Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

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Bdouvs
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by Bdouvs »

anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:44 am
FedGuy wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:42 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:32 amIt sounds like you are actually using your BoA bank account though. Keeping 5 figures in the bank means they are making some $ off you, versus someone who only keeps $25.
Sure, but Bdouvs keeps over $100,000 at Merrill. The point of the program is to encourage people to keep substantial assets at BoA and Merrill. It feels like a stupid decision for BoA/Merrill to close his accounts because he's chosen to keep his money at Merrill instead of BoA, when money at either is supposed to count towards your status.
I think ME and BoA are still some what separate (or act that way), which is why the ME account didn't get closed.
ME and Boa are definitely separate in this case. When I mentioned I was transferring my ME assets because of the account closures, the CS rep had no idea I had a ME account.

Very possible they thought the $80 in/out transfer was suspicious. All it is a repayment from my sibling for a Verizon family plan.

I should add, they refused to refund the annual fee I paid for 2022.
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anon_investor
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by anon_investor »

Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:58 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:44 am
FedGuy wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:42 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:32 amIt sounds like you are actually using your BoA bank account though. Keeping 5 figures in the bank means they are making some $ off you, versus someone who only keeps $25.
Sure, but Bdouvs keeps over $100,000 at Merrill. The point of the program is to encourage people to keep substantial assets at BoA and Merrill. It feels like a stupid decision for BoA/Merrill to close his accounts because he's chosen to keep his money at Merrill instead of BoA, when money at either is supposed to count towards your status.
I think ME and BoA are still some what separate (or act that way), which is why the ME account didn't get closed.
ME and Boa are definitely separate in this case. When I mentioned I was transferring my ME assets because of the account closures, the CS rep had no idea I had a ME account.

Very possible they thought the $80 in/out transfer was suspicious. All it is a repayment from my sibling for a Verizon family plan.

I should add, they refused to refund the annual fee I paid for 2022.
Were you manufacturing spend on the CCs?

My friend has his Chase CCs closed because they accused him of manufacturing spend.
Bdouvs
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by Bdouvs »

anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:11 am
Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:58 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:44 am
FedGuy wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:42 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:32 amIt sounds like you are actually using your BoA bank account though. Keeping 5 figures in the bank means they are making some $ off you, versus someone who only keeps $25.
Sure, but Bdouvs keeps over $100,000 at Merrill. The point of the program is to encourage people to keep substantial assets at BoA and Merrill. It feels like a stupid decision for BoA/Merrill to close his accounts because he's chosen to keep his money at Merrill instead of BoA, when money at either is supposed to count towards your status.
I think ME and BoA are still some what separate (or act that way), which is why the ME account didn't get closed.
ME and Boa are definitely separate in this case. When I mentioned I was transferring my ME assets because of the account closures, the CS rep had no idea I had a ME account.

Very possible they thought the $80 in/out transfer was suspicious. All it is a repayment from my sibling for a Verizon family plan.

I should add, they refused to refund the annual fee I paid for 2022.
Were you manufacturing spend on the CCs?

My friend has his Chase CCs closed because they accused him of manufacturing spend.
No? Tbh, I don't know that means. I did not have thousands in returns or multiple return transactions.
richard.h.gao
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by richard.h.gao »

Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:15 am Average daily balance was around $50. I didn't not make any other payments or check writing from the checking account.
My average daily balance is 0 and my average daily transactions is also 0 and they haven't closed my accounts. How long have you had the accounts?
Bdouvs
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by Bdouvs »

richard.h.gao wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:16 am
Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:15 am Average daily balance was around $50. I didn't not make any other payments or check writing from the checking account.
My average daily balance is 0 and my average daily transactions is also 0 and they haven't closed my accounts. How long have you had the accounts?
Cash card and checking a little over a year. Preferred card 7 months
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anon_investor
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by anon_investor »

Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:14 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:11 am
Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:58 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:44 am
FedGuy wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:42 am Sure, but Bdouvs keeps over $100,000 at Merrill. The point of the program is to encourage people to keep substantial assets at BoA and Merrill. It feels like a stupid decision for BoA/Merrill to close his accounts because he's chosen to keep his money at Merrill instead of BoA, when money at either is supposed to count towards your status.
I think ME and BoA are still some what separate (or act that way), which is why the ME account didn't get closed.
ME and Boa are definitely separate in this case. When I mentioned I was transferring my ME assets because of the account closures, the CS rep had no idea I had a ME account.

Very possible they thought the $80 in/out transfer was suspicious. All it is a repayment from my sibling for a Verizon family plan.

I should add, they refused to refund the annual fee I paid for 2022.
Were you manufacturing spend on the CCs?

