I moved some ETFs from E*Trade to Merrill Edge. I also opened a new Bank of America checking account. The combo deal gives me free trades on any ETF and a free-everything checking account with branch access and no ATM fee.
Bonus and Free Trades
Merrill Edge is the self-directed online investing service from Merrill Lynch, which is owned by Bank of America. Among major discount brokers, Merrill Edge is relatively new and not as well known. Fidelity, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and E*Trade have been around longer. Since its parent Merrill Lynch has a much larger brokerage business and a longer history, I’m confident its trading and processing technology platforms are solid.
Like the other brokers, Merrill Edge offers a good bonus for bringing in new money. Right now there’s an offer for a $500 bonus if you open a new account and transfer in $100k in assets, or a $1,000 bonus for $200k. See details in Huge Bonus Offers From Brokers.
Because it’s self-directed, no Merrill Lynch broker will call you and sell you load funds. You place trades yourself, just as you do at other online discount brokers. The commissions are competitive. If you must pay, it’s $7 per equity or ETF trade, compared to $7 at Vanguard, $8 at Fidelity, $9 at Schwab, and $10 at TD Ameritrade and E*Trade.
However, if you have $50k or more invested, and you have a checking account with Bank of America, you get 30 free online equity and ETF trades per month. Instead of a fixed list of commission-free ETFs, every ETF is practically commission-free.
Wells Fargo’s WellsTrade used to have a similar deal (100 free trades per year). Now it’s limited to only grandfathered customers. Merrill Edge’s deal is still ongoing. In fact the number of free trades recently increased to 100 per month for accounts above $100k after 3 months under the new Bank of America Preferred Rewards program.
The $50k or $100k isn’t just the cash or money market balance at Bank of America. It includes the value of your investments at Merrill Edge. It’s quite easy to qualify. To get a similar deal at Vanguard you need $1 million, which gives you 25 free trades per year.
The free trades only extend to stocks and ETFs. Transaction-fee mutual funds still cost $20 per trade. It’s better to use Merrill Edge for ETFs.
The transfer from E*Trade to Merrill Edge went very smoothly. Merrill Edge has an online interface for requesting an incoming transfer. You fill out where you are transferring from, the account number, how the account is registered, and whether you want a full or partial transfer. You don’t have to print or mail any form or get a signature guarantee. It took just six business days for my ETFs to come over in-kind. Merrill Edge reimbursed the transfer-out fee charged by E*Trade.
A generous bonus plus free trades on any ETF make Merrill Edge a great place for holding ETFs.
No-Minimum Free Checking Account
I also opened a Bank of America checking account to qualify for the Preferred Rewards program.
The package deal with Merrill Edge waives the monthly maintenance fee with no minimum balance or direct deposit requirement. In addition, you get free check orders, free cashier’s checks, and free stop payments on top of the standard free online and mobile banking and free bill payments. The highest tier in Preferred Rewards with $100k at Merrill Edge after 3 months also gives you unlimited reimbursement of ATM fees charged by other banks.
Other than not paying much interest, this Bank of America checking account packs pretty much all one needs, with a large number of branches nationwide and the freedom to use any ATM anywhere in the country if you have $100k at Merrill Edge. For how I will use it, interest doesn’t really matter.
I opened the account completely online. I was able to set up online access and paperless statements very easily. The online interface is first rate. It supports 2-factor authentication by sending a code to your mobile phone.
I’m using this account as a local backup. Contrary to people reporting Bank of America as “bad” I don’t expect any problems.
Bonus On Credit Card Rewards
The third component in the Preferred Rewards program is extra rewards on Bank of America credit cards. At the highest tier with $100k at Merrill Edge, you can get a credit card that pays 2.625% rewards on everything and another card that pays 3.5% on groceries and wholesale clubs and 5.25% on gas. See
- Bank of America Travel Rewards Visa: Better Than Fidelity AmEx Or Citi Double Cash
- The Best Visa Card To Use At Costco Is Not The Costco Visa
[Update: After six months, Merrill Edge automatically paid the bonus as promised. I didn’t have to contact anyone to ask about it.]
[Photo credit: Flickr user Sean_Marshall]
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bn says
Thanks for updating the post. Since this is the biggest bonus offered, I think I will follow your lead. However, I couldn’t find any language on the link about Merrill Edge reimbursing the account closing fee?
Harry Sit says
Call customer service. They will offer it.
Chris says
I transferred my investments to Merrill from Schwab. It’s been six months and several months later I still haven’t gotten the $500 I was told over the phone. You have to ask a sales rep to get it.
