Cash back
Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards Review: Is Picking Your Own 6% Category Worth It?
A no-annual-fee cash-back card that lets you choose your own bonus category instead of settling for whatever the issuer picks.
Updated for 2026 · Page 1 of 1
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Most flat-category cash-back cards force a trade-off: you either accept a fixed bonus category you don't spend much in, or you juggle several cards to cover gas, groceries, and online shopping. If you've ever wished you could just tell your credit card which category to reward, that's the specific gap the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card is built to fill.
This is an independent, third-party guide. It is not published by Bank of America, and this site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the issuer. The goal here is to explain, in plain language, how the card actually works, where it earns the most, and who it makes sense for.
In short: the Customized Cash Rewards card charges no annual fee and lets cardholders pick one bonus category each month — options typically include gas and EV charging, online shopping, dining, travel, drug stores, or home improvement — earning an elevated rate there plus 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, up to a combined quarterly spending cap, with 1% on everything else. New cardholders can also earn a cash bonus after meeting a minimum spending requirement in the first few months.
Terms, rates, and bonus amounts on cash-back cards change often, and issuers can update offers without much notice. The figures in this guide were checked against current sources as of the 2025-2026 period, but you should always confirm the live annual fee, APR, and bonus offer on Bank of America's own product page before applying.
How the Rewards Work
The card's signature feature is choice. Each billing cycle, you select one 3% bonus category from a list that typically includes gas and EV charging stations, online shopping (including cable, internet, phone plans, and streaming), dining, travel, drug stores and pharmacies, or home improvement and furnishings. You can change your category once per calendar month if your spending shifts.
New cardholders currently get an added incentive: the chosen category earns 6% cash back during the first year, stepping down to the standard 3% afterward. On top of that, the card pays an automatic 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, with 1% cash back on all other purchases with no limit.
There's a catch worth planning around: the 6%/3% category rate and the 2% grocery/wholesale club rate apply only to a combined $2,500 in purchases per quarter across those categories. Once that cap is hit, spending in those categories drops to the standard 1% until the next quarter resets. Bank of America Preferred Rewards members can also boost their cash-back rates by 25% to 75%, depending on tier.
Fees and APR
The Customized Cash Rewards card carries a $0 annual fee, so there's no baseline cost to keep the card open, even if you rarely use it as your primary spender.
It also comes with a 0% introductory APR on purchases and on balance transfers made within the first 60 days, lasting for 15 billing cycles. After the introductory period ends, a variable APR applies — recently quoted in the roughly 17.49%–27.49% range, which will move with the prime rate and depends on your creditworthiness.
One fee to flag for travelers: this card charges a 3% foreign transaction fee on purchases made outside the U.S. or in a foreign currency, which makes it a weaker choice for international spending compared with travel-focused cards that waive that fee.
Who This Card Is Best For
This card tends to suit applicants with good to excellent credit — issuer and third-party guidance generally points to a credit score around 690 or higher as a realistic baseline for approval, though income and existing debt also factor into the decision.
It's best fitted to people whose spending concentrates in one or two categories at a time — someone who fills up on gas frequently, or who does most of their shopping online, can direct the elevated rate exactly where it counts instead of settling for a fixed category that may not match their habits.
Existing Bank of America or Merrill customers get an extra reason to consider it: enrolling in Preferred Rewards can lift the cash-back rate well above the standard 3%, which meaningfully changes the math for people who already bank with BofA and keep qualifying balances there.
How It Compares
Against Citi Custom Cash, which automatically applies 5% back to your single highest eligible spending category each billing cycle with no manual selection required, the Customized Cash Rewards card asks you to actively choose (and remember to change) your category, but rewards that choice with a higher first-year rate and adds the grocery/wholesale club bonus on top.
Compared with Chase Freedom Flex, which rotates a 5% bonus category every quarter that you must activate, the Bank of America card trades a higher ceiling rate for more predictability — you decide your category rather than waiting to see what Chase picks next.
Discover it Cash Back offers a similar rotating-category structure with a first-year cash-back match for new cardholders, which can outpace this card's flat welcome bonus in the first year for disciplined spenders, but only within Discover's rotating categories rather than a category you choose yourself.
Downsides and Watch-Outs
The $2,500 quarterly cap on the combined bonus category and grocery/wholesale spending is the card's biggest limitation for high spenders — heavy grocery shoppers or big-category spenders can blow through that cap well before the quarter ends and fall back to 1%.
The category list, while flexible, has exclusions — certain purchases within an eligible category (like some superstores or discount stores that also sell groceries) can be treated differently than expected, so it's worth checking Bank of America's category definitions before assuming a purchase qualifies.
Because the elevated rate steps down from 6% to 3% after the first year, the ongoing value of the card is more modest than the headline first-year offer suggests, and the 3% foreign transaction fee makes it a poor pick as a travel companion abroad.
Frequently asked questions
- How often can I change my 3% bonus category?
- Bank of America allows cardholders to change their chosen bonus category once per calendar month, so you can adjust it if your spending pattern shifts from one month to the next.
- Is there really no annual fee?
- Correct — the Customized Cash Rewards card has a $0 annual fee, so there's no cost to hold the card even in months you don't use it heavily.
- What happens after I hit the $2,500 quarterly spending cap?
- Once your combined spending in the chosen category plus grocery stores and wholesale clubs reaches $2,500 in a quarter, additional purchases in those categories earn the standard 1% cash back until the cap resets the following quarter.
- Does this card charge foreign transaction fees?
- Yes, it charges a 3% foreign transaction fee on purchases made outside the U.S. or in a foreign currency, so it's not a great fit for international travel spending.
- Can Bank of America Preferred Rewards members earn more?
- Yes — Preferred Rewards members can receive a 25% to 75% boost on their cash-back earnings depending on their tier, which can push the standard 3% category rate significantly higher.
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Advertiser disclosure: general information only, not financial advice. Confirm current terms on the issuer's official site before applying.