My friend has his Chase CCs closed because they accused him of manufacturing spend.
No? Tbh, I don't know that means. I did not have thousands in returns or multiple return transactions.
Some people buy a lot of pre-paid debit cards.
jimmyg
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by jimmyg »

I believe Zelle charges the bank for each Zelle transaction, probably a licensing fee? So for customers who use Zelle and don't have much of a balance in their BofA accounts, I suppose BofA ends up losing a tiny bit of money on each of those customers. Those tiny losses add up, so at some point, they probably make a "business decision" to get rid of some of those customers.

I don't keep much of a balance in my BofA checking and savings accounts, but I ACH over four figures each month to pay off my BofA credit cards. So BofA gets to make some money off of me (i.e., via their microscopic interest rate on BofA checking/savings accounts) before I pay off my credit cards. I don't use Zelle either, so maybe BofA makes a tiny bit of money off of me.
Bdouvs
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by Bdouvs »

anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:25 am
Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:14 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:11 am
Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:58 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:44 am

I think ME and BoA are still some what separate (or act that way), which is why the ME account didn't get closed.
ME and Boa are definitely separate in this case. When I mentioned I was transferring my ME assets because of the account closures, the CS rep had no idea I had a ME account.

Very possible they thought the $80 in/out transfer was suspicious. All it is a repayment from my sibling for a Verizon family plan.

I should add, they refused to refund the annual fee I paid for 2022.
Were you manufacturing spend on the CCs?

My friend has his Chase CCs closed because they accused him of manufacturing spend.
No? Tbh, I don't know that means. I did not have thousands in returns or multiple return transactions.
Some people buy a lot of pre-paid debit cards.
Oh ok, I did not buy any pre-paid cards.
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anon_investor
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by anon_investor »

Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:31 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:25 am
Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:14 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:11 am
Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:58 am

ME and Boa are definitely separate in this case. When I mentioned I was transferring my ME assets because of the account closures, the CS rep had no idea I had a ME account.

Very possible they thought the $80 in/out transfer was suspicious. All it is a repayment from my sibling for a Verizon family plan.

I should add, they refused to refund the annual fee I paid for 2022.
Were you manufacturing spend on the CCs?

My friend has his Chase CCs closed because they accused him of manufacturing spend.
No? Tbh, I don't know that means. I did not have thousands in returns or multiple return transactions.
Some people buy a lot of pre-paid debit cards.
Oh ok, I did not buy any pre-paid cards.
The low balance and $80 in and $80 out and no other activity might be a flag for the checking, but it doesn't explain the CC closures.
Lastrun
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by Lastrun »

anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:33 am The low balance and $80 in and $80 out and no other activity might be a flag for the checking, but it doesn't explain the CC closures.
But, like someone said upthread, perhaps the "losses" to the bank on the Zelle activity, and low checking balance, collapse the whole thing, including the CCs.
jimmyg wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:25 am I believe Zelle charges the bank for each Zelle transaction, probably a licensing fee? So for customers who use Zelle and don't have much of a balance in their BofA accounts, I suppose BofA ends up losing a tiny bit of money on each of those customers. Those tiny losses add up, so at some point, they probably make a "business decision" to get rid of some of those customers.
...
Not sure on the ME side, but I am not surprised the lack of coordination.
FedGuy wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:42 am ... The point of the program is to encourage people to keep substantial assets at BoA and Merrill. It feels like a stupid decision for BoA/Merrill to close his accounts because he's chosen to keep his money at Merrill instead of BoA, when money at either is supposed to count towards your status.

Agree.

The algorithm picked up on something but it is hard to see it.
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jeffyscott
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by jeffyscott »

FedGuy wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:42 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:32 amIt sounds like you are actually using your BoA bank account though. Keeping 5 figures in the bank means they are making some $ off you, versus someone who only keeps $25.
Sure, but Bdouvs keeps over $100,000 at Merrill. The point of the program is to encourage people to keep substantial assets at BoA and Merrill. It feels like a stupid decision for BoA/Merrill to close his accounts because he's chosen to keep his money at Merrill instead of BoA, when money at either is supposed to count towards your status.
But if someone is just letting $100K or so sit there in, say, VTI, keeps a buck-three-eighty in checking, and spends $20K on credit cards (collecting, say, $800 in rebates), why would B of A or ME want that customer? The $800 in rebates is, I would assume, more than the bank gets in interchange fees, the customer pays no banking fees, and ME makes nothing on the VTI passively sitting in their account.

