Bank of America has a $200 cash rewards bonus for the NEA/MTA credit card. These are two different versions of the exact same card. To receive the bonus you need to make at least $500 in purchases within 90 days of account opening.
The earning potential has become a little better, starting from June 1st. Wholesale clubs are now included in the 2% category and the quarterly limit has been increased to $2,500 in combined grocery/wholesale club/gas purchases each quarter. Here’s the cash back rates:
- 1% cash back on purchases
- 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs
- 3% cash back on gas
As a Bank of America customer, you also earn a 10% customer bonus every time you redeem your cash back into a Bank of America checking or savings account. The bonus becomes better if you’re a Preferred Rewards member, which means that you have to have larger deposits at Bank of America. The highest tier of their rewards program, Platinum Honors, is available to those who have more than $100K 3-month average balance in total deposits. If you qualify then you receive a 75% rewards bonus. The Gold tier (20K+) offers 25% rewards bonus and the Platinum tier (50K+) offers 50% rewards bonus.
Here’s the earning rates including the bonuses:
| Gas | Grocery store/wholesale clubs | All Other | |
| Redeem to Savings (10%) | 3.3% | 2.2% | 1.1% |
| Gold (25%) | 3.75% | 2.5% | 1.25% |
| Platinum (50%) | 4.5% | 3% | 1.5% |
| Platinum honors (75%) | 5.25% | 3.5% | 1.75% |
If you have 100K in a BofA account then this card makes sense for everyday purchases. This is a decent sign up offer, especially if you’re hitting the wall with better option due to limits by Chase and Amex.
The best part of this offer is that BofA combines same day applications into one hard pull and they’re usually willing to give you 3-4 cards on the same day. At $200 bonus per card, that’s a pretty good bonus.
There’s been some talk regarding whether you have to pay taxes on BoA bonuses when you transfer it to a BoA account to get the 10% bonus. You can read more here about tax implications.
Offer Details
- Apply for NEA or MTA
- $200 cash rewards bonus after you make at least $500 in purchases within 90 days
- Earn a total of 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs and 3% on gas for the first $2,500 in combined purchases in those categories each quarter
- Earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time
- Redeem for cash back starting at $25. Plus get a 10% customer bonus when you redeem into a Bank of America checking or savings account
HT: DoC
