BankAmericard® credit card review: Is it the missing piece to your debt repayment strategy?

BankAmericard® credit card

Bankrate Score

Rating: 4.8 stars out of 5

4.8

Annual fee

$0

Intro offer

N/A

Rewards rate

N/A

Recommended Credit Score

Good to Excellent (670 – 850)

A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.

Citi Simplicity® Card

Bankrate Score

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

4.5

Annual fee

$0

Intro offer

N/A

Rewards rate

N/A

Recommended Credit Score

Good to Excellent (670 – 850)

A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.

Discover it® Balance Transfer

Bankrate Score

Rating: 4.6 stars out of 5

4.6

Annual fee

N/A

Intro offer

N/A

Rewards rate

1% - 5%

Earn 5% cash back on everyday purchases at different places you shop each quarter like grocery stores, restaurants, gas stations, and more, up to the quarterly maximum when you activate. Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases-automatically.

Recommended Credit Score

Good to Excellent (670 – 850)

A FICO score/credit score is used to represent the creditworthiness of a person and may be one indicator to the credit type you are eligible for. However, credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.

• BankAmericard vs. Citi Simplicity® Card

  The BankAmericard and the Citi Simplicity Card are both great options because these cards focus on helping you climb out of debt with generous terms and extended intro APRs. But the BankAmericard is a better fit if you have new purchases to make. Compared to the Simplicity card, it has a longer intro APR offer for purchases and a lower ongoing APR range once the introductory period ends.

  If you want to deal with past debt, the Citi Simplicity card’s lengthy balance transfer offer is now longer than the BankAmericard’s. Citi’s offer even gives you four months to transfer your debt (versus the BankAmericard’s 60-day transfer window). Like the BankAmericard, the Citi Simplicity card doesn’t charge a penalty APR. However, the Citi Simplicity doesn’t charge a late fee, giving it another edge over the BankAmericard.

  If you have new purchases to make, the BankAmericard might be the better option between the two. However, the Citi Simplicity card can be more accommodating if you have a balance to transfer and need more than 60 days to get it in order.

• BankAmericard vs. Discover it® Balance Transfer

  Two key differences between the BankAmericard and the Discover it® Balance Transfer (offer expired) could be the deciding factors for which card you choose. In short, the BankAmericard boasts the longer intro APR period for purchases between the two. But both cards offer similar intro APR offers on qualifying balance transfers. If you need to finance a new purchase and want to save on interest, the BankAmericard is the clear winner here.

  Conversely, the Discover it® Balance Transfer has one of, if not the best, rewards structure on a balance transfer credit card. Since it’s a Discover card, you’ll get the staple Cashback Matc as a welcome offer. Discover will match all cash back earned at the end of the first year with the card, effectively doubling your first-year cash back earnings.

  Discover’s rotating cash back calendar is worth considering since the BankAmericard skips a rewards program. In this case, the Discover it® Balance Transfer offers cardholders greater long-term value.

  The card you choose will ultimately come down to your primary goal. If you want to pay down debt with few distractions, the BankAmericard is the better option. If you want to earn rewards after paying off your credit card debt, the Discover it® Balance Transfer will be the better choice.

• The no-frills debt reducer

  If you need to focus on paying down credit card debt, this card can help you out. The lack of rewards may be a welcome benefit to this kind of cardholder, since it has no distractions to incentivize unnecessary spending. 

• The balance carrier

  The BankAmericard has a fairly low ongoing APR compared to other cards on the market. If you are someone who may need to carry a balance, even after the intro APR periods end, the BankAmericard may be an ideal choice. While you’ll still have to pay interest, your charges may be less than those on other credit cards. 

• Intro and ongoing APR

  The primary factor in a balance transfer or low-interest card’s rating is the quality of its introductory APR offer and ongoing APR. This includes both the introductory rate itself and the length of the intro APR on both balance transfers and new purchases. 

  For cards designed primarily for balance transfers, the intro APR offer on balance transfers has the largest impact on overall score. The quality of these cards’ intro APR on new purchases is also considered, but holds less weight than the intro APR on balance transfers. 

