Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card review: Unique rewards flexibility, but watch your spending

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.

The Customized Cash falls short when it comes to its perks, fees and welcome offer. It’ll be expensive to take this card abroad and the most valuable perks come at a potentially steep price.

Rates and fees: Not an ideal travel companion

While Bank of America won’t charge you annually to hold the Customized Cash, you can still run into common credit card fees. One of the most disappointing is the 3 percent foreign transaction fee, which tacks on an extra cost to any international purchase. Many no-annual-fee cash back cards with bonus categories don’t charge foreign transaction fees, so the Customized Cash falls behind the pack in this regard.

Cardholder perks: Best for Bank of America Preferred Rewards members

While no-annual-fee cards typically don't feature a lot of perks, this card is especially low on benefits. Travel insurances, annual credits and lounge access are not perks you’ll get to enjoy with the Bank of America Customized Cash. Niche benefits like BankAmeriDeals and Museums on Us may only be of value to a select group of people, and its Visa Signature benefits are fairly standard.

Perhaps the most notable cardholder perk is Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards program, which could get you some of the highest rewards rates available with a boost of up to 25 to 75 percent. You’ll need to keep a qualifying balance across your Bank of America and Merrill Edge accounts to get the Preferred Rewards boost, and some of the daily average balance thresholds across accounts could be difficult to reach. Here is a breakdown of the four Preferred Rewards tiers: 

• Preferred Rewards Gold (at least a $20,000 balance): 25 percent boost for 3.75 percent on choice category purchases, 2.5 percent on grocery store and wholesale club purchases along with 1.25 percent on all other purchases (2.06 percent average rewards rate)
• Preferred Rewards Platinum (at least a $50,000 balance): 50 percent boost for 4.5 percent on choice category purchases, 3 percent on grocery store and wholesale club purchases along with 1.5 percent on all other purchases (2.47 percent average rewards rate)
• Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors (at least a $100,000 balance): 75 percent boost for 5.25 percent on choice category purchases, 3.5 percent on grocery store and wholesale club purchases along with 1.75 percent on all other purchases (2.88 percent average rewards rate)
• Preferred Rewards Diamond (at least a $1,000,000 balance): 75 percent boost for 5.25 percent on choice category purchases, 3.5 percent on grocery store and wholesale club purchases along with 1.75 percent on all other purchases (2.88 percent average rewards rate)

Welcome offer: A standard offer with a higher requirement

You’ll have to spend $1,000 in your first 90 days with the card to earn the $200 online cash rewards bonus, which is standard among no-annual-fee cash back cards, but the spending requirement could be lower. For example, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ has a welcome offer of $200 when you spend $500 in the first three months — which is a lower spending requirement for the same bonus in the same timeframe. 

The upside is if you use this card exclusively for purchases in your choice spending category, groceries and another high-cost item, you should still be able to meet the welcome offer requirement. You can use the extra $200 as a statement credit or pocket it via a direct deposit.

Bankrate editor Ashley Parks enjoys using the Customized Cash as part of her card portfolio. She tries to use her card according to shifts in her spending habits to maximize her earning potential.

“I use the Customized Cash exclusively as my gas credit card, since I have other cards to cover other top categories in my budget like travel and dining. During the holiday season, when I’m doing less driving and more online shopping, I switch my choice category to online shopping so I can still maximize my cash back earnings. It’s great having a card I can easily tailor to my needs as they change.” 

— Ashley Parks, Editor at Bankrate

The Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card stands out among some of the best no annual fee credit cards for its versatile rewards program. Even so, new approaches to flexible categories and more comprehensive flat-rate cards are gaining traction and providing people with competing alternatives to the Customized Cash card.

The best cards to pair with the Customized Cash will be rewards cards that cover categories that the Customized Cash doesn’t. A flat-rate rewards card with unlimited earnings and no spending caps may be your top choice, but a bonus category card with boosted rewards rates in categories you can’t find on the Customized Cash could work just as well.

This card is ideal for anyone with a firm grasp of their budget and who knows where they can squeeze the most out of a card. Also, people with Bank of America as their primary bank will benefit if they qualify for Preferred Rewards.

The Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card is an excellent no-annual-fee card if you think you'll earn more by maximizing the card's bonus categories rather than with a 1.5 percent flat-rate cash back card.

However, the card might be high maintenance for some and its spending cap can dampen its potential value. If you can benefit from this card’s intro APR offers and customizable bonus categories, the Customized Cash is definitely worth a look, especially if you qualify for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program.

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