So I took my money to Wealthfront. Enough paying the 1% to manage my money and get richer regardless of the outcome.
Bob S says
This is a disastrous idea- don’t be hooked by the “bonus”. Merrill lYnch and Bank of America will extract that- and much more- from you over time.
If you fall for this bait, you will be sorry!
Bob
Reid says
Please don’t lie like that! I have no problems with the Merrill Edge and Bank Of America. I’m saving $675.00 per month from 100.00 + free trades. You can get 30 or 100 free trades a month. That is a very good deal.
Thanks.
Steve says
That comment is a little bit overkill on the pathos, but I have Edge and one thing that is starting to bother me is their platform. The system itself gives out some incorrect numbers, balances, holdings etc and updates pretty slow. I think this can be a risk because it might cause for a bad or missed trade and lost money.
bn says
In addition to the bonus offered for the deposit, it looks like a minimum of $100k deposit will qualify you for Platinum Honors in Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards. Among other things, it gives a 75% rewards bonus when you deposit you credit card rewards into a BOA account. If this all works out you could receive 3.5% on groceries, 5.25% on gas with the Cash Rewards Card and 2.625% on everything and 5.25% on travel with the Travel Rewards Card.
M says
Do you have to use the BoA checking account? Or can it just sit with 0 balance and 0 transactions?
Harry Sit says
I’m planning to use it as a local backup and for withdrawing cash. Worst case one ACH-in plus a scheduled billpay-out will keep it active.
Luke says
I was about to comment about hooking up your BOA credit card with this bundle to get up to 75% reward bonus but @bn beat me to it. It is a great offer if you can carry a combined balance of 100k (averaged over 3 months) in all BOA + ML accounts combined (Checking/saving/money market/ML). I am still using the cash rewards card and aiming to get the 1.75% for all. The 3.5% on groceries, 5.25% on gas that bn mentioned above has a combined cap of $1500 per quarter($6000 yearly, means max $315 per year for gas and groc. After that 1.75% for the rest of the spends) which is a bummer. But still, it is a great daily use credit card for those who has that kind of money handy.
I got one today. For those who do not have 100k, they have lower tiers (50k will fetch you 50% reward boost and 20k will fetch you 25% reward boost)
Sherman says
Thanks, do you have to call them to get the 75% bonus on the rewards or its automatic?
Harry Sit says
Sheman – You enroll once. When your combined balances qualify it’s automatic.
abc says
I enjoy all the benefits mentioned above plus a free safety deposit box at local branch. I also like the bill pay system. You can pay from your B of A account or another linked account. I started by going to the local branch to find out about the $600 offer, but the other benefits sold me. After I got the $600, I sent them a message and asked if they would match what other brokers were offering if I transferred more securities and after a few more messages they agreed. So, I will be getting another payment. I never thought I would be a B of A customer, but I am happy I am. So long as they are offering so much. The extra 75% rewards on their already great credit card is sweet.
Bob S, you are missing out on a very cool deal.
Greg says
Can you explain what you would use a local backup checking account for? Just curious.
Harry Sit says
Depositing or withdrawing a large amount of cash, depositing a large check, or getting a cashier’s check.
Wai Yip Tung says
I’m actually considering to open a brokerage account in a dinosaur firm who charges $60 per trade. Because they have some perk that’s relevant to me. Initially I thought the commission is a joke. Possibly this is to pay for professional “advice” that I don’t need. But then I figure the commission actually doesn’t matter given I do perhaps one or two trade a year. Neither do these bonus matter a whole lot consider they are at most 0.5% of your assets.
Alskar says
Based on my experience with a 401k through Merrill Lynch, the fact that BoA is one of the few banks with a website dedicated to the problems they have (wwww.ihatebankofamerica.com) and the fact that BoA/Merrill Lynch needed to be bailed out, I will pass on using Merrill Edge or BoA.
Life is too short to deal with idiots and criminals and ML is thick with both in my view.
The interest I make on my rewards checking account at my local credit union more than pays for my trades at Fidelity. Cash in fungible, rewards are not!
indexfundfan says
Yet another interesting offer! What is the procedure to get the Etrade fee reimbursed? Have you gotten the bonus yet?
indexfundfan says
Another question: what is the speed of Merrill Edge’s ACH transfer? Are the funds available the next business day? Thanks!
jc says
Another perk worth mentioning…Bank of America ATM card gets you free admission into certain museums first weekend of each month. Good to use if you have kids.
