The Bank of America® Cash Rewards for Business MasterCard® credit card doesn’t offer the biggest sign-up bonus or the highest rewards rates. But for businesses that spend tens of thousands of dollars a month on gas and office supplies, it’s definitely worth considering.
Bank of America® Cash Rewards for Business MasterCard® credit card: Benefits and basics
The Bank of America® Cash Rewards for Business MasterCard® credit card starts out with a decent sign-up bonus: Get $100 statement credit after $500 in purchases within 60 days of account opening.
For ongoing rewards, the card offers 3% cash back on purchases at gas stations and office supply stores, up to $250,000 in combined purchases annually (then 1%); 2% on purchases at restaurants; and 1% on all other purchases. On top of that, it has an annual fee of $0.00.
Let’s take a deeper look at what might make the Bank of America® Cash Rewards for Business MasterCard® credit card useful:
high annual cap
While other business cards offer up to 5% in rewards on similar categories, most of them cap the bonus at $25,000 or $50,000 in annual spending. The Bank of America® Cash Rewards for Business MasterCard® credit card, on the other hand, has an annual cap of $250,000 on combined gas station and office supply store purchases, after which you’ll earn 1% back. So if you have high expenses within its bonus categories, the Bank of America® Cash Rewards for Business MasterCard® credit card can reward you more than flashier cards.
For example, if your business spends $10,000 per month at office supply stores, a card that offers 5% back up to $50,000 spent will reward you $3,200 for your purchases:
$50,000 x .05 = $2,500
$70,000 x .01 = $700
Total: $3,200
But if you use the Bank of America® Cash Rewards for Business MasterCard® credit card, you’ll earn $3,600 in rewards over the course of the year:
$120,000 x .03 = $3,600
introductory apr deal
If you need to make a large purchase soon or expect to be cash-strapped for the next few months, the card’s introductory 0% APR period will give you some time to carry a balance interest-free: 0% for 9 billing cycles, and then the ongoing APR of 11.49% - 21.49% Variable APR.
$0.00 annual fee
It can be hard to find a good business credit card without an annual fee. If you’re worried about your bottom line, keeping fees as low as possible is essential. This card’s $0.00 annual fee makes it all the more enticing.
Bank of America® Cash Rewards for Business MasterCard® credit card: Pitfalls and other possibilities
While the Bank of America® Cash Rewards for Business MasterCard® credit card has a high annual cap on bonus rewards spending, keep these factors in mind before you apply:
its HAS LIMITED categories
The Bank of America® Cash Rewards for Business MasterCard® credit card is most useful for a relatively small subset of small-business owners — those who have high gas and office supply expenses. But if your business doesn’t run a fleet of vehicles and you don’t have an ongoing need for office supplies, you may be better off with the SimplyCash® Business Card from American Express.
The SimplyCash® Business Card from American Express not only offers 5% cash back at U.S. office supply stores and on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers, it also gives 3% cash back on a category of your choice from a list provided by American Express. The downside is that it has an annual spending cap of $25,000 on those categories.
The SimplyCash® Business Card from American Express also has a $0 annual fee and offers a decent sign-up bonus: Limited Time Offer: You can get a $250 statement credit after you spend $5,000 on qualifying purchases on the Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Read our full review of the SimplyCash® Business Card from American Express for more information.
it has a low sign-up bonus
Avoiding a credit card with an annual fee is generally regarded as a smart move. But sometimes a credit card with an annual fee gives you enough in rewards to pay for itself.
Take the Ink Plus® Business Credit Card. It offers one of the best sign-up bonuses in the business: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
Plus, you’ll earn 5X points per $1 on the first $50,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on cellular phone, landline, internet and cable TV services each account anniversary year; 2X points per $1 on the first $50,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel each account anniversary year; and 1 point per $1 spent elsewhere.
(Account anniversary years are 12-month periods that start and end on the anniversary of the date your account was opened. So if you opened your card account on April 23, then that’s the date each year when your bonus-eligible spending resets to $0.)
The downside is that the Ink Plus® Business Credit Card charges a $95 Annual Fee. But considering the value you’re getting upfront, it might be worth it. Check out our full review for more details.
Is the Bank of America® Cash Rewards for Business MasterCard® credit card right for you?
The Bank of America® Cash Rewards for Business MasterCard® credit card is a decent credit card and offers huge potential for rewards with its $250,000 annual spending cap on its 3% bonus categories. But the card’s bonus categories may not offer much value to some business owners. Thus, it’s in your best interest to check out other business credit cards before you apply.
Ben Luthi is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: bluthi@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @benluthi.
Image via iStock.
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