Say they are losing $500 per year on such a customer, it makes sense that they would decide enough is enough, after losing $3500K (plus whatever bonuses they may have paid out for opening the accounts) over 7 years.
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anon_investor
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by anon_investor »

jeffyscott wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 11:06 am
FedGuy wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:42 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:32 amIt sounds like you are actually using your BoA bank account though. Keeping 5 figures in the bank means they are making some $ off you, versus someone who only keeps $25.
Sure, but Bdouvs keeps over $100,000 at Merrill. The point of the program is to encourage people to keep substantial assets at BoA and Merrill. It feels like a stupid decision for BoA/Merrill to close his accounts because he's chosen to keep his money at Merrill instead of BoA, when money at either is supposed to count towards your status.
But if someone is just letting $100K or so sit there in, say, VTI, keeps a buck-three-eighty in checking, and spends $20K on credit cards (collecting, say, $800 in rebates), why would B of A or ME want that customer? The $800 in rebates is, I would assume, more than the bank gets in interchange fees, the customer pays no banking fees, and ME makes nothing on the VTI passively sitting in their account.

Say they are losing $500 per year on such a customer, it makes sense that they would decide enough is enough, after losing $3500K (plus whatever bonuses they may have paid out for opening the accounts) over 7 years.
I purposely try to buy ETFs at ME with the BoA CC cash back to have some ME activity more than just dividend reinvestment.
sycamore
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by sycamore »

jeffyscott wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 11:06 am ...
But if someone is just letting $100K or so sit there in, say, VTI, keeps a buck-three-eighty in checking, and spends $20K on credit cards (collecting, say, $800 in rebates), why would B of A or ME want that customer? The $800 in rebates is, I would assume, more than the bank gets in interchange fees, the customer pays no banking fees, and ME makes nothing on the VTI passively sitting in their account.

Say they are losing $500 per year on such a customer, it makes sense that they would decide enough is enough, after losing $3500K (plus whatever bonuses they may have paid out for opening the accounts) over 7 years.
Though in the case of Bdouvs, it was only over 1 year:
Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:20 am Cash card and checking a little over a year. Preferred card 7 months
That seems a little short to be giving up on a customer.
Marseille07
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by Marseille07 »

So what do we suspect was the cause of BofA closing Bdouvs's accounts? Was it the checking balance, something with Zelle, or activities in checking?

I'm not a heavy Zelle user so I'm probably safe there, unless they require Zelle activities. I'm addressing my checking balance right away.
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jeffyscott
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by jeffyscott »

sycamore wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 11:35 am
jeffyscott wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 11:06 am ...
But if someone is just letting $100K or so sit there in, say, VTI, keeps a buck-three-eighty in checking, and spends $20K on credit cards (collecting, say, $800 in rebates), why would B of A or ME want that customer? The $800 in rebates is, I would assume, more than the bank gets in interchange fees, the customer pays no banking fees, and ME makes nothing on the VTI passively sitting in their account.

Say they are losing $500 per year on such a customer, it makes sense that they would decide enough is enough, after losing $3500K (plus whatever bonuses they may have paid out for opening the accounts) over 7 years.
Though in the case of Bdouvs, it was only over 1 year:
Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:20 am Cash card and checking a little over a year. Preferred card 7 months
That seems a little short to be giving up on a customer.
Yes, somehow I read that as 7 years :oops:
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gobel
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by gobel »

Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:58 am I should add, they refused to refund the annual fee I paid for 2022.
Did you lose your points too?

Have you checked your credit report to see if it contains anything that shouldn't be there?
j9j
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by j9j »

Do not see any obvious sign to why account was closed. I use BoA in the same way, $50 in checking, use CCR card for online purchases and the 2.65 card for other purchases. I do have more in Merrill and kinda use that as a ‘trading’ account but majority still mainly buy and hold etfs. I am considering doing direct deposit now to hopefully have more checking account activity.
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dodecahedron
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by dodecahedron »

FedGuy wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:42 am
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:32 amIt sounds like you are actually using your BoA bank account though. Keeping 5 figures in the bank means they are making some $ off you, versus someone who only keeps $25.
Sure, but Bdouvs keeps over $100,000 at Merrill. The point of the program is to encourage people to keep substantial assets at BoA and Merrill. It feels like a stupid decision for BoA/Merrill to close his accounts because he's chosen to keep his money at Merrill instead of BoA, when money at either is supposed to count towards your status.
If that ME account were the only thing BoA cared about they would not also require a checking account. It sounds like BoA wants to cultivate a more comprehensive financial relationship with the clients it attracts via this promotion.
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anon_investor
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by anon_investor »

j9j wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 2:39 pm Do not see any obvious sign to why account was closed. I use BoA in the same way, $50 in checking, use CCR card for online purchases and the 2.65 card for other purchases. I do have more in Merrill and kinda use that as a ‘trading’ account but majority still mainly buy and hold etfs. I am considering doing direct deposit now to hopefully have more checking account activity.
Are you going to direct deposit your entire pay check?
calwatch
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by calwatch »

