No fee Bank of America Power Rewards Visa (Personal or Business) - up to 2% cash back, uncapped

Personal card
Small Business card

3,500 Points = $25 Cash Rebate
6,500 Points = $50 Cash Rebate
9,500 Points = $75 Cash Rebate
12,500 Points = $100 Cash Rebate
20,000 Points = $200 Cash Rebate
30,000 Points = $450 Cash Rebate
50,000 Points = $1,000 Cash Rebate

No annual fee. No annual point earning redemption caps. Cash rebates are conveniently rewarded in the form of a credit to your account. Other redemptions options (gift certificates, travel, merchandise) exist, starting at 2,500 points level. 500 bonus points for first purchase on personal card or 1000 bonus points for business card (within 90 days of opening your account). Additional 1500 bonus points just for opening the card before October 30, 2005 (not mentioned on the website - I will scan the brochure if necessary).

Might not be bad for the heavy hitters. You'd need to spend $20,000 to get 1% and $30,000 to get rewards above 1%.

Edit: Points expire after 5 years.

Its not really teired. Your first purchases will still earn 2%, but you have to earn all 50000 points before you can redeem or you'll end up with less than 2%.

Sounds great but as usual I'm sure the terms are subject to change. 5 years is a long time to risk for 2% when u can get 1.5% ongoing.

Still if you can blow through the spending levels quick this could be good.

Thanks OP.

This is Farm Bureau Bank redux, except you have to get to $50k instead of $35k for the full 2%. Otherwise all the same caveats as FBB. Search the > 90 day archive for "Farm Bureau" or "FBB" for all the sordid details of that spectacular FW flame-out.

This IS FBB?? No way, FBB is nothing compared to Power Rewards.

http://www.farmbureaubank.com/products/credit/reward.asp

Cash Back
Points Rewards
15,000 $100 Cash Back
30,000 $200 Cash Back

Cash Back = 200/30000 = 0.67%, even worse than the mediocre Citi/Chase 5%/1% card.

So far, Power rewards (formerly fleet visa) from BOA is still the best (for people spending at least 30K per year).

MarkM said: This is Farm Bureau Bank redux, except you have to get to $50k instead of $35k for the full 2%. Otherwise all the same caveats as FBB. Search the > 90 day archive for "Farm Bureau" or "FBB" for all the sordid details of that spectacular FW flame-out.

particular said: This IS FBB?? No way, FBB is nothing compared to Power Rewards.

http://www.farmbureaubank.com/products/credit/reward.asp

Cash Back
Points Rewards
15,000 $100 Cash Back
30,000 $200 Cash Back

Cash Back = 200/30000 = 0.67%, even worse than the mediocre Citi/Chase 5%/1% card.

So far, Power rewards (formerly fleet visa) from BOA is still the best (for people spending at least 30K per year).

MarkM said: This is Farm Bureau Bank redux, except you have to get to $50k instead of $35k for the full 2%. Otherwise all the same caveats as FBB. Search the > 90 day archive for "Farm Bureau" or "FBB" for all the sordid details of that spectacular FW flame-out.My point was that, once upon a time, you could get 2% rebate on FBB, but only by getting to 35k points. Then, after a couple years & with almost no notice, FBB changed the terms to the crappy ones you quote above.

In other words, your post proves my point, it doesn't refute it.

Gotta be aware of how BofA calculates points. On the BofA cards I've seen that promise one point per $100 spent, this is not at all the same as 1%: if you spend $99.99 in one statement period, you get zilch. If you spend $199.99, you get one point. Etc. Any "loose change" before you hit the next $100 is ignored, completely discarded for the purpose of computing points.

Whereas with other rebate cards I've seen (such as Citi and AARP), they give you a true percentage-based rebate.

Would someone please check the actual points they're getting on their Power Rewards card and let us know if BofA is still basing their computations on full $100 increments? TIA.

manuel said: I applied for the 5000 point promoDid you mean the 1500 point promo manuel, or is there another promo link?

MarkM, you and manuel raise good points about risk with this. However, there are key differences between BofA and FBB.

Most important, BofA is a huge mega-bank, which will notice the FW effect much more slightly than FBB did. (The FBB card's growth was fueled almost entirely by flocks of people gunning for the top 2% redemption level, thanks to a smartmoney piece and FW/flyertalk/et cetera.)

Also, FBB's card was brought out back when savings bonds could be bought (and often flipped) with credit cards). Many of us who otherwise would never have redeemed at the top level were able to do so thanks to bond purchases. BofA won't be contending with that.


