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Most cash back cards decide your bonus categories for you. The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards card lets you pick — and right now, whatever you pick earns 6% cash back for your entire first year. Add an easy $200 bonus and no annual fee, and this is one of the simplest wins in the credit card world at the moment.
Here's the deal in plain English, plus the one limit you need to plan around.
The offer
Bonus: $200 online cash rewards bonus
Spending requirement: $1,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of opening the account
Annual fee: $0
First-year rewards: 6% cash back in your choice category, 2% at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, 1% on everything else
After year one: your choice category drops to 3%; grocery stays at 2%
Intro APR: 0% on purchases for 15 billing cycles, and on balance transfers made in the first 60 days (then a variable APR applies — check current terms)
That $200 for $1,000 in spending is a 20% return on the requirement alone. That's about $333 a month for three months — groceries, gas, and a couple of bills will get most people there without trying.
Pick your 6% category
You choose one of these, and you can switch it up to once per calendar month in online banking or the BofA app:
Gas & EV charging stations
Online shopping — which also covers cable, internet, phone plans and streaming
Dining
Travel
Drug stores & pharmacies
Home improvement & furnishings
The sneaky-good pick for a lot of people is online shopping, because it quietly includes your internet, cell phone and streaming bills — stuff you pay every month anyway. And because you can change categories monthly, you can flip to home improvement the month you redo the deck, or to travel the month you book a trip.
The catch: a $2,500 quarterly cap
The 6% and 2% rates only apply to the first $2,500 in combined purchases each quarter across your choice category and grocery/wholesale clubs. After that, everything earns 1% until the next quarter starts.
Two things that means in practice:
The max you can earn at 6% is $150 a quarter — about $600 for the first year, if you push the full $2,500 through your choice category every quarter.
Grocery spending eats into the same cap. If you spend heavily on groceries, consider putting them on a different card so the cap goes to your 6% category instead.
What year one actually looks like
Say you put $400 a month in your choice category and $300 a month at the grocery store. That's $2,100 a quarter — under the cap.
6% on $1,200/quarter = $72
2% on $900/quarter = $18
That's $90 a quarter, or $360 for the year
Add the $200 bonus and you're looking at roughly $560 in year one from a card that costs nothing to hold.
If you already bank with Bank of America
BofA's relationship program, BofA Rewards, adds a percentage boost on top of your credit card rewards. Under the program's 2026 changes, having a Bank of America checking account generally qualifies you for at least a small boost, and the boost climbs with your combined balances across BofA and Merrill accounts — up to 75% at the highest tier. If you already keep money there, check which tier you're in before you apply; it can make this card meaningfully better than it looks on paper.
Fine print worth knowing
Apply online. The $200 bonus is an online offer, so don't apply in a branch.
Rewards don't expire as long as the account stays open.
Foreign transaction fees apply, so leave this one at home when you travel abroad.
Repeat applicants: Bank of America may not pay the bonus if you currently have this card or had one recently. Read the offer terms before applying.
A good-to-excellent credit score is generally recommended.
The Bonus Joe verdict
This is an easy one. A $200 bonus for $1,000 in spending is a low bar, and getting to pick your own 6% category for a full year is rare on a no-annual-fee card. The $2,500 quarterly cap keeps it from being a monster, but for most everyday spenders it's plenty of room.
Get it if: you have one clear spending category (gas, dining, bills via online shopping) and want a simple no-fee card that rewards it.
Skip it if: you spend well over $2,500 a quarter in bonus categories and want uncapped rewards, or you've had this card recently.
As always: never carry a balance to chase a bonus, and only spend money you were going to spend anyway. Offer details can change — confirm the current terms on Bank of America's site before applying.