Greg says
Does Merrill edge have a portfolio analysis tool like vanguard? Can anyone comment as to how good it is and how it compares?
Harry Sit says
It has one. It created the correct output for my simple positions. It gives you top-level stocks and bonds percentages. Equities are further broken down to large growth, large value, small/mid growth, and small/mid value. Fixed income is broken down to short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term. I don’t see a line item for international or developed vs emerging markets. Not sure it’s because I don’t have any international funds/ETFs or because it doesn’t break out international. I’m also not sure how it handles balanced funds.
I think Morningstar Portfolio X-Ray provides a better view than the tool provided by either Merrill Edge or Vanguard.
Greg says
I’ve gone ahead and taken advantage of this deal, thanks largely to this post. Merrill Edge has incorporated the Morningstar portfolio x-ray on their site. It automatically reads in your positions on Merrill Edge and you can manually add positions from other brokerages. I haven’t found a way to save the other brokerage positions though. This is a nice addition and obviates the need for the free T. Rowe Price Morningstar Portfolio X-ray service.
Bob says
“after 3 months”
I did not catch that. I did the transfer a few weeks ago but I will not be eligible for the Preferred account until after 3 months. The free/low cost BofA checking account stinks–they charge a $3 fee for ACH transfers out and limit you to $1K per transfer if you do not have a smart phone.
Harry Sit says
Not a problem if you use it as a local backup. Initiate your ACH transfer from your other bank. No fee and no transfer limit from BofA.
ojc says
Does ME support automatic investments? ie if I xfer money in to my ME account it will automatically buy ETFs in a certain proportion?
I don’t suppose they have automatic rebalancing do that?
Harry Sit says
Outside of robo-advisor services such as Betterment, Wealthfront, Wise Banyan etc. I know of no mainstream brokers that do automatic investments with ETFs. Because ETF prices change all day long, as a broker they don’t have authority to buy for you at any random time and price. Same for automatic rebalancing. If you want automatic investments and automatic rebalancing, you have to grant additional authority through an advisory service relationship. Schwab is working on it, which will launch in Q1 2015.
If you buy a mutual fund, not ETF, you can set up pre-scheduled automatic investment plan for additional purchases, which will be commission-free if certain conditions are met. These are pre-scheduled at set amounts, not whenever you deposit random amounts at random times.
dan23 says
Note about Merrill Edge. They block securities (I think certain ETFs and ETNs though it could be more) to protect us from ourselves. When trying to buy QVAL, I got the following message:
“This security is currently blocked and unavailable for trading. For information, please contact us at 1.877.653.4732, 24 hours a day,y I could accept the risk.”
I asked them to escalate, but that did not achieve anything yet. I think it is crazy that a broker blocks ETFs. It is interesting because they allow trading penny stocks which they view as high risk, but make you get a security card that generates numbers to do so, but do not apply the same logic to ETFs (outright blocked).
To anyone grandfathered in with WF, I would not leave it for this despite the higher number of trades. If I get an alternative free trade deal, 7 days a week.”
Not trying to buy it, but you get the same message for OIL which is a fairly popular ETN. I called them up for QVAL and there was no waI am switching out (despite the awesome credit card).
dan23 says
My post got messed up out of order. Reposting in order:
Note about Merrill Edge. They block securities (I think certain ETFs and ETNs though it could be more) to protect us from ourselves. When trying to buy QVAL, I got the following message:
“This security is currently blocked and unavailable for trading. For information, please contact us at 1.877.653.4732, 24 hours a day 7 days a week.”
Not trying to buy it, but you get the same message for OIL which is a fairly popular ETN. I called them up for QVAL, and they did not allow me to accept the risk. I asked them to escalate, but that did not achieve anything yet.
I think it is crazy that a broker blocks ETFs. It is interesting because they allow trading penny stocks which they view as high risk, but make you get a security card that generates numbers to do so, but do not apply the same logic to ETFs (outright blocked).
To anyone grandfathered in with WF, I would not leave it for this despite the higher number of trades. If I get an alternative free trade deal, I am switching out (despite the awesome credit card).
Mike J. says
I just signed up with ML Edge and I can confirm on commodity ETF’s (UNG, USO, etc)
This security is currently blocked and unavailable for trading
This is a deal killer for me.
Not only can I not buy/sell commodity ETFs… but I can’t even sell my own LONG positions that I transferred in.
As soon as my $600 bonus posts in 90 days – I’m gone.
