How BofA Rewards™ Tiers Change What Your Bank of America Card Earns
Why the same Bank of America card earns different rates for different cardholders, and how to work out which tier actually applies to you
The Answer First
Bank of America applies a rewards bonus to eligible credit cards based on your combined deposit and Merrill investment balances. The higher the tier, the larger the multiplier on what the card already earns. The program was renamed from Preferred Rewards to BofA Rewards™ in May 2026 and the tier thresholds changed, so material published before that date may describe a structure that no longer applies. Confirm your current tier and its bonus in online banking before assuming any effective rate.
How Do BofA Rewards™ Tiers Affect Credit Card Rewards?
Most credit card comparisons treat the earn rate as a fixed property of the card. For Bank of America cards, it is not. The same card in two different wallets can earn meaningfully different rates, because the issuer applies a relationship based multiplier on top of the published rate.
That makes your tier an important variable when evaluating a Bank of America card, and one that may be missing from a comparison. Before comparing a Bank of America card against a competitor's, establish which multiplier applies to you. Otherwise you are comparing a rate you may never actually earn.
How Did Preferred Rewards Change to BofA Rewards™?
Bank of America renamed Preferred Rewards to BofA Rewards™ and restructured the tiers. The entry balance requirement was removed, which opened the program to customers who previously could not qualify. At the same time, the balance required for the largest bonus increased substantially.
The practical effect is that older guides, and some issuer adjacent material, still describe tier names and thresholds that no longer exist. Verify against current issuer documentation rather than any secondary source.
How Is Your BofA Rewards™ Tier Determined?
BofA Rewards™ Tiers Are Based on Qualifying Balances
Tier placement is based on combined qualifying balances across Bank of America deposit accounts and Merrill investment accounts. It is not based on how much you put on the card, how long you have banked with the issuer, or your credit score. A modest spender with a large investment balance sits in a higher tier than a heavy spender with a small one.
How Are Qualifying Balances Calculated?
Qualifying balances are assessed on a rolling average rather than a single day figure, so moving money in shortly before a review does not have the effect people sometimes expect. The issuer reviews balances periodically and moves accounts up automatically when they qualify, though newly activated benefits can take time to appear.
What Happens If Your Balance Falls Below a Tier Threshold?
The issuer applies its own grace arrangements when balances drop below a tier requirement, rather than downgrading instantly. The specifics are set by the issuer and can change, so treat any period you have read about as something to confirm rather than rely on.
Do You Have to Enroll in BofA Rewards™?
Program membership requires an open, qualifying Bank of America checking account. Holding a Bank of America credit card alone does not place you in the program. If you have never enrolled, the multiplier is not being applied to your rewards at all.
BofA Rewards™ tiers are based on your combined average balance in qualifying Bank of America deposit and Merrill investment accounts. An open, qualifying Bank of America personal checking account is required to enroll. Credit card rewards bonuses apply to eligible cards.
What Does the BofA Rewards™ Credit Card Bonus Apply To?
The Bonus Applies to Eligible Base Earnings
The bonus increases the rewards a card earns at its standard rates. On a card with tiered categories, it lifts each category proportionally rather than adding a flat amount, so the categories where you already earn most benefit most in absolute terms.
Does the BofA Rewards™ Bonus Apply to Promotional Rates?
First year promotional earn rates and welcome offers are typically outside the multiplier. This is a common misreading: a cardholder in a high tier may assume the promotional rate is also multiplied, then find the first year return lower than expected. Confirm how any promotional rate is treated before building expectations around it.
Does the BofA Rewards™ Bonus Change Category Caps?
Where a card caps bonus category spending, the multiplier increases the rate within the cap but does not raise the cap. Above the cap, spending drops to the base rate, and the multiplier then applies to the base rate instead.
What Does a BofA Rewards™ Tier Change on Your Credit Card?
The multiplier changes the rate on the card you already hold. It does not change the card's caps, category definitions, annual fee or benefits. If a card's structure does not fit your spending, a higher tier improves the return on a poor fit rather than correcting it.
What to Consider Before Qualifying for a Higher BofA Rewards™ Tier
The program's value depends on where your money would otherwise sit. That is a personal financial question rather than a card question, and it is worth being explicit about the trade off.
- Money you already hold with the issuer. If qualifying balances are already there, the multiplier is additional value on deposits that would otherwise do nothing. This is the clearest case.
- Money you would need to move to qualify. Consider what the balance earns where it currently sits. Moving funds purely to reach a tier means comparing the potential rewards benefit against any difference in yield, fees or investment options.
- Money you do not have. The upper tiers require balances that are out of reach for most cardholders. The published top rate is not the relevant rate for most people, and a comparison that quotes it as the card's return is not describing a realistic outcome.
Note also that the business program operates separately, with its own tier names and thresholds. Do not apply consumer tier figures to a business card.
How to Calculate Your Credit Card Rewards With BofA Rewards™
- Confirm enrollment. Confirm you are enrolled and that you have a qualifying checking account open. Enrollment is not automatic.
- Confirm your current tier. Look it up in online banking rather than estimating from balances, since qualifying account types and averaging methods determine the result.
- Confirm which of your cards are eligible. Not every card participates. The issuer publishes a list of ineligible products.
- Recalculate the effective rate. Apply the multiplier to the card's base rates, not to promotional rates, and stay inside any category cap.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Bottom Line
Your BofA Rewards™ tier can change what an eligible Bank of America credit card earns. Start with the card's standard earn rate, determine which BofA Rewards™ tier applies to you, apply the applicable bonus to eligible base rates and account for any category caps. This provides a more accurate way to compare Bank of America cards based on the rewards rate available to you.
Choose Your Next Step
- Compare Bank of America credit cards
- See Bank of America cash rewards cards
- Compare Bank of America travel cards
Sources
As Seen In
Trust & Secure
