An ad for the Original BankAmericard, circa 1972

BofA’s first credit card was launched in 1958… the BankAmericard. It was the predecessor to Visa, which wasn’t launched until the 70’s. When that happened, BofA stopped using the BankAmericard name.

Not too long ago, BoA decided bring the name back with their BankAmericard Visa credit cards. In press releases they have touted them as offering simplicity, flexibility, more rewards, and no gimmicks… but do they live up to these claims?

Let’s review their card lineup to find out…

BankAmericard Basic Visa
Their main selling point is that the card comes with a one page terms of service, which is nice. But ironically this BankAmericard Visa has no rewards program (so much for the “more rewards” I guess). The APR is the same for purchases, balance transfers, and cash advances – currently 17.25% at time of writing.

Verdict? Other than offering slightly below average rates on cash advances, I don’t see how this credit card would be beneficial.

BankAmericard Visa
According to Bank of America’s website, you should apply because it offers a “competitive APR and no annual fee, along with a great introductory rate.” I wouldn’t exactly call those claims accurate. For starters, their “great introductory offer” is only for 7 or 10 billing cycles and only applies to balance transfers. The standard APR listed was 10.99% – 19.99% which actually is competitive, but only if they give you something on the lower end of that range (and judging by our forum’s feedback, that doesn’t sound likely). Lastly, there’s no rewards program, which again contradicts their claims of offering “more rewards” on the BankAmericard Visa cards.

Verdict? This card is sub-par in every sense.

BankAmericard Cash Rewards Signature Visa
Well at least this BankAmericard Visa has a rewards program! In fact, BofA proudly displays at the top of their ad that you get 3% cash back on gas, grocery, and drugstore purchases. Well BofA, I hate to break the news to you but most people would call that a “gimmick” (which you said there would be none of) because you only give the 3% for 6 months. After that it’s just 1%. But I guess there is one good thing about the rewards program – if you save up $300 in rewards (that’s $30,000 on regular spending) then you will get a bonus equal to 25% of the amount redeemed – so it would be like getting 1.25% cash back. The balance transfer offer was the same “deal” offered on the above card and the APR range ran a couple points higher – 12.99% to 20.99%.

Verdict? The only thing the BankAmericard Cash Rewards Signature Visa has going for it is if you are a big spender and don’t mind waiting ‘til you have $300 in rewards saved up, so you can get the rebate worth 1.25%. Other than that, this BankAmericard appears to be nothing more than a typical 1% cash back credit card.

BankAmericard Power Rewards Visa Signature
This BankAmericard Visa is actually quite similar to the one we just discussed. The main difference is that you earn 1 point per dollar instead of $0.01 per dollar. Those points can then be redeem for cash back, travel, gift cards, etc… almost all of which equal out to be 1% on your spending. Unfortunately, the BankAmericard Power Rewards program doesn’t offer a 25% bonus if you save up a lot of rewards, like the BankAmericard Cash Rewards card offers. The balance transfer offer is the same pitiful 7 to 10 months and interest rate is the same as the card we just mentioned. It also has a 6 month, 3x rewards gimmick going for gas/grocery/drugstore spending.

Verdict? You can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig. Calling it “Power Rewards” doesn’t change the fact that you are still only getting around 1% back on your spending.

Conclusion?

Bank of America can sometimes be a letdown and their BankAmericard credit card lineup only re-confirms that!

Check out reviews of the best credit cards

This post was featured in the 279th Carnival of Personal Finance on DoughRoller.net