It may be a combination of the Zelle transfers and the age of the account. Did you have a BoA relationship previously through credit cards? I have had a BoA relationship dating back to the MBNA days when I was 18. I keep a few hundred bucks in checking and savings but my primary bank is Chase, although neither have my employer direct deposit, which bounces around depending on what bonus I want to chase.
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VictorStarr
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by VictorStarr »

Wow, it is a lot of speculation based on a single closure case. Bdouvs did not receive the actual reason why his account was closed. We have no idea that the low balance of this checking account was the actual reason for closure. Many people park $100K in ME, keep a small amount in their checking accounts and use BoA credit cards for ages.
BoA cash back cards are decent but nothing exceptional, I collected way more in BoA/ME account opening bonuses ($1,400 in 2021 and $1,000 in 2022) than in cash back rewards. Incremental cash back of 2.625% over 2.25% Chase Freedom Unlimited (with CSR) is only 0.375% ($37.5 extra bonus for $10K spending).
Originally, I planned to use BoA Premium to pay estimated taxes but adjusted Coinbase debit card rewards for taxes are 5x higher.
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VictorStarr
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by VictorStarr »

On Zelle factor. Zelle was developed by big banks (including BoA) to compete with Venmo and Cash.app. Zelle costs to banks is around $0.50 -$0.75 per transaction (estimated from this article [1]).
I really doubt that a few Zelle transactions should be a concern.

Keep calm and charge on :D .

[1] https://www.bankdirector.com/issues/str ... ers-money/
Bdouvs
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by Bdouvs »

gobel wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 1:18 pm
Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:58 am I should add, they refused to refund the annual fee I paid for 2022.
Did you lose your points too?

Have you checked your credit report to see if it contains anything that shouldn't be there?
Thanks everyone for your comments.

I have not lost any points since I redeem them every month as statement credits. I'm waiting to see what happens in the next billing cycle in a couple days. I'll owe BoA 2 more payments on each CC as of today.

This was the only, and last relationship I had with BoA. Based off the comments I'm assuming I was just extremely unprofitable for them and the monthly Zelle transaction was a red flag.

Very disappointed but now I guess I'll have to go back to the Chase Freedom Unlimited/Sapphire CC strategy or try the Citi double cash back to keep it simple.

Thanks again everyone
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anon_investor
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by anon_investor »

Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 5:06 pm
gobel wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 1:18 pm
Bdouvs wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:58 am I should add, they refused to refund the annual fee I paid for 2022.
Did you lose your points too?

Have you checked your credit report to see if it contains anything that shouldn't be there?
Thanks everyone for your comments.

I have not lost any points since I redeem them every month as statement credits. I'm waiting to see what happens in the next billing cycle in a couple days. I'll owe BoA 2 more payments on each CC as of today.

This was the only, and last relationship I had with BoA. Based off the comments I'm assuming I was just extremely unprofitable for them and the monthly Zelle transaction was a red flag.

Very disappointed but now I guess I'll have to go back to the Chase Freedom Unlimited/Sapphire CC strategy or try the Citi double cash back to keep it simple.

Thanks again everyone
Check out the Alliant CU CC, I think you need their checking with $1k and a direct deposit, but you get 2.5% cash back on up to $10k spend a month plus no annual fee or foreign transaction fees.
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by placeholder »

As a point of information I opened my Adv Plus checking account in 2014 to get into preferred rewards and it's had $25 ever since but I'm thinking of adding it to direct deposit for my pension then use it sometimes for paying the cards.
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anon_investor
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by anon_investor »

placeholder wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 5:44 pm As a point of information I opened my Adv Plus checking account in 2014 to get into preferred rewards and it's had $25 ever since but I'm thinking of adding it to direct deposit for my pension then use it sometimes for paying the cards.
Do you ever have any transactions for your checking?
tj
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by tj »

anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 5:47 pm
placeholder wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 5:44 pm As a point of information I opened my Adv Plus checking account in 2014 to get into preferred rewards and it's had $25 ever since but I'm thinking of adding it to direct deposit for my pension then use it sometimes for paying the cards.
Do you ever have any transactions for your checking?

I've never used the BofA checking account for anything other than redeeming cash back and transferring out. We'll see if they nerf me. 🤷🏻‍♂️
exarkun
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by exarkun »

VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 4:31 pm BoA cash back cards are decent but nothing exceptional, I collected way more in BoA/ME account opening bonuses ($1,400 in 2021 and $1,000 in 2022) than in cash back rewards. Incremental cash back of 2.625% over 2.25% Chase Freedom Unlimited (with CSR) is only 0.375% ($37.5 extra bonus for $10K spending).
Originally, I planned to use BoA Premium to pay estimated taxes but adjusted Coinbase debit card rewards for taxes are 5x higher.

