The Bank of America Customized Cash card stands out for the freedom it gives cardholders to choose where they earn the most. In addition, you’ll get some breathing room with interest thanks to competitive intro APR offers on both purchases and balance transfers.
Rewards: The power to choose
The Customized Cash is one of the few cards available that lets you choose where you earn the highest rewards rate. You have six options, and all of them are fairly popular spending categories. You can easily tailor your card to match your spending habits, ensuring you get the most out of your cash back card.
The 3 percent cash back categories you can choose from are:
- Gas (including electric vehicle charging)
- Online shopping (including Cable, Streaming, Internet and Phone services)
- Dining
- Travel
- Drug stores
- Home improvement/furnishings
Additionally, the Customized Cash earns 2 percent cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, and 1 percent on all other purchases. It's rare to see wholesale clubs included in the grocery category, even for some of the best grocery store cards. But the Customized Cash does exclude superstores, although it doesn’t explicitly state which ones.
Your 3 percent and 2 percent cash back categories share a $2,500 quarterly spending cap, then reward rates drop to 1 percent. That’s about $833 per month in combined category spending before you hit the limit. Depending on your spending habits, this could cut into your earnings. However, it’s worth noting that competing cards have spending caps of $1,500 per quarter or $500 per month. While the Customized Cash Rewards card limits your cash back earnings, the ceiling is relatively high.
You can change your 3 percent category once per calendar month through the online banking portal or mobile app, giving you even more flexibility. If you don’t change it, your 3 percent category stays the same from the previous month.
Intro APR: Competitive offers can help ward off interest
This card’s intro APR offer length of 15 billing cycles applies to both balance transfers (made in the first 60 days of opening your account) and purchases, which makes it ideal for saving on interest on past debt or new purchases.
While this isn’t the longest intro APR available, it’s quite competitive. You’ll also want to keep the card’s 3 percent balance transfer fee in mind. This fee is standard among balance transfer cards but could still add to your total debt payoff amount.
The ongoing 18.24% - 28.24% variable APR means you could get a rate that’s lower than the current average credit card interest rate, depending on your creditworthiness.
Since balance transfer and low-interest cards seldom have generous rewards programs, the Customized Cash becomes even more attractive for people looking for a decent break on interest while earning rewards.