Tag Archives: Bank of America

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I Paid $4,807 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2023 – Was it Worth it?

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Good evening everyone, I hope your holiday season is going well.  With the end of the year right around the corner, I decided to publish my 2023 version of credit card annual fees I paid this year.  For comparison, here are my previous credit card annual fee posts:

For this year’s post, I decided to break up the list of credit cards into 5 sections:

  • New credit cards with sign up bonuses
  • Credit cards with retention offers
  • Credit cards that have been upgraded / downgraded / product changed
  • Annual fees saved on closed credit cards
  • All other credit cards

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How Much Money Did I Make from Bank Account Bonuses in 2023?

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Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Doctor of Credit has a Best Bank Account Bonuses page that he keeps up to date with the best offers each month.  In that master post, he links to individual bank account bonuses with helpful information regarding the bonus details, how to avoid monthly fees, when to close the account, how often you can open a new account, and much more.  For the last 9 years, I have been opening new checking accounts, savings accounts, brokerage accounts, and cash management accounts for the new member bonuses.  At the end of each year, I share my results on the blog.

Over the last 9 years, I have made over $24,000 in bank account bonuses.  You will receive 1099-INT / 1099-MISC tax forms every year, so you have to pay taxes on the bank account bonuses, but sometimes you can fund the opening deposit with a credit card and earn miles, points, or cash back.  If you are lucky, you can meet a minimum spending requirement by funding a new checking account or reach a high spending target to earn more rewards.  Here are my results from the last 9 years with links to corresponding yearly summaries:

Drum roll please… Here are the 13 new accounts I opened in 2023 that paid out $3,685 in bonuses:

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Tracking Down a Missing $50 Bank of America Business Credit Card Retention Offer

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Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  On October 31, I called Bank of America about my Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards (UCR) Credit Card and told the rep I wanted to close the credit card because I wasn’t using it anymore.  The rep offered me a $50 retention offer with no spend if I kept the credit card open and I said yes.  Fast forward to December 7, I still had not seen the $50 retention offer, which I assumed would show up as a $50 statement credit.  As part of my daily routine, I check my Bank of America app and did not see any credits show up on my UCR.  When I called Bank of America to inquire about the status of my $50 retention offer, the rep put me on hold for a few minutes to read the notes and see what happened.  When the rep returned, I was told that the $50 retention offer was put into my Cash Rewards.  I never thought to check there.  In this post, I will show you where to go to find the retention offer in the Cash Rewards and the various redemption options.

To get started, sign into your Bank of America account (either online or via the app), select your business credit card account, and then select the corporate account.

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Which Credit & Debit Cards are in my Wallet, ApplePay Wallet, and Travel Wallet? (August 2023)

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Good morning everyone.  We all know the classic Capital One line, “What’s in your wallet?” (spoiler alert: no Capital One Credit Cards are currently in my real wallet), but I thought it would be fun to do this type of post monthly or every other month, depending on which credit cards I am currently using.  At last count, I currently have 40+ personal and business credit cards, but I don’t carry or use every credit card every month.  I treat my credit cards like tools in a tool box, each credit card has a specific use and no credit card is perfect for every situation.  I also have 3 “wallets” for my credit cards: the physical cards that I carry with me in my iPhone case, the credit and debit cards in my ApplePay Wallet, and the credit cards in my travel wallet (aka backpack) that I use when I travel.  I will go through my 3 “wallets”, but the cards in my ApplePay Wallet and travel wallet (aka backpack) don’t change very often.

Credit Cards in my iPhone Case / Wallet

Last week, I was approved for the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card that currently offers a sign up bonus of 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points after spending $8,000 in 3 months.  I am meeting the minimum spend on this credit card by paying for a few home improvement projections, car insurance, and any other large purchase that will get me closer to my $8,000 minimum spending requirement.  I don’t have immediate plans for these 100K Chase Ultimate Rewards Points, but I can always use more Chase Ultimate Rewards Points.

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Goodbye Better Balance Rewards, Hello Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards MasterCard and Visa Credit Cards (Card Art Images)

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Targeted: $200 Bonus for Bank of America Better Balance Rewards Credit Cards Converting to Unlimited Cash Rewards.  Last week, I wrote How to Redeem Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Credit Card $200 Bonus for Statement Credit. I thought that I would do one more post about my beloved Better Balance Rewards (BBR) credit cards before I put them through the shredder.  I didn’t realize until now, but on the back side of the BBR credit cards, it says “Cardholder Since” with a 15 on the MasterCard and a 17 on Visa.  I will assume Bank of America means 2015 and 2017, since I haven’t had these cards since I was 15 years old or 17 years old.

I did some rough math and calculated that I have had these credit cards for about 60 quarters total from the time I received them / converted to them and now.  Since I have a linked Bank of America checking account, I received a $30 quarterly bonus each quarter when I pay my bill in full and on time.  60 quarters x $30 = $1,800 in cash back.  Now I understand why Bank of America had to kill these cards, they were probably losing hundreds of thousands of dollars per year without generating much income.  RIP BBR credit cards, you will be missed.

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