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Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card review: A straightforward card with added flexibility

Customizable rewards categories make maximizing your cash back easy

 /  14 min
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At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict , this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for and how we rate our cards. The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer.

Snapshot

3.8

Bankrate rating
Info
Rating: 3.8 stars out of 5

Bottom line

A solid, relatively no-frills business card that offers a layer of customization to how cardholders earn their cash back. A potentially useful pick for smaller businesses that primarily spend in one of the card’s eligible bonus categories.

Best for customizable cash back category
Image of Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card

Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card

  • Rewards value
    Rating: 1 stars out of 5
    1 / 5
    APR
    Rating: 2 stars out of 5
    2 / 5
    Rewards flexibility
    Rating: 4 stars out of 5
    4 / 5
    Features
    Rating: 4 stars out of 5
    4 / 5
Excellent (740 – 850)
Info
Recommended Credit

Intro offer

Info

$300

Offer valuation

Info

1% - 3%

Rewards Rate

Info

Annual fee

Regular APR

Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card overview

The Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard credit card is a great fit for smaller businesses that can take advantage of the card’s customizable rewards categories. These categories are especially useful for small or start-up businesses and cardholders can swap their bonus categories monthly, which adds versatility in earning cash back. The card is otherwise straightforward: it carries no annual fee, sports a sign up bonus typical among business rewards cards, and offers few of the more extravagant card perks you’ll find on a travel business card or a card with an annual fee. 

On the downside, the card comes with an annual spending cap of $50,000 total between the two highest-earning bonus categories before the rewards rate falls to 1 percent. While this could be a limiting factor for larger businesses, smaller businesses should find plenty of value from the card without approaching the cap. 

  • Credit Card Cash Back

    Rewards

    • 3 percent cash back on one of the following categories: gas stations (including EV charging stations), office supply stores, travel, TV/telecom and wireless, computer services or business consulting services 
    • 2 percent cash back on dining 
    • 1 percent back on all other purchases
    • $50,000 annual spending cap for combined 3 percent and 2 percent category purchases, then 1 percent 

    Expert Appraisal: Good
    See our expert analysis

  • Rewards

    Welcome offer

    • $300 online statement credit after you make $3,000 in purchases on your card within the first 90 days of account opening

    Expert Appraisal: Typical
    See our expert analysis

  • Credit Card Apr

    0% intro APR offer

    • 0 percent intro APR on purchases for first 9 billing cycles 
    • 18.49 percent to 28.49 percent variable ongoing APR

    Expert Appraisal: Typical
    See our expert analysis

  • Credit Card Search

    Rates and fees

    • No annual fee
    • 3 percent foreign transaction fee
    • 4 percent cash advance fee
    • 4 percent balance transfer fee
    • Up to $49 late fee

    Expert Appraisal: Typical
    See our expert analysis

  • Congrats

    Other cardholder perks

    • Up to 75 percent additional cash back if cardholder has a Bank of America business checking account and qualifies for the highest Preferred Rewards for Business tier
    • Suite of online services including automatic payments, transfers and downloading transactions into QuickBooks
    • $100,000 in travel accident insurance
    • Free access to Dun & Bradstreet business credit score

    Expert Appraisal: Weak
    See our expert analysis

Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard pros and cons

Pros

  • Checkmark

    Flexible bonus categories allow businesses to more easily maximize their rewards earnings

  • Checkmark

    Sign-up bonus is relatively easy to obtain and has solid value for the spending requirement

  • Checkmark

    No annual fee, so you don’t have to offset an extra cost with this card

Cons

  • The $50,000 spending cap makes this card a questionable rewards option for businesses with larger budgets

  • It lacks additional cardholder perks compared to competing business cash back cards

  • Charges a foreign transaction fee, so international purchases can eat into your cash back earnings

Why you might want the Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard

If you’re running a small business and looking for ways to return some operating costs to your wallet, the Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard is a great choice. While it lacks the bells and whistles of some competing cash back business cards on the market, the lack of annual fee and flexible reward categories make it easy for your business to capture the maximum rewards rate possible throughout the year. 

