The Bank of America Cash Rewards Business Credit Card is a no-annual-fee business card issued on the Visa Business network. It pays 3% cash back in one cardholder-selected category, 2% on dining, and 1% on all other purchases.
The 3% category can be changed once per calendar month through Bank of America’s online banking portal. A combined $50,000 annual spending cap applies to the 3% and 2% tiers together.
What the product is structurally
The card is a revolving line of credit tied to a business account rather than a personal one, though Bank of America still evaluates the applicant’s personal credit during underwriting. It uses a tiered cash-back structure instead of a flat rate across all spending.
Cardholders choose one category to earn 3% cash back: gas and EV charging stations, office supplies, travel, TV and telecom or wireless services, computer services, or business consulting and advertising. Dining purchases earn 2% automatically and do not require enrollment. Every other purchase earns 1%, with no cap on that base tier.
The 3% and 2% tiers share a combined $50,000 annual spending ceiling. Once combined qualifying purchases in those two tiers reach $50,000 in a calendar year, all further spending in every category earns 1% for the remainder of that year.
The card carries no annual fee and charges no foreign transaction fee on purchases made outside the United States.
How it works in practice
At the start of each billing cycle, the cardholder can log into online banking and select or change the 3% category for the following month. If no change is made, the prior selection continues. Category changes take effect at the start of the next billing cycle rather than immediately.
Dining purchases earn 2% without any category selection, and this rate does not compete with or replace the 3% category choice — both tiers can earn simultaneously on different purchases within the same billing period.
Cash back does not expire as long as the account remains open. It can be redeemed as a statement credit, a deposit into a linked Bank of America business checking or savings account, or a mailed check. There is no minimum redemption threshold stated for statement credits.
Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards for Business program adds a percentage bonus on top of the card’s base earning rates for business owners who also hold qualifying balances in Bank of America or Merrill accounts. The bonus scales with balance tier, reaching an additional 75% on top of base rewards at the Platinum Honors tier, which requires a three-month combined average balance of $100,000 or more.
New cardholders who spend $3,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening receive a $300 statement credit or cash-back bonus, based on current offer terms published on the issuer’s site.
Fees and pricing mechanics
The card charges no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee. It carries a variable APR on balances not paid in full by the due date, set according to the prime rate plus a margin determined at approval based on creditworthiness.
Late payments can trigger a fee and may raise the interest rate applied to the account under the cardholder agreement’s penalty terms. Cash advances carry a separate, typically higher APR and an upfront cash advance fee, calculated as a percentage of the advance amount or a flat minimum, whichever is greater.
The $50,000 combined cap on the 3% and 2% tiers is the primary mechanism limiting total rewards value. Purchases above that combined threshold in a calendar year earn the base 1% rate instead of the elevated tiers, regardless of which bonus category was selected.
Limits, eligibility, and availability
Eligibility requires a business registered in the United States and a personal guarantee from the applicant, since Bank of America underwrites the account using both business and personal credit history. The product is available to sole proprietors, partnerships, LLCs, and larger corporate entities.
Employee cards can be added to the account at no additional cost. Purchases made on employee cards accumulate rewards into the same primary account rather than tracking separately.
The card is issued only to businesses with a U.S. mailing address and Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number on file. It is not available to applicants without an established business entity or sole proprietorship structure recognized by the issuer.
Tradeoffs, risks, or limitations
The $50,000 combined annual cap on the 3% and 2% tiers affects businesses with spending concentrated in bonus categories. A business spending $10,000 per month in bonus-eligible categories reaches $120,000 annually; at that volume, roughly 42% of spending falls within the $50,000 cap and earns the elevated rate, while the remaining 58% earns 1%.
Only one category earns the 3% rate at a time. A business with recurring high spending across two or more of the eligible categories — office supplies and travel, for example — earns the top rate on only one of them each month.
The category selection requires active management. If a cardholder does not update the 3% category to match a change in spending patterns, purchases continue earning at whatever category was previously selected, with no automatic optimization.
The Preferred Rewards for Business bonus depends on maintaining qualifying balances across other Bank of America or Merrill accounts. Without those balances, the card earns only its base 3%/2%/1% structure with no multiplier applied.
Redemption options are limited to statement credit, direct deposit to a linked account, or check. The program does not offer point transfers to travel partners or merchandise redemption.
See also: Bank of America Business Credit Cards Comparison, BofA Unlimited Cash Rewards Business Card Review
