Bank of America Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard Credit Card Review (2026): A Category You Pick, With a Ceiling

| Rate | Applies to | Cap | |---|---|---| | 3% | One choice category: gas stations and EV charging stations (the default at opening), office supply stores, travel, TV/telecom and wireless, computer services, or business consulting services | $50,000 combined with dining, per calendar year | | 2% | Dining: caterers, restaurants, quick service restaurants, bars, taverns, lounges and discos | Shares the same $50,000 pool | | 1% | All other net purchases | None |

Read the cap carefully, because it is often described wrongly. It is not quarterly. Choice-category and dining purchases earn the elevated rate on the first $50,000 of combined net purchases in a calendar year running January 1 to December 31, and anything past that earns 1%. The dining definition also excludes bakeries, coffee shops, grocery stores and other food stores that happen to run a restaurant on the premises. Which rate a purchase gets is decided by the merchant category code a third party assigns, not by the bank.

Bank of America layers a relationship bonus on top of these rates. A three-month combined average daily balance of $20,000 to just under $50,000 across Bank of America business deposit accounts and Merrill business investment accounts reaches the Gold tier and adds 25% to the rewards on every purchase. Platinum runs from $50,000 to just under $100,000 and adds 50%. Platinum Honors begins at $100,000 and adds 75%, turning the choice category into 5.25%, dining into 3.5% and the base rate into 1.75%. Hold nothing at the bank and none of that applies, which leaves a capped 3% in one category and 1% on the rest.

The publicly posted offer is $500 in cash rewards after at least $5,000 in net purchases posts within 90 days of account opening, limited to one $500 bonus per company and paid within the next one to two billing cycles. Net purchases exclude balance transfers, cash advances, fees, returns and adjustments, so a transfer made on day one does nothing for the requirement. The relationship bonus is not applied to the opening bonus.

Eligibility is worth checking before you plan around it. The application acknowledgment states that a business entity that currently holds, or has held, another Bank of America business card within the preceding 24 months may be declined for additional card accounts.

The choice category can be changed once per calendar month, not more. If no change is made, the existing selection carries forward, and the account opens defaulted to gas stations and EV charging stations. Only the Owner or Guarantor, or a listed Authorized Contact, can make the switch, and only through Business Advantage 360 or the mobile banking app. Cardholders using instant access to card details before the plastic arrives may not be able to change it right away. In practice this means a business with seasonal spending can rotate between, say, travel and office supply stores, but has to remember to do it at the start of the month rather than after the spending happens.

Redemption is unusually flexible. Cash rewards can go to an eligible Bank of America checking or savings account, to an eligible Merrill investment account, to the card as a statement credit, or out as a check, and they are redeemable on demand with no stated minimum. Checks expire 90 days after issue. Rewards themselves do not expire as long as the account stays open with active charging privileges. There is no bonus applied at redemption, since the relationship uplift is already paid at earn time.

The card itself costs nothing to carry. Borrowing on it is the expensive part. Purchases run 0% for the first seven billing cycles and then 16.74% to 26.74% variable, based on personal or business creditworthiness at opening, priced off the Prime index as of July 31, 2026 with disclosures accurate as of August 2026. Balance transfers get no promotional window at all: they carry the full variable rate from day one plus a 5% transfer fee. Cash advances cost 5% and accrue at 27.74% variable. There is no penalty APR. Late fees scale with the balance, from nothing at $100 or less up to $49 above $5,000, and the due date falls at least 25 days after each cycle closes.

There is also a term in the application that has nothing to do with pricing. Opening the account grants the bank a security interest and a contractual right of offset in deposit accounts the business or the owner holds at Bank of America or its affiliates, which allows those balances to be used against card liabilities. The owner signs on personally for all charges as well.

The clearest fit is a business with an obvious spending concentration and money already at the bank. A contractor putting $40,000 a year through fuel, or an agency running heavy telecom and wireless bills, gets a real rate on it. Add a Platinum or Platinum Honors balance and the effective return moves into territory that few no-fee cards reach. It also works well as a first card for a company that wants cash deposited straight into its operating account rather than converted through points.

Businesses with spending spread evenly across many categories will spend most of the year at 1%, which is a weak return for a card that asks you to manage a category selection. Anyone whose bonus-eligible spending clears $50,000 well before December is effectively holding a 1% card for the rest of the year. Regular international purchasing is a poor fit given the 3% foreign transaction fee. And a company with no deposit relationship at the bank is looking at the unenhanced version of every rate on this page.

**Is the $50,000 bonus cap quarterly?**

No. It is a calendar-year cap that runs January 1 to December 31 and covers choice-category and dining purchases combined, not separately. Once combined net purchases in those categories reach $50,000, further purchases in them earn the 1% base rate until the calendar rolls over.

**How often can I change my 3% category, and who can do it?**

Once per calendar month. The change has to be made by the Owner or Guarantor, or by an Authorized Contact on the account, through Business Advantage 360 or the mobile banking app. If you do nothing, the current selection stays in place indefinitely.

**Can cash back be deposited into my business checking account?**

Yes. Rewards can be electronically deposited into an eligible Bank of America checking or savings account, credited to an eligible Merrill investment account, taken as a statement credit, or sent as a check. If you take the check, cash it promptly, because it expires 90 days after issue.

**Do I need a Bank of America business account to be approved?**

No. A deposit or Merrill account is not required to open any of the bank's business cards. It matters only for qualifying for a Preferred Rewards for Business tier, which is where the 25%, 50% or 75% rewards bonus comes from.

Judge this card on two numbers: how much of your spending lands in one category, and how much cash your business keeps at Bank of America. A company doing $50,000 a year in a single choice category with a Platinum Honors balance is earning 5.25% with no annual fee, which is a genuinely strong outcome. A company with diffuse spending and no deposit relationship is earning 3% on a slice and 1% on the rest, which is not. The card rewards concentration on both sides of the ledger.

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