The BankAmericard Secured Credit Card is issued by Bank of America. In this review we will be looking at the benefits & negatives to this card and who it’s best suited to. Along with the minimum credit score we’d recommend you have before applying.
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Interest Rates |
Fees |
Card Pros
Card Cons
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| APR: 20.24% | Annual Fee: $39 | ||
| Introductory APR: None | Balance Transfer Fee: 3% or $10 whichever is higher | ||
| Introductory APR Length: None | Cash Advance Fee: 3% or $10 whichever is higher | ||
| Cash Advance APR: 20.24-24.99% | Foreign Transaction Fee: 3% | ||
| Penalty APR: 29.99% | Late Payment Fee: Up to $35 | ||
| Grace Period: 25 days | Over The Credit Line: None | ||
| Minimum Interest Charge: $1.50 | Returned Payment: Up to $25 |
This card has one of if not the best rewards programs available for secured cards, you can earn 1-3% cash back on your purchases depending on what category they are in. The downside is that you need to add the rewards program to this card as it’s not set up by default.
Another good feature is the fact that this card upgrades or graduates to an unsecured card, this will help improve your average age of accounts which is a scoring factor in all major credit scores (including the FICO score).
Unfortunately this card is not all roses and smiles, it does come with a $39 annual fee and you cannot increase your security deposit (and thus your credit limit) without incurring a hard credit pull which negatively affects your credit score. This card should really only be attractive to those who spend in high volumes in the bonus categories (gas & groceries) and even then other rewards earning secured cards will be better suited to most applicants.
We’d recommend not applying for this card and instead choosing one of the cards on our best of list.
- Graduates to an unsecured card
- Hard pull to add funds to increase the credit limit
- Annual fee of $39
- Reports to all three credit bureaus
- Reports as a secured card
- Security deposit does not earn interest
- Rewards program earns 1-3% cash back
Contents
Card Graduation
BoA does unsecure this secured credit card, they used to only do graduations to their unsecured products after card holders had their secured card for a minimum of 12 months but this policy has recently changed with a lot of card holders now being able to graduate early.
When BoA unsecures early they release the security deposit and then it’s possible for the card holder to do a product change to one of the other credit cards offered. A hard pull of the card holders TransUnion credit report is also done for early graduation. To be eligible card holders must have paid all of their statements on time, they also need to call to request graduation.
BoA also automatically graduates card holders (usually at the one year mark, assuming all payments have been made on time) this is a soft pull.
When the secured card graduates, the unsecured card will have the same limit as the secured card. After a period of six months it’s possible to call and ask for a credit limit increase.
Application Information
BoA approves most applicants for their secured product, as a security deposit is needed. There are some exceptions, they will not approve applicants with a bankruptcy showing on their credit report. They’ll also not approve applicants with a number of collections showing.
What Credit Bureau Does Bank of America Pull For The BankAmericard?
They most often pull the Experian credit bureau, but this will depend on where you live. We’d recommend using the creditboards credit pull application to see what bureau they pull in your location.
What Credit Limit Will I Receive?
Your credit limit is tied to the security deposit you leave when you open this card. It is possible to increase the credit limit by adding additional funds but this will result in a hard credit pull. Bank of America usually does this hard pull on your TransUnion credit report. Learn how a hard credit pull will affect your credit score.
| Minimum Credit Limit | Highest Reported Credit Limit |
| $300 | $4,900 |
Rewards Program
As mentioned previously it’s possible to add cash rewards to this secured card. To do so all cardholders need to do is call and ask for it to be added (our guide here). The rewards program is as follows:
- 1% cash back on all purchases
- 2% cash back at grocery stores*
- 3% cash back at gas stations*
*Maximum of $1,500 in purchases per quarter.
Unfortunately the $100 bonus for spending $500 in 90 days is not offered. Even so, this is easily the best rewards program available to secured card holders. Here is a full list of other programs.
Card Alternatives
As always it’s a good idea to read through our list of the best secured credit cards. You can find all stats for every card on our dedicated secured page.
- Discover it secured: No annual fee and earns 1-5% cash back on purchases. Downside is that it might not graduate to an unsecured card.
- Harley-Davidson secured: No annual fee, graduates and has a rewards program. Unfortunately the rewards program only earns chrome cash which can be redeemed for Harley Davidson merchanise
- SDFCU secured: No annual fee and comes with a chip & PIN and no foreign transaction fee. Card does not graduate.
reference num [removed] my name [removed] i am waiting for card pay $300 december 16 no have card what happened
This is not bank of america, you need to contact them directly
You can have your card with more than $4,900 limit, they told me that you can have up to $10,000. I got one with $5,000, unsecured less than 2 months after I added the money and now I’m getting a Visa Signature card.