ToolsCard ScoresCustomized Cash Rewards
Is the BofA Customized Cash Rewards worth it?
MoneyRoom Card Score
8.2/ 10
For a Bank of America household, more than the number suggests; for everyone else, exactly the number. We score the guaranteed 2% on groceries and the base rate, because a category you must choose is a condition — and conditions never count.
Data: MoneyRoom card catalog (details pending verification are flagged) · scores update daily · catalog data as of 2026-04-30 · How we verify
The card's big feature is the choice: you pick a category for its top rate, and can change it monthly. Our oldest rule applies right away — a rate you choose has a condition, and conditional rates count at the base rate. So the number uses the fixed 2% on groceries and warehouse clubs over an ordinary base rate: about 1.2% back, an earning score of 4.0, and an overall score of 8.2 with perfect value and effort.
Two kinds of people should add a bit in their heads. If you set the choice to your real top category and leave it, you get that rate as if it were fixed. And if you're in Bank of America's Preferred Rewards program — a boost based on your balances that multiplies every reward on this card, sometimes by a lot — you're holding a better card than the one this page can show. Both are real; neither is guaranteed; the score counts neither.
Credits vs. fee
No annual fee to cover.
Typical value applies our published discounts for what makes credits easy to miss: deadlines, limits on where you can use them, enrollment (switching a credit on once), and waiting to be paid back.
This card has no recurring statement credits. There's nothing to enroll in, track, or lose — the list is empty by design.
The fine print that matters
Why is typical value less than face value?
What matters: the chosen category has a quarterly spending cap, then drops to the base rate; the grocery rate includes warehouse clubs (unusual and useful); and the Preferred Rewards boost applies automatically when you redeem, once your balances qualify. None of it needs a calendar, but all of it starts with a choice most cardholders never revisit — set it to fit your real spending once, and the card works.
Earning
What does everyday spending actually earn?
Rewards come as cash back, worth exactly what it says. On our published mix of everyday spending, that works out to 1.2% back.
| Category | Rate | After spending caps | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining | 1% | 1.00% | Has conditions — counted at the base rate |
| Groceries | 2% | 2.00% | |
| Gas | 1% | 1.00% | Has conditions — counted at the base rate |
| Flights booked direct | 1% | 1.00% | Has conditions — counted at the base rate |
| Hotels booked direct | 1% | 1.00% | Has conditions — counted at the base rate |
| Everything else | 1% | 1.00% |
Not in the score
What does the score leave out?
- The category you choose. The card's top rate, left out because it has a condition. If you choose well and stick with it, read this page's earning figure as your minimum.
- The Preferred Rewards boost. Boosts based on your balances that can change the math for households banking with Bank of America and Merrill. They depend on your relationship with the bank, so they're never counted.
- The welcome offer. One-time, left out by our usual rule.
Listed on the card, never priced:
- Preferred Rewards boost
Your own numbers
See if it pays for itself for you.
The score assumes a typical cardholder. The free Annual Fee Calculator loads this card's real credits and fee and lets you enter what you'd actually use — no account needed.
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Questions
Common questions before you apply.
Why doesn't the score count the category I choose?
Because choosing is a condition, and we don't score conditional rates on any card — the same rule that counts rotating-category cards at the base rate. The fixed 2% on groceries is what every cardholder gets without deciding anything.
What's it worth with Preferred Rewards?
Possibly far more than this page shows — the boost grows with your Bank of America and Merrill balances. It depends on your banking relationship, which is exactly the kind of value we list instead of scoring.
What does it score as printed?
8.2 out of 10: value 10.0, effort 10.0, earning 4.0 at the guaranteed 1.2%.