I think you're forgetting the 5.25% cash back on the customized cash rewards cards. That's pretty much best in the industry...
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by placeholder »

anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 5:47 pm
placeholder wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 5:44 pm As a point of information I opened my Adv Plus checking account in 2014 to get into preferred rewards and it's had $25 ever since but I'm thinking of adding it to direct deposit for my pension then use it sometimes for paying the cards.
Do you ever have any transactions for your checking?
Not that I recall same $25.
tj
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by tj »

exarkun wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:30 pm
VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 4:31 pm BoA cash back cards are decent but nothing exceptional, I collected way more in BoA/ME account opening bonuses ($1,400 in 2021 and $1,000 in 2022) than in cash back rewards. Incremental cash back of 2.625% over 2.25% Chase Freedom Unlimited (with CSR) is only 0.375% ($37.5 extra bonus for $10K spending).
Originally, I planned to use BoA Premium to pay estimated taxes but adjusted Coinbase debit card rewards for taxes are 5x higher.

I think you're forgetting the 5.25% cash back on the customized cash rewards cards. That's pretty much best in the industry...
The quarterly cap on said rewards probably prevents most people from gaming it.
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anon_investor
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by anon_investor »

tj wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:36 pm
exarkun wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:30 pm
VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 4:31 pm BoA cash back cards are decent but nothing exceptional, I collected way more in BoA/ME account opening bonuses ($1,400 in 2021 and $1,000 in 2022) than in cash back rewards. Incremental cash back of 2.625% over 2.25% Chase Freedom Unlimited (with CSR) is only 0.375% ($37.5 extra bonus for $10K spending).
Originally, I planned to use BoA Premium to pay estimated taxes but adjusted Coinbase debit card rewards for taxes are 5x higher.

I think you're forgetting the 5.25% cash back on the customized cash rewards cards. That's pretty much best in the industry...
The quarterly cap on said rewards probably prevents most people from gaming it.
Which is why some get multiple. We have 2, so far.
sailaway
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by sailaway »

anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:39 pm
tj wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:36 pm
exarkun wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:30 pm
VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 4:31 pm BoA cash back cards are decent but nothing exceptional, I collected way more in BoA/ME account opening bonuses ($1,400 in 2021 and $1,000 in 2022) than in cash back rewards. Incremental cash back of 2.625% over 2.25% Chase Freedom Unlimited (with CSR) is only 0.375% ($37.5 extra bonus for $10K spending).
Originally, I planned to use BoA Premium to pay estimated taxes but adjusted Coinbase debit card rewards for taxes are 5x higher.

I think you're forgetting the 5.25% cash back on the customized cash rewards cards. That's pretty much best in the industry...
The quarterly cap on said rewards probably prevents most people from gaming it.
Which is why some get multiple. We have 2, so far.
We have two each. but I wouldn't say we game them. It is just nice to have the variety of categories. I currently have one set to gas, one to travel (just paid for hotel rooms for an upcoming trip) and two to online shopping, except the only thing we have bought in ages are replacement ear pads for our headphones.
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anon_investor
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by anon_investor »

sailaway wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:41 pm
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:39 pm
tj wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:36 pm
exarkun wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:30 pm
VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 4:31 pm BoA cash back cards are decent but nothing exceptional, I collected way more in BoA/ME account opening bonuses ($1,400 in 2021 and $1,000 in 2022) than in cash back rewards. Incremental cash back of 2.625% over 2.25% Chase Freedom Unlimited (with CSR) is only 0.375% ($37.5 extra bonus for $10K spending).
Originally, I planned to use BoA Premium to pay estimated taxes but adjusted Coinbase debit card rewards for taxes are 5x higher.

I think you're forgetting the 5.25% cash back on the customized cash rewards cards. That's pretty much best in the industry...
The quarterly cap on said rewards probably prevents most people from gaming it.
Which is why some get multiple. We have 2, so far.
We have two each. but I wouldn't say we game them. It is just nice to have the variety of categories. I currently have one set to gas, one to travel (just paid for hotel rooms for an upcoming trip) and two to online shopping, except the only thing we have bought in ages are replacement ear pads for our headphones.
We have ours on online shopping and home improvement/furnishings, but the bulk of our spend on our 2x CCRs is Costco/grocery stores which get 3.5% cash back, better than the 2.62% from our PR.
sailaway
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by sailaway »

anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:49 pm
sailaway wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:41 pm
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:39 pm
tj wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:36 pm
exarkun wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:30 pm


I think you're forgetting the 5.25% cash back on the customized cash rewards cards. That's pretty much best in the industry...
The quarterly cap on said rewards probably prevents most people from gaming it.
Which is why some get multiple. We have 2, so far.
We have two each. but I wouldn't say we game them. It is just nice to have the variety of categories. I currently have one set to gas, one to travel (just paid for hotel rooms for an upcoming trip) and two to online shopping, except the only thing we have bought in ages are replacement ear pads for our headphones.
We have ours on online shopping and home improvement/furnishings, but the bulk of our spend on our 2x CCRs is Costco/grocery stores which get 3.5% cash back, better than the 2.62% from our PR.
Yes, Costco also goes on the gas card. Groceries get 5% on a citi card.

