Bank of America's Preferred Rewards program becomes BofA Rewards on May 26, 2026, with enrollment for new members opening May 27. The change drops the previous $20,000 minimum balance requirement, restructures the tier ladder, and adds a $1 million Premier tier at the top. If you have a personal checking account with Bank of America, you'll be eligible to enroll the day the program launches.
This is the largest expansion of a Bank of America rewards program in over a decade. The bank estimates eligibility roughly triples, from about 11 million current Preferred Rewards members to 30 million+ checking customers.
The New Tier Structure
BofA Rewards uses four tiers instead of three. Qualification continues to be based on your three-month combined average daily balance across qualifying Bank of America deposit accounts and Merrill investment accounts (HSAs and other specialty accounts don't count).
- Member: under $30,000 combined balance, 10% credit card rewards bonus
- Preferred Plus: $30,000 to $99,999, 25% bonus
- Preferred Honors: $100,000 to $999,999, 50% bonus
- Premier: $1 million+, 75% bonus
For comparison, the old Preferred Rewards ladder ran Gold ($20,000, 25%), Platinum ($50,000, 50%), and Platinum Honors ($100,000, 75%). Two structural shifts stand out. The entry-level Member tier is new and has no balance minimum. The top tier now requires $1 million instead of $100,000, which spreads the existing Platinum Honors cohort across two new buckets.
Current Preferred Rewards members get mapped automatically. Gold and Platinum members move to Preferred Plus. Platinum Honors members move to Preferred Honors. Diamond Honors (the business-side equivalent) moves to Premier. Personal checking customers who didn't qualify under the old rules enroll into the Member tier starting May 27.
What This Does to Credit Card Earning Rates
The credit card multiplier mechanic is the same as Preferred Rewards: your tier bonus multiplies the base earning rate on eligible Bank of America cards. The cards themselves don't change; the math on top of them does.
For the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card earning 3% in your chosen category:
- Member tier: 3.3%
- Preferred Plus: 3.75%
- Preferred Honors: 4.5%
- Premier: 5.25%
The Unlimited Cash Rewards card earning a flat 1.5% scales the same way: 1.65% at Member, 1.875% at Preferred Plus, 2.25% at Preferred Honors, and 2.625% at Premier. The Premium Rewards card earning 2x on travel and dining hits 3x at Preferred Honors and 3.5x at Premier. That puts it in the same earn-rate neighborhood as the Chase Sapphire Preferred on those categories, though without the transfer-partner flexibility Chase offers through Ultimate Rewards.
Who Wins and Who Loses
The redesign helps two groups and partially hurts one.
Customers with no significant deposit balance (the Member tier) gain access to a 10% credit card bonus they couldn't get before. For someone running $30,000 a year across BofA cards, that's roughly $300 in extra rewards versus base rates.
Customers at the very top end ($1 million+) get a differentiated Premier tier with subscription credits up to $180 per year and access to lifestyle benefits (travel, dining, automotive, entertainment offers) that weren't tier-segmented before. Premier marketing emphasizes a $150 to $4,000 annual value range, with the high end assuming heavy use of credit card multipliers and subscription credits.
The group that loses ground sits in the $20,000 to $29,999 band. Under Preferred Rewards, that balance qualified for Gold and a 25% credit card bonus. Under BofA Rewards, it falls into the Member tier at 10%. For active card spenders in that range, consolidating an additional $1,000-$10,000 with Bank of America or Merrill to clear the $30,000 Preferred Plus threshold is worth the math.
Bank of America has built in a soft landing. Current Gold and Platinum members keep their existing Preferred Rewards benefits for at least six months after the May transition. That means anyone who would have been bumped down doesn't see the change until late November 2026 at the earliest. Confirm your transition tier in the BofA mobile app or online banking once the new program goes live.
What Else Comes With the Program
Beyond credit card earning multipliers, BofA Rewards layers in a few benefits not tied to credit card spend. Cash-back offers from 15,000+ national and local brands are available to all tiers. Rate discounts on home and auto loans, and enhanced fraud monitoring (including dark-web and Social Security number monitoring) also apply across the board.
Preferred Honors and Premier members get the new subscription reimbursement benefit, worth up to $96 per year at Preferred Honors and up to $180 per year at Premier. Bank of America hasn't published the full eligible-services list yet but has indicated it covers streaming, entertainment, and news subscriptions. Those tiers also get access to lifestyle-benefit offers and tier-exclusive partner events.
The mobile app gets a redesign on launch day. Bank of America says the new experience surfaces tier-specific offers and makes benefit activation easier, which should reduce the friction of actually using the credits members are entitled to.
What to Do Before May 26
If you're currently enrolled in Preferred Rewards, nothing requires action. The transition is automatic and your existing benefits are protected for six months.
If you're a checking customer who wasn't eligible before, plan to enroll in BofA Rewards starting May 27. Enrollment activates benefits within 30 days, and new members' balances get reviewed daily for the first 30 days, then quarterly. You move up in tier automatically when balances cross thresholds.
If you're in the $20,000 to $29,999 Gold band, the six-month protection window gives you time to decide whether moving an additional $1,000+ into BofA or Merrill to clear the $30,000 Preferred Plus threshold is worth preserving the 25% credit card bonus. For anyone putting $20,000+ a year on BofA cards, it almost always is.
Business banking customers are a separate track. Preferred Rewards for Business stays in place at launch, with Bank of America saying details on the business program will follow.
Bank of America has run Preferred Rewards since 2014. BofA Rewards is the program reaching the next chapter, and it lands May 26.
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