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We're big fans of any changes that help you earn more rewards, and that's the news of the day with the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card. To be clear, the earning rates aren't changing, and that's great news. You'll still be able to choose your preferred category for earning 3% back, and you'll still earn 2% back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs.
What's changing is the definition of what's included in certain 3% earning categories, and this should help many cardholders earn extra rewards.
- 3% cash back in the category of your choice: gas, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores, or home improvement/furnishings*
- 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs*
- 1% cash back on all other purchases
* Newly expanded 3% categories for Gas (to now include Electric Vehicle Charging (EVC) Stations) and Online Shopping (to now include Cable, Streaming, Internet and Phone Services).
Bank of America Customized Cash Card Earning Structure
With the Bank of America Customized Cash Card, you can choose to earn cash back where you spend the most: 3% cash back in the category of your choice, automatic 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs (up to $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club quarterly purchases), and unlimited 1% on all other purchases. If you're a Preferred Rewards member, you can earn 25%–75% more cash back on every purchase.
Since you can choose your 3% back category, it helps to know your options. They are:
- Gas
- Online shopping
- Dining
- Travel
- Drug stores
- Home improvement & furnishings
The definition of what's included in the first two categories (gas and online shopping) has expanded in beneficial ways.
The gas category now includes electric vehicle charging stations. And the online shopping category now includes cable, streaming, internet, and phone plans.
How the New Earning Opportunities Help You
Electric vehicle drivers have struggled to earn bonus points and cash back at the same rates as drivers with fuel-powered cards. While the list of cards offering bonuses on EV charging is growing, it's nowhere close to the number of cards offering bonus earnings on gas. Adding EV charging into this 3% category Bank of America Customized Cash Card helps narrow the gap.
The more interesting expansion for most people will be the online shopping category. Cable, streaming, internet, and phone plans are embedded into our daily lives, and you now can earn 3% back on these purchases.
Prior to the changes, cardholders earned 1% back on EV charging stations, phone plans, streaming services, and home internet plans. If you spend $100 per month on EV charging or streaming and cable TV, you'll earn an extra $2 in cash back each month going forward.
And remember that Bank of America Preferred Rewards customers earn up to 75% extra rewards on all purchases. That could amount to a 3.5% bump in earnings at EV charging stations or on home internet and phone plans.
Bottom Line
If you're holding the Bank of America Customized Cash Card, you should be happy with these expanded earning possibilities, helping you add an extra 2% back to your purchases at EV charging stations or on your phone bill, cable bill, or streaming services.
If you don't have the Bank of America Customized Cash Card, it's currently offering a $200 online cash rewards bonus after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening.
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.
Wondering whether there’s a list of streaming services that are supported, particularly Spotify as it’s not covered by Amex plat.
E, unfortunately there isn’t a full list. If you go here, you’ll see this https://www.bankofamerica.com/credit-cards/products/cash-back-credit-card/cash-back-category-choices/
BOA gives some common examples and then says:
*While this list can be a helpful guide, please remember that purchases and transactions are submitted and categorized by the merchant. Bank of America does not control how the purchases are classified, so some purchases may not fall into the category where you might expect them to appear.
**Entities listed here are examples of the type of companies/merchants that frequently appear as transactions at Bank of America within this category; this is not a comprehensive list. Listing an entity does not imply affiliation or endorsement.
Spotify isn’t on the list of examples, unfortunately.