So, is there a risk of them changing the program? Sure. But I don't think the risk of their changing the tiers is all that great. More likely, they'll tighten what will qualify for points, so that anything remotely resembling a cash equivalent won't qualify.

Dave -

As I mentioned I applied in the branch - seems to be the only way. They are doing promos on their atms, etc.

5000 bonus points is not even enough for a $50 reward - below my usual threshold. And as you say - without SB and fewer GC deals all the time I probably won't go past the 6500 level in charges. Is coming in handy for the 6 mo no fee purchases&BTs 0% deal - I have another card I am consolidating.

Although I think you're right that BOFA is much bigger the 5 year period is a loooooong time to hold and then use those points. I would guess any changes would grandfather already earned points but you have to get to $35000 just to catch up to fidelity card.

Really hard to see where the 1.5% from the getgo or the 2% (minor 529 hassle) isn't a better deal - promo or not. Hopefully bofa won't destroy these.

EugeneV said: Personal card
Small Business card

3,500 Points = $25 Cash Rebate
6,500 Points = $50 Cash Rebate
9,500 Points = $75 Cash Rebate
12,500 Points = $100 Cash Rebate
20,000 Points = $200 Cash Rebate
30,000 Points = $450 Cash Rebate
50,000 Points = $1,000 Cash Rebate

No annual fee. No annual point earning redemption caps. Cash rebates are conveniently rewarded in the form of a credit to your account. Other redemptions options (gift certificates, travel, merchandise) exist, starting at 2,500 points level. 500 bonus points for first purchase on personal card or 1000 bonus points for business card (within 90 days of opening your account). Additional 1500 bonus points just for opening the card before October 30, 2005 (not mentioned on the website - I will scan the brochure if necessary).

Thanks for the info. I have the biz card and personal card but never checked the CashBack option! This is one of the hottest deals I have! I wonder if the 50K is max rebate per year or if I can do it more than once! This card goes to the top f my pile now!

Rob

The US Bank Issued Stratus Business card seemed to have the same full payment crap/

Just a heads up.

I signed up for this online and I received a 5000 point bonus. The key is just use the online customer service chat, ask about the 5000 bonus points, and then the customer service agent will give you a link.

If you wait to redeem 50000 points for $1000, then 5000 points is worth $100.

ucftechguru said: Can someone post link to 5000 reward point bonus or atleas post the link to the BOA chat. I can't find the online chat option on their website.

If you go to their credit card pages and hang around a bit, a Javascript window will slide down the screen and ask you if you want to talk to a credit card specialist. There's no obvious link to chat immediately--at least not that I've seen.

Got this link from live chat. Although the application says 500 points, the agent claimed that you'd get additional 4500 points if you apply today. Another agent gave me the same link, so they are not individual. Please check again in a few days to see if the link indeed changes. Don't forget that BofA lets you check if you are pre-approved before you apply and even tells you what CL you'd get.

RagingBull said: Anyway to get the 5000 extra bonus points for business card application too?

Ask them in chat.

Just a little update for the community. I qualified for my first $1,000 redemption last week. The $1,000 credit posted within 24 hours. I must say that I'm thoroughly impressed. Good job BofA!

EugeneV said: Cash rebates are conveniently rewarded in the form of a credit to your account.Question: is statement credit taxable? I know Cash Back in checks is, but what about statement credits?

manuel said: Had a lot of CC that did statement credit and have never gotten tax paperwork. All indications are that it will not be taxable.

Don't see any reason CashBack in checks would be taxable either? Certainly has never been that way for me.Haha, me too. I've never reported Cash Back "earnings" in my tax return, though legally I know I should.

manuel said: I have no reason to believe that you or I should report "CashBack" earnings on our tax return.

It's all thirdhand but my understanding is that such cashbacks constitute "discounts" on items purchased and thus are not taxable. Some debate here about business cards but I've seen no substantive postings arguing for including CC CashBack on tax returns.

This is one of the reasons that CC bonuses are much more valuable than bank account promos $ per $. For whatever reason brokerage bonuses are also typically not reported as taxable.I'd like to think so, but I've read conflicting info on this issue. For example, here's what TaxMama has to say:
http://www.taxmama.com/AskTaxMama/327/article4.html

Any tax experts here can shed some light on this?

This thread covers the conversion of the BoA card to Worldpoints
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?catid=52&threadid=628784&highlight_key=y&keyword1=