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BofA Rewards vs Preferred Rewards: How the 2026 Changes Affect Your Cash Back Rate
July 1, 2025
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Bank of America officially replaced its longtime Preferred Rewards program with a new program called BofA Rewards on May 27, 2026. If you hold a Bank of America credit card, especially the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card or Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card, here's what changed, what it means for your rewards rate, and how to decide if it's still worth keeping assets at BofA.
What Is BofA Rewards?
BofA Rewards is the new tiered loyalty program that ties your credit card rewards bonuses to the combined balances you hold across Bank of America deposit accounts and Merrill investment accounts. The more you keep with BofA and Merrill, the higher your rewards multiplier.
The program is open to any client with an active Bank of America personal checking account -- no minimum balance required to join at the base tier.
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The New Tier Structure
Previously, Platinum Honors (the old top non-millionaire tier) earned a 75% bonus at $100,000. Under the new program, that same $100,000 only gets you 50%. To get 75% back, you now need $1 million in combined assets.
How This Affects Your Cash Back Rate
Customized Cash Rewards (CCR)
The CCR card earns 3% base in your chosen category (online shopping, dining, gas, etc.) and 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, with a $2,500 quarterly cap on the 3%/2% categories.
If you were previously at Platinum Honors getting 5.25%, you'll drop to 4.5% at Preferred Honors. This is a meaningful cut, especially if you max out the quarterly spend cap across multiple CCR cards.
Unlimited Cash Rewards (UCR)
The UCR earns 1.5% base with no cap, useful for categories like taxes, insurance, and education.
Is the Drop from 75% to 50% That Bad?
For most people, the answer is: it depends on your spend volume.
Here's the math on the difference between the old 5.25% (Platinum Honors) and the new 4.5% (Preferred Honors) on the CCR:
- The $2,500 quarterly cap means $10,000/year max in the bonus category per card
- Difference: (5.25% -- 4.5%) x $10,000 = $75 per card per year
If you have three CCR cards, that's $225 annually -- real money, but not catastrophic. The UCR difference of $15,000 in spend works out to roughly $56/year.
The bigger question is whether it's worth moving additional assets to BofA to chase a higher tier.
Should You Move More Money to BofA?
To jump from Preferred Honors to Premier, you'd need to go from $100,000 to $1,000,000 in combined assets -- an additional $900,000.
The math doesn't favor it for most people:
- Extra gain per CCR card: ~$75/year (at max quarterly spend)
- Extra gain on UCR: ~$56/year (on $15,000 spend)
- Total gain from moving $900K: a few hundred dollars at most
For comparison, brokerage transfer bonuses from institutions like Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, and Schwab typically pay $1,000 - $2,500 for moving $200,000 - $250,000. That's a far better return on the same capital movement.
Bottom line: Keeping $100,000 at BofA for Preferred Honors still makes sense for frequent CCR users. Moving substantially more than that just for the rewards boost is hard to justify.
When Do the Changes Take Effect for Existing Members?
Existing Preferred Rewards members aren't getting cut off immediately. BofA evaluates your tier status on your anniversary date. If you don't qualify for your current tier at review, you get a 3-month grace period to bring balances up before being moved down.
That means if your anniversary is in October 2026, you likely won't see a tier change until at minimum January 2027, and only if your balances have dropped below the new thresholds.
Upgrades work faster. BofA looks at your rolling 3-month average and can move you up monthly when you hit the balance threshold.
What Else Is New in BofA Rewards?
Beyond the credit card bonuses, BofA Rewards adds a few perks that weren't part of Preferred Rewards:
- Subscription credits at higher tiers
- Lifestyle benefits, including travel perks and live event access
- Geo-targeted cash-back offers via the mobile app
- Fraud and identity monitoring
- Home loan, auto loan, and home equity rate discounts
The program is also now accessible to all BofA checking account holders. The old Preferred Rewards required a $20,000 minimum balance just to qualify. That opens the door to over 30 million customers who previously didn't qualify.
How Kudos Can Help You Maximize BofA Rewards
If you're running multiple BofA cards alongside cards from Chase, Amex, Citi, or others, Kudos helps you figure out which card to use for every purchase. It tracks your BofA rewards tier, your quarterly CCR category caps, and recommends the card that earns the most on each transaction, so you're not leaving cash back on the table when your CCR category caps out or when another card outperforms.
The Bottom Line
The BofA Rewards changes are a meaningful downgrade for longtime Platinum Honors members, but the practical dollar impact is smaller than it might feel at first. For cardholders keeping $100,000 at BofA, the 4.5% rate on the CCR is still competitive, especially stacked across multiple cards.
The program makes more sense than ever for new or younger customers who can now join at no minimum balance and grow their tier over time. For existing power users, the decision comes down to whether your other assets work harder elsewhere.
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Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are those of Kudos alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
