Bank of America Unlimited Cash vs. Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards
Key takeaways
- The Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card offers a number of unique perks to cardholders, including unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases.
- The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card is another cash back card option, this one offering bonus cash back of up to 3 percent each quarter in select categories.
- While these cards have some similarities, it is important to compare rewards, bonuses, perks and more to understand which option is best suited to your spending habits and goals.
In 2021, Bank of America introduced the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card, offering an unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on all purchases. But how does this card compare to another of the bank’s cash back cards: the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card?
The better card for you depends on your spending habits and how involved you want to be when it comes to earning rewards. Read on to learn about how the Unlimited Cash compares to the Customized Cash in terms of rewards, bonuses, perks and more.
Main details
| Cards | Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card | Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome bonus | $200 online cash rewards after spending $1,000 within the first 90 days of account opening | $200 online cash rewards after spending $1,000 within the first 90 days of account opening |
| Rewards rate |
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| Intro APR |
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| Annual fee | $0 | $0 |
Bank of America Unlimited Cash vs. Bank of America Customized Cash highlights
Both the Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards and the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards cards offer identical welcome bonuses, intro APR offers and no annual fee. Despite so many similarities, it’s mainly their rewards rates that set them apart from one another. Let’s take a closer look at how these two cash back cards stack up.
Welcome bonus winner: Tie
Both cards offer the same $200 welcome bonus after spending $1,000 within the first 90 days after account opening. This spending requirement translates to approximately $333 in monthly spending for the first 3 months to earn the bonus. This $200 bonus is on par with welcome offers from other cash back cards. However, Bank of America’s spending threshold for earning the welcome bonus is higher than what some other card issuers require.
For example, the Capital One SavorOne Cash Rewards Credit Card only requires you to spend $500 in the first three months to earn a $200 bonus. With the Citi Custom Cash® Card, you can earn 20,000 ThankYou points — worth $200 in cash back — after spending $1,500 in the first six months, which is a longer period than the Bank of America cards allow. So, while Bank of America’s Unlimited Cash and Customized Cash Rewards cards have the same welcome offer, it’s slightly more difficult to attain than offers from competing cash back cards.
Rewards rate winner: Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards
The Customized Cash provides 3 percent cash back on purchases in a category of your choice. Eligible categories include:
- Gas/EV charging
- Online shopping
- Dining
- Travel
- Drugstores
- Home improvement
You’ll also get 2 percent back on grocery store and wholesale club purchases, along with 1 percent cash back on all other purchases. However, the 2 percent and 3 percent categories are limited to $2,500 in combined quarterly spending. After that limit is met, those categories will earn 1 percent back.
As a Customized Cash cardholder, you can change your rewards category once per month. For example, you might have your 3 percent cash back category set to home improvement while you’re working on a renovation project. After that, you might want to switch the category to travel before booking a big vacation.
While the Unlimited Cash card offers a no-fuss, flat cash back rate of 1.5 percent, the Customized Cash offers more rewarding cash back rates than the Unlimited Cash. It means you’re likely to earn more with the Customized Cash — at least until you hit the quarterly spending caps.
Bank of America Preferred Rewards
Bank of America provides Preferred Rewards members with a sweet deal that can make both cards more rewarding. Depending on your membership tier, you can earn a 25 percent, 50 percent or 75 percent more rewards on every purchase.
For the Unlimited Cash card, this means your 1.5 percent cash back rate could be boosted to 1.87 percent, 2.25 percent or 2.62 percent. With the Customized Cash card, your 3 percent category could earn 3.75 percent, 4.5 percent or 5.25 percent depending on your tier. The 2 percent category could earn 2.5 percent, 3 percent or 3.5 percent, whereas the 1 percent category could earn 1.25 percent, 1.5 percent or 1.75 percent.
However, while these cash back rates are phenomenal, the boosted rewards rates may be out of reach for most spenders. For example, to unlock the 75 percent cash back boost, you need to reach the Platinum Honors tier of membership — which requires maintaining an average daily cash balance of at least $100,000 over 3 months in eligible Bank of America or Merrill accounts.
Intro APR winner: Tie
Both cards offer the same 0 percent introductory APR for 15 billing cycles on purchases and balance transfers. After this introductory period ends, a variable APR of 19.24 percent to 29.24 percent kicks in. Note that balance transfers must be made within the first 60 days to qualify for this intro offer, and 3 percent balance transfer fee applies to each transaction (then 4% for future balance transfers).
Annual fee winner: Tie
Both the Customized Cash and Unlimited Cash offer the same attractive $0 annual fee. If you’re a rewards maximizer, you won’t have to worry about making up for the annual fee in rewards earnings.
Foreign transaction fee winner: Tie
Both cards charge a 3 percent foreign transaction fee, so they tie in this category.
Which card earns the most?
