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The Bank of America Preferred Rewards program may not grab headlines, but it’s a popular way for customers to use their banking products and credit cards together. Simply put, the more you invest with Bank of America and Merrill Edge, the better the bonus rewards you can earn on eligible Bank of America credit cards. And who doesn't like extra rewards?
Bank of America is making a few tweaks to its Preferred Rewards program starting in May 2026. The changes are minor, but they’re worth noting if you rely on the program to boost your credit card earnings.
Here's what you need to know.
Bank of America Preferred Rewards: What's Changing?
Around May 26, 2026, Bank of America will rename its Preferred Rewards program to BofA Rewards. While the program’s tier structure will remain intact, both the tier names and balance thresholds are changing slightly.
The table below outlines what’s different.
| Old Tier Name | Old Balance Threshold | New Tier Name | New Balance Threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | $20k to < $50k | Member | Less than $30k |
| Platinum | $50 to < $100k | Preferred Plus | $30k to < $100k |
| Platinum Honors | $100k to < $1 million | Preferred Honors | $100k to < $1 million |
| Diamond Honors | $1 million+ | Premier | $1 million+ |
Overall, the changes aren’t especially drastic. Existing rewards members will be automatically mapped into the new tiers as follows:
- Gold and Platinum will become Preferred Plus
- Platinum Honors will become Premier Honors, keeping the same $100,000 balance threshold
- Diamond members will become Premier members
Along with this change, which was communicated to current customers on their most recent statement, came the following note: “Your current benefits will change following conversion to BofA Rewards.” The message also included a URL that currently leads to an error page.
That vague reference to benefits changing is understandably concerning. The core benefit of the Platinum Honors tier (soon to be called Premier Honors) is the ability to boost rewards earned on eligible Bank of America credit cards by 75%.
For example, that boost can turn a card like the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card into a 2.625% cash back card. And that's a big reason why we're fans of the program.
- Earn 2% cash back on purchases for the first year from account opening
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases after year one
As long as Bank of America’s still-unannounced changes don’t touch this feature, most customers should still be satisfied. But that said, signaling changes to a popular program without sharing any details is hard not to view as a red flag.
Bottom Line
Although these updates are relatively minor, it’s still important to understand the new asset thresholds and the possibility of changes to benefits. If Bank of America Preferred Rewards is a meaningful part of your banking and credit card strategy, take time to review what’s changing and how it could affect you starting in March 2026.
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