By : 
Mr Credit Card
Mr Credit CardIntroduction
Card Details
Intro APR: 0% APR on purchases for 12 months
APR: 13.74% to 23.74%*(v)
Foreign Transaction Fee: 3%
Rewards: 2% cash back at grocery store and wholesale club, 3% at gas stations for up to $2,500 in spending in these categories each quarter. 1% on everything else. Earn extra 10% cash back when you deposit cash back into an active Bank of America checking or savings account.
Sign Up Bonus : Earn $150 cash back after spending $500 within first 90 days.
FICO Score Monitoring: TransUnion FICO
Peer Comparison
| Card |
Annual Fee APR FX Fee Rewards Score |
| BankAmericard Cash Rewards Student |
Annual Fee = $0 APR = 13.74% - 23.74% FX Fee = 3% Rewards = 3% on gas and 2% on grocery & wholesale club for first $2500 in these spending a quarter 1% on everything else Score Monitoring = FICO TU |
| BankAmericard Student |
Annual Fee = $0 APR = 12.74% - 22.74% FX Fee = 3% Rewards = N.A. Score Monitoring = FICO TU |
| BankAmericard Travel Rewards Student |
Annual Fee = $0 APR = 15.74% - 23.74% FX Fee = 0% Rewards = 1.5X Score Monitoring - FICO TU |
| Citi ThankYou Preferred Student |
Annual Fee = $0 APR = 14.74% - 24.74% FX Fee = 3% Rewards = 2X dining out and entertainment 1X everything else Score Monitoring = N.A. |
| Capital One Journey |
Annual Fee = $0 APR = 20.74% FX Fee = 0% Rewards = 1.25% Cash Back Score Monitoring = Vantage 3.0 TU |
| Discover it Student |
Annual Fee$0 APR = 13.74% - 22.74% FX Fee = 0% Rewards = 5% rotating categories 1% everything else Score Monitoring = FICO TU |
| Discover Chrome Student |
Annual Fee = $0 APR = 13.74% - 22.74% FX Fee = 0% Rewards = 2% gas and dining 1% everything else Score Monitoring = FICO TU |
| Wells Fargo Cash Back College |
Annual Fee = $0 APR = 11.9% - 21.9% FX Fee = 3% Rewards = 1% cash back Score Monitoring = Bankcard Score 2 - Experian |
| State Farm Student Visa |
Annual Fee = $0 APR = 12.24% - 19.24% FX Fee = 3% Rewards = 1X for every $2 3X for State Farm Insurance Payments (up to $4000 a year) Score Monitoring - N.A. |
| SelfScore Classic |
Annual Fee = $0 APR = 19.74% FX Fee = 0% Rewards = N.A. Score Monitoring = N.A. |
| SelfScore Achieve |
Annual Fee = $0 APR = 19.74% FX Fee = 0% Rewards = 1% Cash Back Score Monitoring = N.A. |
The BankAmericard Cash Rewards Credit Card for Students is the type of cash back card that give you 1% cash back as a base. And for certain expenses, they give you more than 1%. In this case, you get 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs and 3% at gas stations. This is very similar to the Discover Chrome, which gives you 2% for dining and gas purchases.
However, unlike Discover Chrome, BOA only allows you to earn the 2% and 3% for up to $2,500 of total quarterly spending on these categories. That means that within a quarter, you can only earn the extra cash back for up to a combined spending of $2,500 for gas, groceries and wholesale club purchases. After that, you will earn earn just 1% like other regular purchases.
So while I like the extra 2% and 3% that you can earn, I do not like the cap. Having said that, it is better than a 1% cash back card like Wells Fargo. There are cards like Capital One Journey that allows you to earn 1.25% cash back.Whether you can earn more cash back with this card or a card like the Journey depends how you use your card and your spending patterns.
Bank of America also takes advantage of the fact that they are a bank and encourages you to open a checking account because you can earn 10% more cash back if you choose to deposit the cash back that you have earned into a BOA checking or savings account. Most issuers simply do not or cannot compete like that.
One of the things that I do not like about this card is that they charge a 3% foreign transaction fee. This might put off some of you that either study abroad or plan to do a semester abroad. Discover cards and Capital One card all do not charge any foreign transaction fee and neither does BOA's own travel rewards card for student.
One nice thing about this card (and in fact all BOA cards) is that you have the ability to check and monitor your fico score. Other cards like Discover it and Chrome offer it and it is good that BankAmericard offers this to all of their card holders.The FICO score is from Experian.
Pros and Cons
- 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale club. 3% cash back at gas stations
- Extra 10% cash back if you deposit cash back into a Bank of America checking or savings account
- Free FICO Score
- 0% intro APR for 12 months
Cons
- Cap of $2,500 quarterly on grocery store, wholesale club and gas station spending to earn the extra cash back
- 3% foreign transaction fee
Our Take
The categories of grocery, wholesale club and gas spending (where you earn 2% to 3% cash back) is what most students will be using their credit card for (especially those of you who have moved out of your dorms).
There is a quarterly cap of $2,500 for spending on these categories where you can earn extra cash back. But I do not think it will affect most of you because you are not going to get such a high credit limit anyway.
Another thing you have to consider is whether you have any plans to study abroad or taking a semester abroad. That is because this card charges a 3% foreign transaction fee. You might want to consider another card or get this one and another card like the Bank of America travel rewards card for student that charges no foreign transaction fee.
Lastly, the website and app are user friendly and you can even check your FICO score regular as this is one of the perks of having this card. If you are college student looking for a good starter card, we would not hesitate to recommend this card.