The amount of cash back you earn from either the Customized Cash Rewards card or the Unlimited Cash Rewards card depends on how you use them. Here are a couple of examples showing which card could potentially earn you more in cash back rewards:
Bank of America Unlimited Cash vs. Bank of America Customized Cash spending example
Let’s say you eat out frequently, so you select dining as your 3 percent rewards category on your Customized Cash card. During one quarter, you spend $1,500 at restaurants and $1,000 at grocery stores, maxing out your 3 percent and 2 percent rewards categories. You’ll earn $45 in cash back for your restaurant spending and $20 back for your grocery store spending, for a total of $65 in cash back.
With the Customized Cash, say you also spend $1,500 during that quarter on miscellaneous purchases. This will earn you 1 percent cash back, or $15 in rewards. That brings your total cash back to $80 for $4,000 in spending.
In comparison, let’s assume you spend the exact same amounts using the Unlimited Cash. Since this card earns a flat rate of 1.5 percent, you’d earn $60 back after spending $4,000 — making the Customized Cash the clear winner in this scenario.
| Categories | Quarterly category spending | Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards cash back | Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards cash back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining | $1,500 | $45 | $22.50 |
| Grocery store purchases | $1,000 | $20 | $15 |
| Miscellaneous | $1,500 | $15 | $22.50 |
| Total | $4,000 | $80 | $60 |
Now let’s assume that you charge an additional $6,000 in expenses over the same quarter. Our chart will now look like this:
| Categories | Quarterly category spending | Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards cash back | Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards cash back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining | $3,500 | $65 | $52.50 |
| Grocery store purchases | $3,000 | $40 | $45 |
| Miscellaneous | $3,500 | $35 | $52.50 |
| Total | $10,000 | $140 | $150 |
In this instance, the Customized Cash would only earn 1 percent on the additional purchases, no matter which categories they fell into. That would net you an additional $60 in cash back for a grand total of $140 in cash back for the quarter.
On the other hand, the Unlimited Cash card would continue earning 1.5 percent on all purchases — resulting in an additional $90 in cash back and a total of $150 for the quarter. So, in the second scenario, the Unlimited Cash would earn you more. Which card is right for you could simply come down to how much you tend to spend per quarter.
Bankrate’s take: Even better, you could combine the benefits of both cards to earn an even higher cash back amount, especially if you’re a Preferred Rewards member. By using the Customized Cash for bonus category purchases and the Unlimited Cash on all other purchases, you could earn considerably more cash back each quarter than by using a single card alone.
Why should you get the Bank of America Unlimited Cash?
Unlike the Customized Cash card, the Unlimited Cash card doesn’t restrict how much cash back you can earn on certain spending, so you don’t have to worry about switching to a more rewarding card after hitting a certain spending threshold. Here are some other reasons to get this card:
Additional benefits
The Unlimited Cash is eligible for the Museums on Us program, which gives you free access on the first weekend of the month to more than 225 museums and cultural institutions across the country. It also offers access to BankAmeriDeals, which features promotional cash back offers from rotating merchants.
Other Unlimited Cash benefits include Visa Signature perks like extended warranty coverage, travel and emergency assistance services and pay-per-use roadside dispatch.
Redemption options
Bank of America provides several ways to redeem cash rewards, including a direct deposit to your Bank of America checking or savings account, credit to an eligible Merrill account or a statement credit to your card.
Recommended credit score
Applicants with credit scores of at least 670 may qualify for this card.
Why should you get the Bank of America Customized Cash?
The flexibility of this card’s cash back program is difficult to beat. Many competitors’ cards offer high cash back rates for one or two preselected bonus categories, which can be useless if you don’t typically make those types of purchases. The Customized Cash Rewards card not only lets you choose your 3 percent category, but also lets you change it once per month. Some more reasons to choose this card include:
Additional benefits
The Customized Cash comes with the same card benefits as the Unlimited Cash. These benefits include Visa Signature perks and access to Museums on Us and BankAmeriDeals.
Redemption options
Like the Unlimited Cash, you can redeem cash back for a statement credit, a direct deposit to a Bank of America account or a credit to an eligible Merrill account.
Recommended credit score
Applicants who are considering the Customized Cash should have a credit score of at least 670.
The bottom line
The Bank of America Unlimited Cash is as simple as it gets for a rewards card, but its flat rate doesn’t allow you to earn extra rewards in bonus categories. The Bank of America Customized Cash is more rewarding, but it has its limits. The better option for you depends on your spending habits and needs. You may even want to use these cards together, especially since neither imposes an annual fee.
In that case, use the Customized Cash for the 3 percent category that you spend the most in, and be sure to use the card at grocery stores and wholesale clubs. Then, use the Unlimited Cash for all other types of purchases and for category purchases after you reach the $2,500 quarterly limit.
The Bank of America content in this post was last updated on May 30, 2024.
