An effortless way to earn cash back for your business: Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Mastercard credit card review

Editor’s note: This post has been updated with new information.

Bank of America® Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card overview

The Bank of America® Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card is a new business-friendly option that earns 1.5% on everything, no matter the purchase. If you qualify for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards for Business program, you could even earn up to 2.62x on all purchases — one of the highest flat-rate earning opportunities of any card on the market. The best part? There's no annual fee, meaning you can focus on your urgent business needs and earn rewards in the foreground. Card rating*: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

*Card rating is based on the opinion of TPG’s editors and is not influenced by the card issuer.

When it comes to owning and managing a business, the last thing you want to do is overcomplicate your life further. That's why a card like the Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards card is the perfect solution for earning and redeeming cash-back rewards.

This is Bank of America's newest credit card, and it's a sound option whether you're self-employed or own a physical business.

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Who is this card for?

The Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards card is calling the name of business owners far and wide — especially those who want to avoid paying an annual fee for a credit card. It's truly one of the most universal options since it comes with an easy-to-remember earning rate and access to several cash-back redemption options.

This card becomes even more valuable for existing customers of Bank of America thanks to the Preferred Rewards for Business program. To qualify, you'll need to have an active, eligible Bank of America business checking account and a three-month combined average daily balance of $20,000 or more in your qualifying Bank of America business deposit or Merrill investment accounts.

There are other benefits you'll enjoy by qualifying for the Preferred Rewards program, but we'll focus on how you can multiply your reward earnings with the Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited for the sake of this review:

While the Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited is a superb option for most business owners, the ability to earn up to 2.62% makes it the best choice for those who already own business bank and investment accounts with the issuer.

Sign-up bonus

New applicants will get a $300 statement credit online bonus after you make at least $3,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening. For a card with no annual fee, that's an impressive offer that helps you add more cash back to your wallet.

Main benefits and perks

The Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited's main purpose is to drive simplistic cash-back earning and redeeming possibilities for business owners, so it's generally light on other benefits you may find from more premium cards.

Some cardholders may be able to take advantage of this card's for the first nine billing cycles. But you'll want to make sure that you pay your statement on time and in full, and 0% Introductory APR on purchases for the first 9 billing cycles, after that a variable APR of 16.74% to 26.74% will apply.

A few noteworthy travel and emergency services benefits with this card include $100,000 in travel accident insurance, secondary car rental insurance, emergency ticket replacement, lost luggage assistance, and legal and medical referrals when you’re away from home. However, the downside of this card is that it charges a 3% foreign transaction fee on purchases abroad, so you'll want to avoid using this card if you travel outside of the country.

How to earn

The value of this card comes from its sheer simplicity: cardholders will earn 1.5% on all purchases with no limit to how much cash back you can earn.

How to redeem

There are three ways to redeem your cash rewards:

• Deposit in your Bank of America checking or savings account.
• Redeem for a statement credit.
• Opt for a check to be mailed to you.

As long as you keep your credit card account open, your rewards will never expire.

Which cards compete with the Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited?

The business card market is quite saturated with competitive options from other issuers, so let's look at a couple of other cards.

First, the Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card from Chase offers the same earning rate: 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business. There's also no annual fee with this card.

Where the Ink Business Unlimited has a leg-up is its access to the Chase Ultimate Rewards program — a crowd favorite.

And as your business grows, the opportunity to grow within the Chase business card realm exists, too. By adding the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card to your portfolio — one of the best business cards that comes with a manageable $95 annual fee — you can start to access Chase's 11 airline and three hotel transfer partners, where your points increase in value and are worth 2 cents each according to TPG's valuations.

One final thing to note is that the Ink Business Unlimited' s sign-up bonus is worth more than the Bank of America Business Unlimited Cash Rewards. Still, there's a much higher spending threshold to meet. You'll earn $750 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first three months after account opening.

The other card that's worth comparing is the Capital One Spark Cash Plus. It's also a relatively new option in the business card landscape, offering 2% cash back on all purchases.

If you don't think you'll qualify for the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program, perhaps the Capital One Spark Cash Plus is a better fit since it comes with a great 2% rewards rate. It's also a better choice if you travel internationally since this card waives all foreign transaction fees.

However, there's a $150 annual fee with this card — so the 0.5% difference in earning rate will only start to make a difference if your business spends at least $30,000 on your card every year. That's the minimum you'll need to spend to recoup that annual fee.

The Capital One Spark Cash Plus comes with an up to $1,000 cash bonus; $500 once you spend $5,000 in the first three months, and $500 once you spend $50,000 in the first six months of account opening. It's clear that this card is catered to businesses with greater operating expenses since you can also earn an additional $200 cash bonus after spending $200,000 or more on the card in a year.

Bottom line

Certain businesses may prefer to earn cash back rather than points and miles for a more straightforward approach to earning rewards. That way, business owners can spend their rewards exactly how they want — whether to reduce their current expenses or to grow and innovate over time. The Bank of America Business Unlimited Cash Rewards is an approachable business card with no frills, making it a great starter card for many.

Official application link: Bank of America Business Unlimited Cash Rewards Mastercard credit card.

The Bank of America content was last updated 3/1/2023.