James Hurd says
What are the tax consequences of this? If I put 200K ira funds in Merril Edge, does the 1000 bonus go into the ira or is it taxable to me? Are the extra rewards on the BofA credit card taxable? Thanks for posting this.
Harry Sit says
See previous article Brokerage Account Signup Bonus Taxable Or Not?. Credit card rewards are not taxable.
smk says
BEWARE: Merrill Lynch has cash as their default option for mutual fund distributions. In over 30 years of investing I have never seen this. They should warn you to check this when you open a new account, as the default is reinvest in every other brokerage account I have ever owned. So I just lost a significant amount in the last few days as my distributions were put in my cash account. I have called them to try and get some sort of compensation, but I won’t hold my breath. I’ll be moving my money as soon as the bonus posts to my account.
Harry Sit says
To Merrill Edge’s defense, you should’ve checked the reinvestment setting and confirmed it was set the way you wanted when you set up the account. I prefer to have the distributions in cash and let me decide where to direct them. I was going to change it to cash after I opened the account when I saw it was already set that way. There’s no right or wrong way, just the way one prefers. I don’t see why Merrill Edge should owe you compensation.
smk says
Of course Merrill Lynch owes me compensation! My settings at the previous firm were reinvest and so Merrill Lynch should have transferred everything the way it was. If they can’t do something as simple as that, they shouldn’t be in business!
Harry Sit says
I hope you are joking. As you know a transfer only transfers your assets and cost basis, not your preferences and settings. When you transfer out of Merrill Edge, the new firm won’t know your settings in Merrill Edge either.
smk says
No, I’m not joking, As I said, I’ve used around 10 different brokerage firms over the past 30 years and they’ve all done this correctly. The incompetence of Merrill Lynch and Bank of America knows no bounds.
Harry Sit says
Correctly as in the default happened to be the setting you like? Those 10 different brokerage firms would all do it incorrectly for me then.
smk says
No, those 10 brokerage firms copied over my current settings from the previous firms. It really is that simple, whether you want to believe it or not.
Harry Sit says
It’s time for an experiment! Before you transfer out of Merrill Edge, set the reinvestment option to something you don’t want. I believe you can have a setting for the account and also have different settings position by position. Do a mix. Set the account setting to cash and some positions to reinvest and some positions to cash. See how your next firm does in copying those settings. Maybe the firms I dealt with were all too incompetent. I never saw any them able to copy my settings at the previous firm.
indexfundfan says
Initially I did not expect too much from Merrill Edge but so far, I have been pretty happy with them. They give you the free trades as expected. ACH is fast. Dividends are timely credited. There is even an option to have dividends automatically deposited to your bank account. I use this feature and the dividends are in my bank account the next business day after being paid.
I submitted a feedback that in the list of linked ACH accounts, only the account numbers are showing. I asked if it is possible to have nicknames attached to the numbers. I received a phone call about my request and a few weeks later, the ability to add nicknames is added. To be honest, I am not sure if my request resulted in this addition or this feature had already been planned in the pipeline. But its there now.
bn says
So I transferred into Merrill Edge after the suggestion of your post and now that it has been 90 days I am having all sort of issues with the bonus deposit. I can no longer reach the representative who had been e-mailing me to set up the account and who I had confirmed the bonus with. Contacting customer support has yielded not much better luck as they are taking their sweet time to both a) fix which account the partial bonus already went to and b) pay out the rest of the confirmed bonus.
I used to play these transfer games all the time and always play by the rules and have received the bonuses in the past but I think I am ready to retire and just give the money over to Vanguard.
Harry Sit says
indexfundfan said in a comment to another post that the terms for the $1,000 offer require a wait of 180 days. I still haven’t received mine, but I’m not worried.
dan23 says
Any way to do a roth conversion without printing and faxing/mailing anything? I can’t find a way to do it on the website, just this form (https://olui2.fs.ml.com/Publish/Content/application/pdf/GWMOL/IRA_IRRAtoRothConversionForm.pdf). Also, if it needs the form – would you put in entire account (3b) or part of account with 5500 as the amount (that is the entire amount in standard ira for me).
Harry Sit says
Please contact customer service. Maybe they’ll take the filled out form as an attachment to a secure message. Also ask them if the traditional IRA will stay open for next year’s contribution if you choose ‘entire account.’
Sam Seattle says
Thanks, jc, for reminding about the extra perk of free museums admission. I forgot about it.
Sam R says
Thanks again, Harry, for another great info.
One of the funds I am moving to Merrill is a Vanguard fund in admiral shares.