We have been putting more than usual on the 2.62% card, precisely because I couldn't be bothered to put X on one card and Y on another to make some payments.
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by anon_investor »

sailaway wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:50 pm
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:49 pm
sailaway wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:41 pm
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:39 pm
tj wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:36 pm

The quarterly cap on said rewards probably prevents most people from gaming it.
Which is why some get multiple. We have 2, so far.
We have two each. but I wouldn't say we game them. It is just nice to have the variety of categories. I currently have one set to gas, one to travel (just paid for hotel rooms for an upcoming trip) and two to online shopping, except the only thing we have bought in ages are replacement ear pads for our headphones.
We have ours on online shopping and home improvement/furnishings, but the bulk of our spend on our 2x CCRs is Costco/grocery stores which get 3.5% cash back, better than the 2.62% from our PR.
Yes, Costco also goes on the gas card. Groceries get 5% on a citi card.
We occationally use up the $5k/qtr, so debating whether we should get a 3rd CCR.
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by tj »

anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:39 pm
tj wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:36 pm
exarkun wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:30 pm
VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 4:31 pm BoA cash back cards are decent but nothing exceptional, I collected way more in BoA/ME account opening bonuses ($1,400 in 2021 and $1,000 in 2022) than in cash back rewards. Incremental cash back of 2.625% over 2.25% Chase Freedom Unlimited (with CSR) is only 0.375% ($37.5 extra bonus for $10K spending).
Originally, I planned to use BoA Premium to pay estimated taxes but adjusted Coinbase debit card rewards for taxes are 5x higher.

I think you're forgetting the 5.25% cash back on the customized cash rewards cards. That's pretty much best in the industry...
The quarterly cap on said rewards probably prevents most people from gaming it.
Which is why some get multiple. We have 2, so far.

Sure. I have one for online shopping, one for dining, one for gas, and the Citi 5% for groceries and us bank 5% for utilities/streaming.
sailaway
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by sailaway »

anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:55 pm
sailaway wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:50 pm
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:49 pm
sailaway wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:41 pm
anon_investor wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:39 pm

Which is why some get multiple. We have 2, so far.
We have two each. but I wouldn't say we game them. It is just nice to have the variety of categories. I currently have one set to gas, one to travel (just paid for hotel rooms for an upcoming trip) and two to online shopping, except the only thing we have bought in ages are replacement ear pads for our headphones.
We have ours on online shopping and home improvement/furnishings, but the bulk of our spend on our 2x CCRs is Costco/grocery stores which get 3.5% cash back, better than the 2.62% from our PR.
Yes, Costco also goes on the gas card. Groceries get 5% on a citi card.
We occationally use up the $5k/qtr, so debating whether we should get a 3rd CCR.
We got them when we were spending lots of money and had no problem putting enough on to get the bonuses. I got one of my cards when I wanted to buy a bike, for example. I can also put most of our charitable giving on, as it usually codes as online shopping. The food bank codes as education, so that doesn't work.

Our BoA checking is our main checking, so not much concern about the closure.
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by Marseille07 »

VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 4:31 pm Wow, it is a lot of speculation based on a single closure case. Bdouvs did not receive the actual reason why his account was closed. We have no idea that the low balance of this checking account was the actual reason for closure. Many people park $100K in ME, keep a small amount in their checking accounts and use BoA credit cards for ages.
BoA cash back cards are decent but nothing exceptional, I collected way more in BoA/ME account opening bonuses ($1,400 in 2021 and $1,000 in 2022) than in cash back rewards. Incremental cash back of 2.625% over 2.25% Chase Freedom Unlimited (with CSR) is only 0.375% ($37.5 extra bonus for $10K spending).
Originally, I planned to use BoA Premium to pay estimated taxes but adjusted Coinbase debit card rewards for taxes are 5x higher.
We don't know the bottom line, but I know my BofA checking is throwing this "low balance" warning forever, so this is what I'm addressing first.

