Bank of America Preferred Rewards Program: Is This the Most Lucrative Cash Back Program for LLCs?

For years, Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards for Business program has operated quietly in the background of the points-and-miles community, boosting cashback earnings on its Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards credit card.

The earning strategy is simple: concentrate your deposits into eligible Bank of America business or Merrill investment accounts, climb the Preferred Rewards tiers and earn 25% to 75% more cash back on every transaction.

For business owners who want to earn a rewards currency that immediately cuts their operational costs, the Preferred Rewards for Business program seems like an attractive option.

However, the real consideration to be made is whether the upside in cashback rates is enough to justify locking up tens of thousands of dollars in a low-yield Bank of America business checking account.

Here’s a full rundown of the Bank of America Preferred Rewards for Business program and an analysis of its value for business owners looking to maximize their return.

Bank of America Preferred Rewards for Business Program: What You Need to Know

The Bank of America Preferred Rewards for Business program is free to join and opens up a number of perks corresponding with your status tier. There are three statuses within the Preferred Rewards for Business program:

• Gold
• Platinum
• Platinum Honors

To become a Preferred Rewards member, you need a three-month combined average daily balance of $20,000 or more in qualifying Bank of America business deposit accounts and/or Merrill® business investment accounts. Depending on how much your three-month combined average daily balance is, you’ll receive a certain level of Preferred Rewards status.

Once you reach a certain level, you’ll keep it for a full year. If your balance drops below the required amount, you’ll be put into a grace period for three months to give you time to top up your balance.

Keep in mind that you won’t automatically receive status within the Preferred Rewards for Business program if you already hold Preferred Rewards status through your personal checking accounts. To be eligible for the business program, you need to hold business checking accounts and/or Merrill business investment accounts.

Let’s now check out each of these status tiers in depth.

Preferred Rewards Gold

Preferred Rewards Gold is the first rung on the status ladder and requires you to hold a three-month combined average daily balance of $20,000 to $49,999.

As a Preferred Rewards Gold member, you’ll receive the following perks:

• Waived fees on select financial products, including monthly maintenance fees and inbound wire fees
• 25% bonus cash back on the Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards credit card’s spending categories
• 5% interest rate booster (on base rate of 0.01%) on Bank of America Business Advantage Savings accounts
• 0.25% interest rate discount on Business Advantage credit lines and auto loans, Practice Solution loans, commercial real estate loans, term loans and secured lending
• Monthly $10 credit toward ADP® payroll service (enrollment required)
• 0.05% processing rate discount

Preferred Rewards Platinum

Preferred Rewards Platinum is the next status tier and requires you to hold a three-month combined average daily balance of $50,000 to $99,999.

Preferred Rewards Platinum members receive the following perks:

• All the benefits of Preferred Rewards Gold status
• 50% bonus cash back on the Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards credit card’s spending categories
• Up to one out-of-network ATM fee rebate per statement cycle
• 10% interest rate booster (on base rate of 0.01%) on Bank of America Business Advantage Savings accounts
• 0.5% interest rate discount on Business Advantage credit lines, term loans and secured lending
• 0.35% interest rate discount on Business Advantage auto loans and commercial real estate loans
• 0.3% interest rate discount on Practice Solutions loans
• Monthly $15 credit toward ADP payroll service (enrollment required)
• 0.07% processing rate discount

Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors

The highest status tier you can reach is Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors.

To unlock this status tier, you need a three-month combined average daily balance of $100,000 or more.

• All the benefits of Preferred Rewards Platinum status
• 75% bonus cash back on the Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards credit card’s spending categories
• Unlimited out-of-network ATM fee rebates
• 20% interest rate booster (on base rate of 0.01%) on Bank of America Business Advantage Savings accounts
• 0.75% interest rate discount on Business Advantage credit lines, term loans and secured lending
• 0.5% interest rate discount on Business Advantage auto loans and commercial real estate loans
• 0.35% interest rate discount on Practice Solutions loans.
• Monthly $20 credit toward ADP payroll service (enrollment required)
• 0.1% processing rate discount

Boost Your Cashback with Preferred Rewards Status

One of the primary benefits of Preferred Rewards status is the ability to boost your cashback earnings on eligible Bank of America credit cards. You can boost your cashback rates by 25%, 50% or even 75%, depending on the level of status you hold. This enables LLCs to offset a portion of their operating costs through credit card spending rewards.

The following Bank of America cards allow for Preferred Rewards cashback boosts:

• Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards credit card
• Business Advantage Travel Rewards credit card
• Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card

Among these cards, the most lucrative is the Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards credit card that offers the following bonus spending categories and corresponding Preferred Rewards cashback boosts for a $0 annual fee.