Since Merrill can’t hold the admiral shares fund, I exchanged it to VFWIX (investor shares), which Merrill can hold, but gives me higher Expense ratio (0.33%).
If I want to sell the VFWIX and buy an equivalent ETF from Vanguard (VEA) or Schwab to get a lower expense ratio, i think they’ll charge me $20 to sell a mutual fund.
Is that cost worth it? and is VEA any good? or the Schwab one is better?
Harry Sit says
The ETF equivalent to VFWIX is VEU. You can ask Merrill Edge whether they are able to *convert* (not sell) VFWIX to VEU. Converting mutual fund shares to ETF shares is a special thing offered by Vanguard. If the rep you speak to isn’t familiar, ask to speak to someone in the mutual fund department. I was able to have Wells Fargo convert Vanguard mutual fund shares to ETF shares. So it definitely can be done in a non-Vanguard brokerage account.
Converting will preserve your cost basis. It’s important in a non-IRA account. Otherwise selling will trigger capital gains.
Sam R says
BofA debit card lets me create an up-to-12-digit PIN, so I did that, made a 12 digit PIN for my BofA debit card. Do you think this will make my debit card/ checking account more secure?
Harry Sit says
A little bit. However, most unauthorized charges on debit cards are done without a PIN. You just make them not able to withdraw cash. If they steal your number they can still make purchases.
Sam Seattle says
Harry, thanks for the tip and the reminder of ‘creating capital gains’. Unfortunately, Merrill can’t *convert* Vanguard mutual fund to Vanguard ETF, even though I told them that Wells could do so. Thus, I had to halt the Vanguard-to-Merrill fund-transfer process, while I do the conversion at Vanguard. Oh, well.
Harry Sit says
Merrill Edge paid the bonus automatically as promised according to the original offer terms. I updated the article with a screenshot.
TJ says
Were you able to transfer funds to Merrill that were Admiral Shares or did you only do ETFs?
Harry Sit says
I only did ETFs. It’s much easier to deal with ETFs outside Vanguard.
Sam Seattle says
Congrats, Harry, for getting the bonus! On the other hand, my transfer process is stuck.
I asked Merrill to halt the transfer, because I need to convert the fund to ETF at Vanguard first.
But … too late, transfer was done.
So now I’m transferring the account back to Vanguard (!), then convert the fund to ETF at Vanguard (to avoid Merrill’s $20 fee and triggering capital gains) , before transferring the account back to Merrill.
What a mess.
Merrill said they would reimburse my account-closing fee ($50), once the fund is transferred back to Merrill.
I feel stressed with all these back and forth.
I wish my transfer was not this time-consuming.
TJ says
Why not just keep the mutual fund at Merrill?
Bob S says
Bob S says
August 25, 2014 at 11:51 am
This is a disastrous idea- don’t be hooked by the “bonus”. Merrill lYnch and Bank of America will extract that- and much more- from you over time.
If you fall for this bait, you will be sorry!
Bob
Reply
Reid says
April 5, 2015 at 2:19 pm
Please don’t lie like that! I have no problems with the Merrill Edge and Bank Of America. I’m saving $675.00 per month from 100.00 + free trades. You can get 30 or 100 free trades a month. That is a very good deal.
Reid:
Gee- it took you 7 months to reply to my comment. Wonder why?
I’m not lying and you know it.- you’re probably a shill for Merrill Lynch. Why in the world would any sane person do 100 trades a month? Ever heard of the stupidity of hyperactive trading?
Don’t get sucked into Bank of America/ Merrill Lynch. Over time, they will extract the value- and much more- from any “bonus” they give you.
I reaffirm what I said. Caveat Emptor!
Bob
John says
If I open a joint brokerage account with $100K, but a separate banking account for each of myself and my spouse, will my spouse and I both qualify for the Preferred Rewards program? In other words, will BOA consider the asset in my joint account as my asset when determining the qualification for the Preferred Rewards program?
Thanks.
Harry Sit says
Double check with customer service. I heard that a joint account is counted under both owners. If you have $100k in a joint brokerage account, both of you will qualify for the highest tier.
Anita says
Thanks much for this excellent idea. On Dec 11, I opened a MerrEdge IRA and transferred “in kind” a Vanguard Bond fund for $200K. Same day, I opened a BofA checking account and applied for the BofA travel rewards cc and Fidel cc. All went according to you fine plan. I am now getting 2.62% travel bonus points and transferring them to Fidel. All working flawlessly.
