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Via an inside source, I’ve just learned that Bank of America is planning to launch a rewards program for business customers that is similar to their consumer Preferred Rewards program (the program that makes it possible to earn up to 2.625% in rewards for all spend).
Basic details (What I was told)
- Program Name: Business Advantage Relationship Rewards (BARR)
- Expected Launch Date: March 2018
- Types of Rewards: Tiered business credit card bonuses, and more (no details regarding “more” yet)
- Tier Names: Top tier will be called Platinum Honors (same name as with the consumer program)
My guesses
- Tier qualification will likely be based upon business account funds rather than consumer funds.
- Given that the top tier of the new program has the same name as the top tier of the consumer program, it seems a safe bet that the business program will also have Gold and Platinum tiers.
- Each tier will probably offer the same credit card bonuses as corresponding tiers in the consumer program, but the bonuses will apply only to select business credit cards:
- Gold: 25% bonus
- Platinum: 50% bonus
- Platinum Honors: 75% bonus
- The following business credit cards should qualify for increased rewards with the new BARR program:
- Bank of America will introduce a new business credit card similar to their consumer Premium Rewards card. Most likely it will be called Business Advantage Premium Rewards and it too will qualify for increased rewards with the business rewards program.
How useful would this be?
If we could earn a 75% bonus on the two business credit cards I identified above, they would then earn the following rewards:
Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard
Usual rewards: Earn 1% cash back on every purchase, 2% on purchases at restaurants, and 3% on purchases at gas stations and office supply stores (up to $250,000 each calendar year, 1% after that)
With a 75% bonus: Earn 1.75% cash back on every purchase, 3.5% on purchases at restaurants, and 5.25% on purchases at gas stations and office supply stores (up to $250,000 each calendar year, 1.75% after that).
All of the above are strong earnings for a no-fee business credit card. 5.25% for gas stations, though, would be terrific. No other business card comes close to that.
Business Advantage Travel Rewards World Mastercard
Usual rewards:
- Earn unlimited 1.5 points for every $1 you spend on all purchases
- Earn 3 points per every dollar spent on travel purchases (car, hotel, airline) booked through the Bank of America® Travel Center – powered by Orbitz®
With a 75% bonus:
- Earn unlimited 2.625 points for every $1 you spend on all purchases
- Earn 5.25 points per every dollar spent on travel purchases (car, hotel, airline) booked through the Bank of America® Travel Center – powered by Orbitz®
The rewards for this card are identical to the consumer Travel Rewards card. Both offer great value for everyday spend for those with Platinum Honors status (assuming you do get this 75% bonus on the business side).
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[…] Bank of America has announced a rewards program for business customers that is similar to their consumer Preferred Rewards program (the program that makes it possible to earn up to 2.625% in rewards for all spend). I wrote about this program earlier today based on some inside info I had learned and a bunch of my guesses, but we now have actual facts from a website: promo.bankofamerica.com/RelationshipRewards (thanks Mike!). […]
[…] of America announced today (shortly after Greg from Frequent Miler broke the story) that they will be starting a new business rewards program for banking customers. It will be […]
[…] Them What They Want by Miles to Memories – Bank of America announced today (shortly after Greg from Frequent Miler broke the story) that they will be starting a new business rewards program for banking customers. It will be […]
I actually got a notification of this after I logged off my online BofA Portal. Here’s the link for the site. I posted on flyer talk but someone wasn’t able to access it. Not sure if it’s based on State to state or not. https://promo.bankofamerica.com/RelationshipRewards/?cm_sp=SB-General-_-BS018SBAdvRelRewNotification-_-SGU8SO0101_SASO_SB-Adv-Rel-Rew-Notification_Explorerewards&adlink=saso000000SGU8SO0101#foot2
Awesome, thank you! Working on updating this post now!