  For general low-interest cards, the intro APR offer on new purchases has the largest impact on overall score, followed by the ongoing APR and intro APR offer on balance transfers. This weighting assumes cardholders considering a card in this category will prioritize payment flexibility on new purchases or may need to carry a balance long term, whereas cardholders trying to pay off debt will opt for a dedicated balance transfer card.

  The cards that score the highest in these categories tend to offer long 0-percent intro APRs on both balance transfers and new purchases as well as a lower-than-average low-end APR.

• Fees

  Along with evaluating each card’s intro APR offers, we score balance transfer and low-interest cards based on their fees. 

  Of primary importance is a card’s balance transfer fee, since this can play a large role in the total cost of a balance transfer. We rate each card’s balance transfer fee based on how it stacks up against the fee you’ll find on competing cards. 

  While this fee carries less weight when we assess general low-interest cards than dedicated balance transfer cards, it still factors into our evaluation since cardholders may decide to transfer debt to a low-interest card even if it offers no intro APR or an intro APR higher than 0 percent.

  And while a lower balance transfer fee could save you more overall than a few extra months of 0-percent intro APR, this fee carries less weight in our scoring system than a card’s introductory APR and intro APR period. This is because many users prioritize getting as much time as possible to pay off debt while avoiding interest. 

  Our ratings also factor in the presence of annual, foreign transaction, cash advance and late payment fees, along with penalty APRs. Annual fees are weighted most heavily since these are the only “unavoidable” fees in the list and tend to be less common on dedicated balance transfer and low-interest credit cards.

• Perks and long-term value

  While getting a generous intro APR offer and low ongoing APR are likely to be the biggest priorities for someone looking for a low-interest or balance transfer card, we also consider how much value a card can offer after its intro APR comes to an end. 

  Balance transfer and low-interest cards receive a higher rating if they also include an ongoing rewards program or unique and valuable perks. Such features make a card more useful long term and make it less likely you’ll need to apply for a new card (and temporarily hurt your credit score) after you pay off debt.

• Is the BankAmericard a Visa or Mastercard?

  The BankAmericard is a Mastercard, giving it network benefits like zero liability protection for unauthorized purchases, Mastercard ID Theft Protection and Mastercard Global Service in case you need urgent customer service for your card.

• Does the BankAmericard earn rewards?

  Unfortunately, like many cards explicitly designed for balance transfers (and not much else), the BankAmericard doesn’t earn rewards on purchases.

  BankAmeriDeals allows you to earn small amounts of cash back similar to other card-linked programs like Chase Offers, but there’s no dedicated rewards structure as you’d see on several of Bank of America’s other cards.

• Will paying late raise your APR with the BankAmericard?

  The BankAmericard doesn’t impose a penalty APR if you miss a payment due date, which would typically balloon your APR for a while. However, you should do your best to make your minimum payments on time since missing a payment may nullify your intro APR period — leaving interest biting at your heels again.

What cardholders think

BankAmericard® credit card

4.5

28 ratings

In May 2024, Bankrate collaborated with third-party SliceMR to survey 6160 cardholders nationwide. Bankrate and Slice MR collected, averaged and presented website analytics and cardholder responses to six questions on a 5-point scale. Responses are unedited and have not been reviewed or approved by credit card issuers.

89% of customers recommend this card

Score breakdown

5 stars

64%

4 stars

25%

3 stars

11%

2 stars

0%

1 star

0%

Score by category

Overall 4.5 / 5

Extra perks 4.2 / 5

Privacy and security 4.5 / 5

Customer service 4.3 / 5

Online portal or mobile app 4.0 / 5

Intro APR length 3.9 / 5

Intro APR value 3.8 / 5

In May 2024, Bankrate collaborated with third-party SliceMR to survey 6160 cardholders nationwide. Bankrate and Slice MR collected, averaged and presented website analytics and cardholder responses to six questions on a 5-point scale. Responses are based on individual cardholder’s product details, and therefore cannot be verified for accuracy. Users received an incentive for their feedback. User ratings are unedited and have not been reviewed or approved by credit card issuers, nor do these ratings reflect Bankrate’s own reviews of these cards.