Rewards rate: Tailor your rewards to your spending

The Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard’s biggest feature makes it easy to maximize its cash back rate on your business spending. Cardholders can choose from various eligible bonus categories for 3 percent cash back. These categories cover products and services that should prove valuable to budding businesses, including gas stations (also EV charging stations), office supply stores, travel, telecom and wireless, computer services and business consulting services. This is a healthy spread of products and most businesses should find at least one category that can help them earn big cash back. 

What’s more, you can change your selected bonus category once each month. With a little foresight, you can swap your rewards category to whatever your business spending demands throughout the year. This means it’s much easier to maximize your annual cash back compared to a business card with fixed reward categories. 

Plus, it earns a flat 2 percent back on dining purchases, so if you buy meals for employees or clients frequently, the Business Advantage Customized Cash card’s dining category supplements your chosen category earnings. This flexibility makes the card a great complement for a flat-rate cash back card.

Just keep in mind the card’s $50,000 annual spending cap for 2 percent and 3 percent category purchases. After you reach the limit, your purchases only earn 1 percent. 

Finally, you can earn anywhere from 25 percent to up to 75 percent additional cash back if you have a Bank of America Business Checking account or Merrill investing account with a qualifying combined three-month average balance. The Preferred Rewards for Business program tiers are:

  • Gold tier ($20,000 to $49,999): 25 percent bonus cash rewards
  • Platinum tier ($50,000 to $99,999): 50 percent bonus cash rewards
  • Platinum Honors tier ($100,000 and more): 75 percent bonus cash rewards

If you qualify for the Platinum Honors tier, then the Business Advantage Customized Cash card’s rewards rates increase to 5.25 percent on your chosen category, 3.5 percent back on dining, and 1.75 percent back on all other purchases. The spending cap still applies. 

Welcome offer: Easy to obtain and has solid value

With the Business Advantage Customized Cash, you may qualify for the $300 welcome offer after spending $3,000 with the card in the first 90 days.

While the card’s welcome offer is less than some of the best business cards, those cards often have much higher spending requirements or carry an annual fee. On the flip side, the $300 you can earn with this card is more than the $200 average on other credit cards with no annual fee while maintaining comparable spending requirements. 

For business cards with welcome offers of $450 in value or more, you’ll typically need to spend anywhere from $4,500 to $6,000 within those first three months. In comparison, $3,000 within 90 days is much easier to fit into your budget. 

Rates and fees: Little to worry about

The Business Advantage Customized Cash’s rates and fees fall right in the middle of the pack, without any unwelcome hidden fees. A no-annual-fee cash back business card is always a welcome sight and can help you put cash back in your pocket without worrying about offsetting annual charges for simply holding the card. 

While the card comes with a 4 percent balance transfer fee, it doesn’t offer a balance transfer intro APR, so it isn’t a good choice for transferring any business debt in the first place. But the card doesn’t impose a penalty APR if you pay late, which can be helpful for newer business owners. Just remember that late payments can still affect your business credit score, and late fees will likely apply.

One small nitpick: The card carries a foreign transaction fee, making travel abroad with this card potentially expensive. However, this isn’t a huge deal as the card’s main features are centered around business spending in the U.S. If you don’t travel for business purposes frequently, this card still carries plenty of value.

Why you might want a different business card

While the Business Advantage Customized Cash offers plenty of value to the right business, not all businesses may find the card fulfills all of their financial needs.

Rewards: They’re lacking in flexibility 

The Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard notably lacks access to a valuable rewards program. Similar business cards from Chase and Amex allow you to book travel on their travel portals with points and miles or transfer them to high-value partners for potentially more value. The best credit card rewards programs also offer access to other fantastic perks, many of which are travel related. Though Bank of America’s travel rewards program is available on its travel cards, the Business Advantage Customized Cash unfortunately doesn’t earn points in it. If you’re looking for ways to capitalize on frequent business travel, keep the Business Advantage Customized Cash card’s limitations in mind.

Intro APR: Solid, but on the shorter side

The Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard comes with a 0 percent APR offer for purchases that lasts nine billing cycles (18.49 percent to 28.49 percent variable APR after). While this intro APR for purchases is nothing to sneeze at, it lags behind some of the best business card with intro APR offers, which can have intro APRs of up to 12 months. 