It's an easy fix, I just need to throw in $50 more to it. There's little reason not to do this as precaution.
tj
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by tj »

Marseille07 wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:51 pm
VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 4:31 pm Wow, it is a lot of speculation based on a single closure case. Bdouvs did not receive the actual reason why his account was closed. We have no idea that the low balance of this checking account was the actual reason for closure. Many people park $100K in ME, keep a small amount in their checking accounts and use BoA credit cards for ages.
BoA cash back cards are decent but nothing exceptional, I collected way more in BoA/ME account opening bonuses ($1,400 in 2021 and $1,000 in 2022) than in cash back rewards. Incremental cash back of 2.625% over 2.25% Chase Freedom Unlimited (with CSR) is only 0.375% ($37.5 extra bonus for $10K spending).
Originally, I planned to use BoA Premium to pay estimated taxes but adjusted Coinbase debit card rewards for taxes are 5x higher.
We don't know the bottom line, but I know my BofA checking is throwing this "low balance" warning forever, so this is what I'm addressing first.

It's an easy fix, I just need to throw in $50 more to it. There's little reason not to do this as precaution.

Same. I scheduled another $50 transfer for Monday. No reason not to. Though I wonder if that low balance warning is a customizable setting. 🤔
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by anon_investor »

tj wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:53 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:51 pm
VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 4:31 pm Wow, it is a lot of speculation based on a single closure case. Bdouvs did not receive the actual reason why his account was closed. We have no idea that the low balance of this checking account was the actual reason for closure. Many people park $100K in ME, keep a small amount in their checking accounts and use BoA credit cards for ages.
BoA cash back cards are decent but nothing exceptional, I collected way more in BoA/ME account opening bonuses ($1,400 in 2021 and $1,000 in 2022) than in cash back rewards. Incremental cash back of 2.625% over 2.25% Chase Freedom Unlimited (with CSR) is only 0.375% ($37.5 extra bonus for $10K spending).
Originally, I planned to use BoA Premium to pay estimated taxes but adjusted Coinbase debit card rewards for taxes are 5x higher.
We don't know the bottom line, but I know my BofA checking is throwing this "low balance" warning forever, so this is what I'm addressing first.

It's an easy fix, I just need to throw in $50 more to it. There's little reason not to do this as precaution.

Same. I scheduled another $50 transfer for Monday. No reason not to. Though I wonder if that low balance warning is a customizable setting. 🤔
It can be turned off, I turned it off. But I too may up my balance to $100 anyway to be safe.
FedGuy
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by FedGuy »

Marseille07 wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:51 pmWe don't know the bottom line, but I know my BofA checking is throwing this "low balance" warning forever, so this is what I'm addressing first.

It's an easy fix, I just need to throw in $50 more to it. There's little reason not to do this as precaution.
You can also go to "Alerts," select your checking account under "View alerts for," and scroll down to the 3rd line from the bottom ("Low balance threshold"). Then you can either change the number or deactivate the alert.
Marseille07
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by Marseille07 »

FedGuy wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:58 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:51 pmWe don't know the bottom line, but I know my BofA checking is throwing this "low balance" warning forever, so this is what I'm addressing first.

It's an easy fix, I just need to throw in $50 more to it. There's little reason not to do this as precaution.
You can also go to "Alerts," select your checking account under "View alerts for," and scroll down to the 3rd line from the bottom ("Low balance threshold"). Then you can either change the number or deactivate the alert.
You can disable but disabling and not funding and risk closure doesn't seem like a smart move. This is one of those things where you just throw $50 more and hope for the best.
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by VictorStarr »

exarkun wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 6:30 pm
VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 4:31 pm BoA cash back cards are decent but nothing exceptional, I collected way more in BoA/ME account opening bonuses ($1,400 in 2021 and $1,000 in 2022) than in cash back rewards. Incremental cash back of 2.625% over 2.25% Chase Freedom Unlimited (with CSR) is only 0.375% ($37.5 extra bonus for $10K spending).
Originally, I planned to use BoA Premium to pay estimated taxes but adjusted Coinbase debit card rewards for taxes are 5x higher.

I think you're forgetting the 5.25% cash back on the customized cash rewards cards. That's pretty much best in the industry...
For me personally, the incremental value of BoA cards is relatively low. I have other cards with high rewards:
4.5% - travel and dining with Chase Sapphire Reserve
4.5% - ApplePay (95% in person shopping (groceries, Costco, etc), insurance, many online purchases, even my gardener ) with USBank Altitude Reserve
For 80% of my purchases I already have two cards with high cash back.
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by VictorStarr »

Marseille07 wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 8:01 pm
FedGuy wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:58 pm
Marseille07 wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:51 pmWe don't know the bottom line, but I know my BofA checking is throwing this "low balance" warning forever, so this is what I'm addressing first.

