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Offers for Bank of America cards mentioned in this post have been updated as of 08/26/2023
Bank of America has a new rule for credit card applications, which while not the same as Chase’s 5/24 rule, does place restrictions on new card approvals based on previous, recent card approval history.
The new rule restricts the number of new Bank of America cards you can open in any given time period; currently referred to as the 2/3/4 rule. The rule limits you to:
- 2 new Bank of America cards in any 2 months period
- 3 new Bank of America cards in any 12 months period
- 4 new Bank of America cards in any 24 months period
The rule affects all Bank of America issued credit cards, including the Alaska Airlines Visa® credit card and the Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card. However, data points currently appear to be pointing to business cards not counting when 2/3/4 is calculated.
Read more: Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite Credit Card Review
How 2/3/4 Differs From Chase’s 5/24
The new policy is starkly different from Chase’s 5/24 rule, which can be much more restrictive and difficult to manage.
The fundamental difference is that the 2/3/4 policy only applies to cards issued by Bank of America, while the Chase’s 5/24 applies to cards from all card issuers.
Bank of America isn’t focusing on what you are doing with other card issuers, but they’re limiting your ability to obtain new card accounts with them within a given period.
How 2/3/4 Differs From Amex's Once in a Lifetime Bonus
American Express’ policy of limiting card signup bonuses to once per lifetime is significantly more restrictive than what Bank of America is doing. You can still potentially qualify for new account bonuses more than once with Bank of America, just make sure you're not within the 2/3/4 range and that you'd otherwise qualify for a new card account.
Overall
While new restrictive credit card rules are never something to celebrate, some can be much more of a hassle to manage than others. While Chase’s 5/24 policy means you have to have a long-term card strategy across all financial institutions, the new Bank of America rule means you only need to come up with a strategy for their cards, and still leaves you plenty of options for cards issued by other financial institutions.
Source: Doctor of Credit
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Gotta stay on top of these rules. It may be to sign up for another card.
What Bank America cards have enough benefits to get anyhow??
Alaska and Asiana cards both offer top value, likewise, the Virgin Atlantic card is another good option.
I feel this would be more important to know if they had great credit card offers, but I haven’t really been interested in theirs! They don’t even have a sign up bonus for some of them. Why would I sign up with BOA if I can get 50k points with Chase?
BoA cards aren’t subject to 5/24. Look at the Alaska and Asiana cards, two of the best value award programs anywhere in the world.
Besides Asiana, Alaska and Virgin America, do they have any other airline credit cards?
Yes, they have other airline, rail, and cruiseline co-brand cards (not that we’d recommend them..). Spirit, Allegiant, Amtrak, Norwegian Cruise, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity Cruises.
Great info. Thank you
It’s not really bad, unlike, for example the 5/24, or AMEX’s new one bonus per type of card, ever, plus, if you cancel before the annual fee is due, AMEX will claw back your points, which are more limiting.
Thanks. This is getting really difficult to keep track of and understand.
Does Barclays have any rules?
No published policy. We’ve summarized the application rules we know of in this post – https://awardwallet.com/blog/understanding-rewards-credit-card-application-rules-restrictions/
good for the banks.
i know people who were signing up, taking the bonus and then shredding their cards.
This was only a matter of time
I love it when you provide info regarding bank policies. it is really, really, really helpful when deciding which credit card to apply for.
All these restrictions are applied to restrict old customers getting the sign up and promotional bonus. They just want is give the sign up bonus to new customers and people do not have any credit cards. They so not care about old customers. They think old customers will stick to their old cards.
this is really not that significant as there are only a few bank of america cards that most people will even want to get.
If you move in some money, like transferring an IRA, to Merril Edge, Merril Lynch’s discount brokerage, besides free trades,and a free safe deposit box, you get up to a 75% bonus on Bank Of America Premium Rewards and Cash Rewards, providing superior credit card cash back on all purchases, and even more on certain categories.