Intro APR periods for purchases are often useful for startups or newer small businesses that have expensive initial operating costs, so this offer is a bit disappointing. Other cards can have longer periods for purchases — and they may be better options if you want at least a year of breathing room to pay off large business expenses when you open a new card. If this feature is an important part of why you’re opening a business card you might want to further research the pros and cons of an intro APR card

Perks: Not bad, but not great 

While an up to 75 percent extra cash back through the Preferred Rewards for Business program sounds like a feature that would elevate the card, the steep requirements prevent all but dedicated Bank of America customers from nabbing it. To earn the full 75 percent, you’ll need to open a Bank of America business checking account or Merrill investment account and maintain a three-month average daily balance of at least $100,000.

The card’s other perks include QuickBooks integration, travel accident insurance, auto rental insurance, emergency ticket replacement, lost luggage assistance and the ability to check your business credit score for free. These are useful, but you can often find these on other no-annual-fee business rewards cards. Plus, using this card for frequent travel isn’t the best use of the card’s strengths. If you or your employees travel frequently, the best travel business credit cards may offer much more value through travel statement credits, higher earning rates on travel, transfers and more.

We tried it: Here’s what our experts say

Bankrate credit cards writer Ryan Flanigan gets great value from the Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards card by maxing out its top-earning bonus categories.

This card gave me a solid intro APR and a high credit limit, which helped me finance some needed expenses. If I max out the $50,000 yearly spending in the 3 percent category, that earns $1,500, which is an unbelievable return for no annual fee. There’s a good list of categories to choose from and I can change them monthly, which makes hitting this benchmark easier for my business spending. If your business can park enough money with Bank of America, the Preferred Rewards program can boost your earnings as high as 5.25 percent, which is uncommon for a no-annual-fee card.

— Ryan Flanigan, Writer, Credit Cards

How the Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard compares to other business cards

Though the Business Advantages Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard is a solid business card option, it’s not for everyone. You can consider two other credit cards that may have more flexibility or allow your spending to be more versatile. 

Image of Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card

Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card

Annual fee

$0

Intro offer

$300
Info

Rewards rate

1% - 3%
Info

Recommended Credit Score

Excellent (740 – 850)
Info
Image of Capital One Spark Cash Plus
Bankrate Score
See Rates & Fees , Terms Apply
Apply now Lock
on Capital One's secure site

Annual fee

$150

Intro offer

$1,200 cash back
Info

Rewards rate

2% - 5%
Info

Recommended Credit Score

Excellent (740 – 850)
Info
Image of The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card
Bankrate Score
See Rates & Fees , Terms Apply
Apply now Lock
on American Express's secure site

Annual fee

No annual fee

Intro offer

$250 statement credit
Info

Rewards rate

1% - 2%
Info

Recommended Credit Score

Good to Excellent (670 – 850)
Info

Best cards to pair with the Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash card

The cash back you earn from this credit card is solid, but it’s not the perfect, one-size-fits-all cash back card. Since the Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard has niche rewards categories, pairing it with cards with a flat reward rate for every purchase creates an effective credit card combo.

Who is the Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash right for?

Bankrate’s Take — Is the Business Advantage Customized Cash worth it?

This card might not be for everyone, but it’s a solid choice for smaller businesses looking for a simple cash back business credit card. Overall, if you’re not worried about the spending cap and the bonus categories suit your business expenses, the Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard is worth a look.

Dig deeper: Is the Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash card worth it?

For rates and fees of the American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card, please click here.

How we rated this card

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700+
data points considered
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spending categories analyzed
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perks evaluated

Our proprietary card rating system takes into account a mix of factors when scoring business credit cards, including each card’s rewards rate, estimated annual earnings, welcome bonus value, APR, fees, perks and more.

We analyzed over 50 of the most popular business credit cards and scored each based on how its key features stacked up compared to those of other cards in its category.

Here are some of the key factors that gave this card its score:

Written by
Steve Dashiell
Editor, Credit cards

Steven Dashiell is an editor for Bankrate and CreditCards.com with expertise in rewards credit cards, financial literacy, and helping consumers build and maintain their credit.

Edited by Senior Editor, Credit Cards
Reviewed by Former Senior Editor, Credit Cards

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Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The information, including card rates and fees, is accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information.