It's an easy fix, I just need to throw in $50 more to it. There's little reason not to do this as precaution.
You can also go to "Alerts," select your checking account under "View alerts for," and scroll down to the 3rd line from the bottom ("Low balance threshold"). Then you can either change the number or deactivate the alert.
You can disable but disabling and not funding and risk closure doesn't seem like a smart move. This is one of those things where you just throw $50 more and hope for the best.
As FedGuy wrote the "Low balance threshold" is just a default setting that has nothing to do with criteria that BoA uses to close accounts. I do not think that adding $50 would change a treatment of "premium" customer.
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by Marseille07 »

VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 8:18 pm As FedGuy wrote the "Low balance threshold" is just a default setting that has nothing to do with criteria that BoA uses to close accounts. I do not think that adding $50 would change a treatment of "premium" customer.
I do, let's agree to disagree here. I think there's something about $100 with BofA.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/bank ... %241%2C000.

I could be wrong of course, but there's little reason not to keep $100...it's not a tall order.
28fe6
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by 28fe6 »

VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 8:15 pm
For me personally, the incremental value of BoA cards is relatively low. I have other cards with high rewards:
4.5% - travel and dining with Chase Sapphire Reserve
4.5% - ApplePay (95% in person shopping (groceries, Costco, etc), insurance, many online purchases, even my gardener ) with USBank Altitude Reserve
For 80% of my purchases I already have two cards with high cash back.
BOA is great for low-spenders. I can swing a $100/yr annual fee, but I can't bring myself to get a credit card with $300+/yr annual fee. It wouldn't make sense for the low amount of spending I do. The spending limit on the cash card becomes even less of a problem when you don't spend a lot. So the other ecosystems like Chase are hard to get value out of if you aren't a big/consistent spender (correct me if i'm wrong).
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by anon_investor »

28fe6 wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 9:15 pm
VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 8:15 pm
For me personally, the incremental value of BoA cards is relatively low. I have other cards with high rewards:
4.5% - travel and dining with Chase Sapphire Reserve
4.5% - ApplePay (95% in person shopping (groceries, Costco, etc), insurance, many online purchases, even my gardener ) with USBank Altitude Reserve
For 80% of my purchases I already have two cards with high cash back.
BOA is great for low-spenders. I can swing a $100/yr annual fee, but I can't bring myself to get a credit card with $300+/yr annual fee. It wouldn't make sense for the low amount of spending I do. The spending limit on the cash card becomes even less of a problem when you don't spend a lot. So the other ecosystems like Chase are hard to get value out of if you aren't a big/consistent spender (correct me if i'm wrong).
BoA is also great for people who don't travel a lot.
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by richard.h.gao »

Marseille07 wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 8:31 pm
VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 8:18 pm As FedGuy wrote the "Low balance threshold" is just a default setting that has nothing to do with criteria that BoA uses to close accounts. I do not think that adding $50 would change a treatment of "premium" customer.
I do, let's agree to disagree here. I think there's something about $100 with BofA.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/bank ... %241%2C000.

I could be wrong of course, but there's little reason not to keep $100...it's not a tall order.
As I said earlier, I have $0 in my checking account since opening and they haven't closed it.
Eno Deb
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by Eno Deb »

VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 8:15 pmFor me personally, the incremental value of BoA cards is relatively low. I have other cards with high rewards:
4.5% - travel and dining with Chase Sapphire Reserve
4.5% - ApplePay (95% in person shopping (groceries, Costco, etc), insurance, many online purchases, even my gardener ) with USBank Altitude Reserve
For 80% of my purchases I already have two cards with high cash back.
Not really comparable, since you pay $950 annual fee for these two cards, and you only get that reward value by spending on travel. The BofA Customized Cash/Unlimited Cash cards have no annual fee and you get the full value simply in cash redemptions.

I used to have the CSR too, but being limited to travel if you wanted the full value was often a chore, and now with the pandemic-related travel situation I would never be able to justify the annual fee.
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Re: Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

Post by anon_investor »

Eno Deb wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 10:34 pm
VictorStarr wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 8:15 pmFor me personally, the incremental value of BoA cards is relatively low. I have other cards with high rewards:
4.5% - travel and dining with Chase Sapphire Reserve
4.5% - ApplePay (95% in person shopping (groceries, Costco, etc), insurance, many online purchases, even my gardener ) with USBank Altitude Reserve
For 80% of my purchases I already have two cards with high cash back.
Not really comparable, since you pay $950 annual fee for these two cards, and you only get that reward value by spending on travel. The BofA Customized Cash/Unlimited Cash cards have no annual fee and you get the full value simply in cash redemptions.

I used to have the CSR too, but being limited to travel if you wanted the full value was often a chore, and now with the pandemic-related travel situation I would never be able to justify the annual fee.
Wow, $950 in annual fees?!?! That requires a lot of spend to make it worth it over BoA.
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