* Includes gas stations and EV charging stations (the default), office supply stores, travel, TV/telecom and wireless, computer services or business consulting services.

** You’ll earn 3% and 2% cash back on the first $50,000 spent in the combined choice category and dining category each calendar year, 1% thereafter.

The ability to earn up to 5.25% on key business spending categories as well as a baseline rate of 1.75% on non-bonus category expenditure offers a lucrative return on your company’s operating costs.

For instance, if you had Platinum Honors status and spent $50,000 in the choice category and another $50,000 on non-bonus category purchases, you’d receive $3,500 in cash back. That’s no small sum, and it can certainly help cover operational expenses, all while leveraging your business’s existing spend.

Is the Bank of America Preferred Rewards Program Worth It?

If you already hold eligible business accounts with Bank of America and/or Merrill, and you meet the necessary balance requirements to unlock Preferred Rewards status, adding the Customized Cash Rewards credit card to your business’ wallet is a solid move.

This is particularly so for business owners who aren’t interested in learning the ins and outs of points and miles and would prefer to earn a simple rewards currency that immediately offsets costs.

However, does the same hold true for businesses that don’t currently have a banking relationship with Bank of America?

Let’s run through some spending scenarios and look at alternative options to see if it’s worthwhile moving your business’ funds into Bank of America business and investment checking accounts.

Opportunity Cost: Should You Lock Up Your Capital for Elevated Cash Back?

When determining whether it’s worthwhile to keep your business’ funds in a Bank of America business checking account and/or Merrill business investment account, you need to focus on the opportunity cost of doing so.

Let’s say a business spends $100,000 per year on its Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card, broken down as follows:

• Choice category: $38,000
• Dining: $12,000
• Non-bonus category: $50,000

In this case, this business’s spending would earn the following amounts of cash back annually, depending on its Preferred Rewards status tier.

As you can see, going from earning 0% cash back to signing up for and spending with the Customized Cash card yields the largest increase in incremental value—an additional $1,880 worth of annual cash back. For all other Preferred Rewards tiers, moving up the status ladder nets an extra $470 in incremental value, based on $100,000 worth of spending.

However, with the Preferred Rewards balance requirements in mind, the important question is whether you’re earning more in additional cash back than you’re losing in foregone interest.

Bank of America’s Business Advantage Savings account earns a baseline rate of 0.01% Annual Percentage Yield (APY), which can increase marginally for Preferred Rewards members.

In contrast, as of this writing, you can find high-yield business savings accounts that offer between 3% and 5% APY. Likewise, you can find treasury bills and certificates of deposit offering similar rates.

For ease, let’s compare Bank of America’s cash back rates with a conservative interest rate of 3% for alternative banking deposit options. Using this, we can calculate the opportunity cost of keeping this business’ working capital in a Bank of America business checking account.

To go from having no status to achieving Preferred Rewards Gold, you need a $20,000 deposit. That will boost your cashback earnings to a total of $2,350 on an annual spend of $100,000, putting an extra $470 in your business’ pocket compared to having no status.

That same $20,000 deposit could earn you at least $600 in interest (assuming a 3% rate) if placed in an alternative savings or investment account. That means you’d be at a net loss of $130 ($600 – $470) by keeping your funds in a Bank of America account.

The loss scales the further up the status ladder you climb, unless your annual spending increases.

For instance, to go from Platinum to Platinum Honors status, you need to increase your deposit from $50,000 to $100,000. Doing so would increase your annual cashback earnings to $3,290, giving you an extra $470.

That additional $50,000 deposit could earn you at least $1,500 in an alternative high-yield savings account or investment product.

That works out to a net loss of $1,030 ($1,500 – $470) to go from Platinum to Platinum Honors status on $100,000 worth of annual spend.

Here’s a table to summarize the net gain or loss from moving up each Preferred Rewards status tier for our example business.

Therefore, based on this level of assumed annual spending, this business would lose more in foregone interest than it would gain in cashback by intentionally depositing its funds in a Bank of America business checking account.

Break-Even Analysis: When Does the Preferred Rewards Program Pay Off?

While the business in the above example would not benefit from switching to a Bank of America checking account and climbing the Preferred Rewards ladder, it’s important to understand that the value of the program hinges entirely on two factors:

1. Your business’s annual spending level (and spending mix)
2. The returns you could earn on your working capital if it were not tied up at Bank of America

Assuming that same business was to increase its spending (while maintaining the same category spending mix distribution), it would need to reach the following levels of spend to break even and justify moving up a status tier:

Alternatively, if the business would start with no status and move its funds into Bank of America to qualify for each tier, it would need to reach the following break-even spending levels:

These break-even spends would be reduced if alternative investment options offered lower rates of interest than assumed. Similarly, any spending above the break-even points would represent a net gain for this business.

