out what other card gets 3% on gas. Thanks for the post and the info Doc.
Costco’s own Visa with Citi gets 4% on gas. Not that it helps me since we drive a Bolt and Volt an spent a whole $57 on gas last year on my Volt.
Fort Knox Federal Credit Union Platinum Visa credit card
 • 5% Unlimited Cash Back rebates on gas purchases (Even at Costco Gas Station!!!)
• 1% Cash Back rebates on all retail purchases
• No Balance Transfer Fee or Annual Fee
 • Credit limit up to $25,000 for qualifying members
• Interest rates as low as 10.00% APR
• Low monthly payments
1% foreign transaction fee
Anyone can join this credit union
If they force me to convert from Visa to MC, that would be a huge loss since I get 3.5% at costco warehouse and 5.25% at costco gas. I know I can order costco cash cards online but that would be an extra PITA to maintain.
Also, by using Costco cash cards, you lose the benefits of the credit card, such as extended warranty, which can be worthwhile on a big ticket item.
Vantage West Connect Rewards Visa Signature
• Earn 5x points* (5% cash back) per $1 on one category of your choice per yearly quarter:
• Travel
• Restaurants
• Utilities [water, cell, electric, etc.]
• Wholesale [Costco, Sam’s Club, etc.]
• Department Stores
• Hardware & Home Improvement Stores
• Charitable Organizations
• Pharmacies & Drug Stores
• Amazon.com
 • 3x on gas
• 2x on groceries
• Must have a minimum 2,500 points ($25) for cash redemption.
• *Capped at $1,500 spend in qualifying purchases quarterly
1% foreign transaction fee
Anyone can join this credit union
you can go in branch and apply and explicitly ask for the visa version
BofA interest rate is near zero such that parking $100K for 3months would have an opportunity cost of 100,000*1.5%/12*3=$375(losing interest at about $375 if parked the money in a 1.5% rate saving account elsewhere), after the 3 months, you can withdraw the money and the rewards status keeps for 12 months. $2500 per quarter for an additional 2%x1.75-2%=1.5%, that’s $2500*1.5%=37.50 per quarter, i.e. $37.50×4=$150 for that 12 month period only. So I don’t understand how the preferred rewards can benefit customers. Please correct me if I am wrong.
I am a preferred rewards customer at the Platinum Honors level and use their Merrill Edge/Lynch (BofA partner) Brokerage and Roth IRA products to get the status, and includes 100 free trades a month. Been working out pretty well for me.
Not too happy about the Mastercard change though… I hope it doesn’t roll out to existing cardholders. But, I guess it will happen later on anyway when card expiration comes up. Darn. Hard to beat the 3.5% at Costco (I’ve tested Costco.com in the past with BofA cards and MCC does not code as a Warehouse unfortunately) and 5.25% at gas stations including Costco.
When did you try out the Costco.com not coding as warehouse? My Nov ’17 statement shows costco.com getting the warehouse bonus 2% (=3.5% with plat honors). Haven’t used it in this quarter (Q1) due to Discover having warehouse category.
rct12345 last try was October. I used BofA TR card to get the 2.625 in case it didn’t code – MCC was something like General Merchandise. I didn’t think it would matter if I had used Cash Rewards card but maybe I’ll try again since I see a few people pointing out it worked for them…
I can confirm that the purchases from costco.com seem to code as “Misc. General Merchandise”. However, Discover still gave me 5% cash back for a purchase last month, so maybe BoA considers it as warehouse despite the MCC.
I checked my Nov ’17 statement again. Like you said, the MCC shows up as General Merchandise. But, also in the rewards tab, I can see that this transaction got 2% warehouse cashback.
Thanks for checking, good to know. I like that BofA is including in their bonus category even though technically only Wholesale MCC counts in their Program Rules.
Jason, you could have your money in a merryl lynch investment account so doesn’t have to be in savings.
It doesn’t need to be cash. You can have an account at Merrill and that counts. Honestly not bad if you have a large enough taxable account and/or IRA
No one is parking $100k+ cash just like that. I’m a plat honors too and most of that money is in Merill Edge trading account (which gives free trades too). Other folks also have this in a IRA.
I have Preferred Rewards through my Merrill Lynch account. I have an IRA there and an after tax account. Preferred Platinum status gives you free trades so there is really no opportunity cost to having it there instead of elsewhere.
Picking a stock brokerage for a six-figure investment to achieve a small increase to a credit card reward percentage is an example of the tail wagging the dog. I’ll keep my investments in Vanguard mutual funds, and earn my credit card points somewhere other than Bank of America.