Question. Once I get my $1000 bonus, I’d consider pulling $100K out of MerrEdge, depending on how MerrEdge charges fees on accounts that just sit there. (I don’t trade at all… do they charge annual fees or anything?”. I’m also confused about the fees for a withdrawal. Since I hold M.E. funds totally in a Vanguard mutual fund, does anyone know what the fees would be to withdraw $100K. (I could use that money then to reap more bonuses from the other “big bonuses” you have listed in your excellent post… i.e. Etrade, TD Ameritrade, Fidelity, and even a second Merrill Edge bonus, perhaps.
Question 2: Is it considered a “second” M.E. account to transfer “in-kind” my Roth IRA. And thus could I get another bonus that way?
Thanks much for presenting this awesome strategy. I’ve seen it presented nowhere else. It’s been a real winner.
Anita
Harry Sit says
Don’t say withdraw. Say partial transfer. The $1,000 bonus offer required that you keep the money there for some time. Make sure you are meeting the requirement. Fee schedule is online. https://www.merrilledge.com/pricing
I don’t know whether they will give bonus to a second account. Please check with customer service.
Akshay says
I meet with Merrill Edge Adviser. I found the have some desecration to bring new customers.
1. They can match the promotional cash bonus offer from other brokerage firms.
2. They can give you 100+ free trades to overcome 3 months qualifying period before you become preferred customers.
3. They can refund account closing fee if you provide statement proof.
Akshay says
Harry,
What is your experience on The ETF Bid/Ask Spread between ML and Vanguard?
In your experience, saving of $13.90 buy/sell ETF trading cost is justifiable vs Bid/Ask Spread?
Please share you suggestion.
Harry Sit says
If you are buying or selling the same ETF at Merrill Edge and Vanguard at the same time, you get the same bid/ask spread. If it’s a Vanguard ETF, it trades commission-free at Vanguard. In that case it doesn’t matter where you trade.
If you are comparing buying an ETF at Merrill Edge versus buying a mutual fund at Vanguard, the price you pay for the ETF intra-day can be higher or lower than the price at the end of the day. It depends on how the market goes, which has a much larger effect than the bid/ask spread, but it’s also unpredictable. You win some you lose some.
James says
So you know there are the 50k and 100k tiers to get the bonus. Is that just for one account? I have a traditional, roth, and taxable account that I want to transfer over and want to know what bonus I would be getting.
Harry Sit says
Sorry I don’t know how they do it for the bonus. Please contact Merrill Edge customer service or a Merrill Edge rep in a Bank of America branch.
Harry Sit says
To those who received a bonus in 2015, the bonus was included on a 1099-MISC, included in the consolidated 1099 forms document. Don’t miss it.
TJ says
Any clue as to what BofA charges for international ATM withdrawals on the platinum honors tier off the top of your head?
The “free withdrawal” marketing seems to only apply to domestic.
Harry Sit says
No per-withdrawal fee but 3% surcharge in foreign exchange rate still applies.
Anita says
I see that Fidelity DID finally shut down my FIA credit card. The accrued “world points” that I’d been transferring from my BofA Travel Rewards card (with the 75% boost) all got transferred to the new Elan system. So that ends that transfer partner for world points.
Has anyone by chance found another FIA worldpoints card out there that behaves similarly? i.e. allowing transfer of worldpoints into a cash equivalent? I’ve googled but find nothing. Meaning, the points then must be used for travel expenses only. Which is okay, but now a small learning curve as to HOW to redeem them for travel.
Harry Sit says
Anita – Redeeming for travel is much easier than opening and managing another card. Rewards tab in B of A online banking, Redeem Points button, mouse over Travel Credit menu, Request for a Travel Credit.
Chuck says
Anita, you can transfer points from your BOA Travel Rewards card to your BOA Triple A card and then redeem into your BOA checking, savings account, etc.
Anita says
Thanks Harry and Chuck for the alternatives. I’ll take a look at the Triple A card… Hadn’t heard of that one.
linda says
Harry: your links below no longer work–did you remove the articles?
Bank of America Travel Rewards Visa: Better Than Fidelity AmEx Or Citi Double Cash
The Best Visa Card To Use At Costco Is Not The Costco Visa
SF Giants Fan says
I’m interested in those articles, too, as I’m looking for a new credit card.
SF Giants Fan says
Thanks for updating the credit card links! It looks like the $1,000 bonus for the Merrill Edge account is still available until 9/5/19 using the following link: https://www.merrilledge.com/offers/1000offer