As you can see, the value of the Preferred Rewards program depends highly on your business’s spending level and spending mix as well as the rate of return offered by alternative investment options.

It’s also important to understand that these calculations apply to businesses that would be moving their funds to a Bank of America account intentionally to earn Preferred Rewards status. The value calculation is different for businesses that already have a banking relationship with Bank of America because the opportunity cost is eliminated.

Where the Preferred Rewards Program Shines

The Bank of America Preferred Rewards for Business program is not all bad. In fact, it can be an extremely lucrative program for a number of businesses.

Companies such as digital agencies, logistics providers, trucking fleets, construction firms and e-commerce businesses frequently have expenses well into six figures each year. For these businesses, consistently maxing out the $50,000 bonus category cap and generating substantial non-bonus category spend is par for the course. At that scale, the incremental Preferred Rewards boosts compound.

The Biz2Credit Small Business Earnings Report of 2024 showed that small business expenses averaged $660,809. Charged to the Customized Cash Rewards card, that spending could earn:

• $7,608 with no status
• $9,510 with Gold
• $11,412 with Platinum
• $13,314 with Platinum Honors

These returns easily exceed the opportunity cost of tying your money up in a Bank of America business account for any company already on track to spend that much. In such cases, the Preferred Rewards cashback boosts serve as a reliable rebate on business expenses and protect your profit margins.

The program also shines when your business already holds substantial balances with Bank of America or Merrill. In those instances, the opportunity cost disappears entirely because your funds are not being moved solely to chase higher rewards rates. In that situation, every incremental dollar of cash back is pure gain, making the card a compelling addition to your company’s financial strategy.

Even without Preferred Rewards status, the Customized Cash Rewards card can stand on its own for businesses that can reliably maximize the choice category. Earning $1,500 on the first $50,000 of bonus-category spending represents a significant jump from earning 0% or negligible returns. For small businesses not interested in learning about travel points, this simple structure is ideal.

Cons of the Bank of America Preferred Rewards Program

Businesses that don’t already bank with Bank of America need to work out whether it makes financial sense to tie up tens of thousands of dollars in deposit accounts that earn close to no interest.

Given that high-yield business savings accounts commonly offer 3% to 5% APY, the opportunity cost can erase much of the incremental cashback benefit of Preferred Rewards status—particularly for businesses with lower outgoing expenditure.

Similarly, the combined 3% and 2% bonus-category cap of $50,000 per calendar year restricts how much elevated cash back a business can earn. High-spending businesses may find this cap restrictive compared to more flexible competitors.

Additionally, Bank of America’s rewards ecosystem lacks the versatility of other major issuers. Programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards offer not only cash back but also transfer partners, elevated welcome offers and long-term value.

Finally, maintaining status requires consistently high deposit levels. A seasonal dip below the threshold can jeopardize your tier, creating unnecessary administrative overhead for companies that prefer simplicity.

Final Verdict: Is Preferred Rewards for Business the Most Lucrative Cashback Program for LLCs?

Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards for Business program can be extremely rewarding, but only for the right type of business.

For companies already holding large deposits with Bank of America or Merrill, the program is essentially a free boost to your existing spend. There’s no opportunity cost, no trade-off and therefore no downside. In those situations, earning 25% to 75% more cash back on every purchase is a clear win and the Customized Cash Rewards card becomes one of the strongest cashback tools available to LLCs.

For high-spending businesses, particularly those able to consistently max out the $50,000 bonus-category cap and with annual spend in the six figures, the math also works out favorably. The incremental Preferred Rewards boosts can easily outweigh the foregone interest from keeping deposits at Bank of America.

However, for small and mid-sized businesses with annual expenses around $50,000 to $100,000, the equation changes.

If you don’t already bank with Bank of America, the opportunity cost of moving $20,000 to $100,000 into a near-zero-yield account can outweigh the extra cashback earnings, unless your spend is high enough to outpace the break-even point. For these businesses, a high-yield savings account paired with a competitive cashback card will provide a stronger overall return.

Preferred Rewards for Business shines when deposits are already in place or when spending is large enough to make the tier bonuses count. For many businesses, it can act as a reliable, low-effort rebate on operating expenses. But for others, especially those with leaner budgets or better uses for their cash, the smartest financial move may lie elsewhere.