Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards

The Customized Cash Rewards card lets you pick the category that earns 3%, and that choice is its whole personality. You select from Bank of America's list, while grocery stores and wholesale clubs earn 2% automatically. Both bonus tiers share a combined cap of $2,500 in purchases per quarter, after which everything drops to 1%. There is no annual fee, approval generally starts at good credit, roughly 670 or higher, and it is a Visa Signature. That combined cap is the number to plan around. $2,500 a quarter is $10,000 a year of bonus eligible spending, worth at most $300 back if all of it lands in the 3% choice category, and less once groceries take their share at 2%. For a household with moderate spending concentrated in one clear category, whether that is gas, dining or online shopping, this is a genuinely useful return from a free card. For a heavy spender the cap arrives in the second month of each quarter and the card spends the rest of the quarter earning 1%, which is worse than a plain flat rate alternative. The welcome offer is $200 after $1,000 in the first 90 days, an easy target for most applicants. The card's real appeal depends on something outside the card. Bank of America's Preferred Rewards program applies a bonus multiplier to these rates for customers holding qualifying balances at the bank, and that boost, rather than the base structure, is why the card is rated so highly by the people who rate it highly. If you do not bank with Bank of America and have no plans to move assets there, judge it on the base 3% and 2% alone, where it is competent rather than special. The regular APR is 17.49% to 27.49% variable, with a 0% intro APR for 15 billing cycles that covers purchases and balance transfers made in the first 60 days, so a transfer arranged later does not get the promotional rate. It is a poor fit for high spenders who will hit the quarterly cap early, for people who want one rate on everything with no category management, and for anyone with no Bank of America relationship who is comparing cards purely on published rates. As always, carrying a balance past the intro window undoes the rewards completely at these APRs.