While the credit card market seems to get a new rewards card every month or so, Bank of America is beefing up the perks across its portfolio of credit card and other financial services products.
“Our Preferred Rewards program is designed to encourage our clients to bring more of their financial lives to Bank of America,” John Sellers, rewards executive at Bank of America, told ConsumerAffairs.
At the top, the bank has added new tiers of rewards for high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients. Among the rewards are mortgage and home equity rate discounts. They also get access to a 75% credit card reward bonus.
“That means members can increase their rewards points from two per dollar on dining and travel purchases and earn up to 3.5 points per dollar unlimited,” Sellers said. “This is on top of the additional rewards, such as no-fee services, rate boosters on savings accounts, and interest rate discounts on auto loans.”
Retail, Preferred, Small Business, and Wealth Management clients qualify for tiered benefits based on the balances they maintain in their Bank of America deposit accounts and/or Merrill investment accounts, the company said.
An increase in points
Last month, Bank of America launched a new Premium Rewards Elite credit card offering a range of lifestyle and travel benefits designed to reward clients and complement cardholder spending habits.
The base reward at launch was two points for every $1 spent on travel and dining. Cardholders can now earn 3.5 points per $1 spent on travel and dining purchases and 2.62 points per $1 spent on all other purchases when enrolled in the bank’s Preferred Rewards at the Platinum Honors, Diamond, or Diamond Honors tiers.
“The outstanding travel and lifestyle perks of Premium Rewards Elite make it an exciting addition to our suite of award-winning credit cards," said Jason Gaughan, credit card executive at Bank of America. "We're proud to offer this new card designed to further reward and enhance the client experience."
In the near future, Gaughan said Bank of America will launch Partner Rewards, a loyalty program available to its credit and debit cardholders that he says will provide greater flexibility in how clients redeem exclusive partner offers and rewards.
Once enrolled, cardholders can select the card that will be associated with the rewards program. It will also give cardholders more choices when it comes to how they receive rewards.