Bank Of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard Review

Bank Of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards Credit Card Overview

The Bank of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard is a cash back business credit card offering 3% cash back on a spending category of your choice. This comes as a result of the card’s overhaul in April 2019. Prior to this, the card’s 3% categories were limited to purchases at gas stations and office supply stores only.

Beyond this, the card offers 2% cash back on dining and 1% cash back on everything else.

While there are business credit cards that offer a higher cash back rate on certain spending categories, the Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard carries no annual fee, an introductory 0% APR on purchases for nine months (Offer expired.), and a nifty $300 signup bonus, all of which makes the card a compelling value.

Read our review to see if the Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard is a good fit for your business and how it compares to some other business cash back card options.

Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard At A Glance

Eligibility

Applicants typically must have excellent credit to be approved for the Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard.

Rewards & Fees

• The Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard has no annual fee
• The card’s nine-month introductory 0% APR period lets you initially make business purchases without worrying about interest
• Earn 3% cash back on your first $50K in annual spending on one of the following spending categories:
  • Gas stations
  • Office supply stores
  • Travel
  • TV/Telecom & wireless
  • Computer services
  • Business consulting services
• Earn 2% cash back on your first $50K in annual spending on dining purchases
• Earn 1% cash back (no limits) on everything else
• The card carries a 3% foreign transaction fee

The Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard’s new cash back system is a downgrade from the previous system in a few respects. For one thing, while the previous system would let you earn 3% cash back on both gas and office supplies, the new system makes you choose one or the other (or one of the other four choices). Also, under the previous system, your first $250K in annual spending on 3% categories would earn you 3% cash back, and there was no limit to the amount of annual spending on dining that would earn you 2% cash back. Now, only your first $50K in annual spending in both the 3% and the 2% categories will earn you more than the default 1% cash back. These changes seem to have been put through to help Bank of America save money, not you.

On the plus side, businesses with BofA bank accounts who are enrolled in BofA’s recently created Business Advantage Relationships Rewards Program can earn a 25% – 75% rewards bonus on the base earnings of every purchase. It’s a nice perk for existing BofA customers seeking to extract more value from the Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard’s rewards program. Earn up to 5.25% on your chosen 3% category, 3.5% at restaurants, and 1.75% everywhere else.

Due to the 3% foreign transaction fee, this isn’t a card I’d recommend to the business traveler making frequent overseas trips.

Redeeming Rewards

BofA gives Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard users just three options for redeeming cash rewards: you can get statement credits, a check in the mail, or you can get your cash rewards deposited into your checking or savings accounts. Unfortunately, this means that for the majority of cardholders, statement credits or checks are the only redemption option. What’s more, there’s no way to transfer your rewards to other loyalty programs.

Benefits

The Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard entitles you to the following rewards:

• Cash flow management tools
• Online and mobile access
• Travel and emergency services
  • $100,000 in travel accident insurance and auto rental insurance
  • Emergency ticket replacement
  • Lost luggage assistance
  • The option to get extended protection
• Zero liability protection for unauthorized transactions
• Overdraft protection
• Fraud monitoring
• Paperless statement option

Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard VS Chase Ink Business Cash

The Chase Ink Business Cash card is a cash back card for many of the same businesses that might be drawn to the Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard.

You’ll earn not 3% but 5% cash back on office supply stores and on internet/cable/phone purchases along with 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants. While the right kind of business might benefit more from the Ink Business card due to the higher cash back rates on certain purchase categories, note that these categories max out at $25,000 each, after which the cash back rate reverts to 1% cash back. If your business spending is more modest than that, the Ink Business Cash may be a preferable alternative to the Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard.

The Chase Ink Business Cash card also carries no annual fee.

Check out our Ink Business Cash review for more details.

Final Verdict

If your business spending is congruent with the high cash back category choices of the Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard, the card may be a good value for you. However, the 3% foreign transaction fee and the lack of ability to transfer your rewards to airline loyalty programs means there are much better travel card options out there.

Essentially, if your business spending largely falls in line with one of the 3% cash back categories on offer, your business may stand to benefit from this card. If your business spending does not align with one of these categories, look for a rewards card that better suits your business’s spending profile.

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Ramp offers a free corporate card for virtually any business. Start earning rewards with your corporate spending today. Get your free card.