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Key takeaways
- Bank of America offers secured versions of many of its popular rewards credit cards.
- If you prefer earning bonus rewards in select categories, the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card offers cash back in a number of choice bonus categories (terms apply).
- If you prefer simplicity, the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card offers flat cash back on every purchase.
Bank of America offers a variety of personal credit cards, but you may not know that many of those popular cards come in secured versions. Both the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card* and the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card* offer cardholders the opportunity to build or improve credit while earning rewards.
If you are considering a secured credit card, these cards should be on your list. Here’s how they compare to one another.
Main details
| Cards | Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card | Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome bonus | N/A | N/A |
| Rewards rate |
|
|
| Intro APR | N/A | N/A |
| Annual fee | None | $0 |
| Foreign transaction fees | 3% of the U.S. dollar amount of each transaction | 3% on foreign transactions |
Bank of America Customized Cash Secured vs. Bank of America Unlimited Cash Secured highlights
Although both of these secured cards come from Bank of America, there are some similarities and differences you should be aware of. For starters, unlike with a secured credit card, both of these cards require cardholders to put down a security deposit. Bank of America requires a (refundable) security deposit between $200 and $5,000 to open either account. Once approved, your deposit is used in combination with your income and your ability to pay to determine your credit limit.
While both cards are also designed to help you build credit, here are some other important factors to compare.
Welcome bonus winner
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Neither of these cards offers a welcome bonus, but card issuers typically don’t offer welcome bonuses for secured cards.
Rewards rate winner
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The Customized Cash Secured offers 3 percent cash back on an eligible category of your choosing, 2 percent cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs and 1 percent cash back on all other purchases. Earnings in the 2 percent and 3 percent categories are limited to a combined spending cap of $2,500 per quarter. After you reach that limit, you’ll get 1 percent back.
The eligible 3 percent choice categories include:
- Gas and EV charging stations
- Online shopping (including cable, internet, phone plans and streaming)
- Dining
- Travel
- Drugstores and pharmacies
- Home improvement and furnishings
If you wish to switch between choice categories, you can change it once each calendar month.
The Unlimited Cash Secured offers an unlimited 1.5 percent cash back on all of your spending. With this flat cash back card, you won’t have to worry about choosing a category or keeping track of your spending at different retailers to earn bonus cash back. Like its unsecured counterpart, you’ll simply swipe your card and earn 1.5 percent cash back every time.
Of course, the best rewards card for you will depend on your spending habits. However, we give a slight nod to the Customized Cash in this category since it has the ability to earn up to 3 percent cash back in popular categories.
Intro APR winner
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As with most secured credit cards, neither of these cards comes with an introductory APR offer. The ongoing variable APR for both cards is 28.24 percent.
Annual fee winner
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Many secured cards come with various fees — the annual fee being one of the most common charges. Neither of these cards charges an annual fee. Additionally, both cards have the same $200 minimum security deposit requirement, so we consider this category a tie.
Foreign transaction fee winner
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Both cards charge a 3 percent foreign transaction fee. Even if you don’t travel much, be aware that, when you purchase items from merchants that are not based in the U.S., you could still pay a foreign transaction fee.
Which card earns the most?
If you spend a lot in the Customized Cash Secured’s bonus categories, you’ll earn more cash back. If not, you might be better off with a flat-rate cash back card like the Unlimited Cash Secured. Plus, the latter doesn’t have caps on cash back earnings like the Customized Cash Secured.
Spending example
The following spending example demonstrates how your spending patterns dictate the amount of cash back you’ll earn with either card.
For the purposes of this example, let’s assume you choose online shopping as your 3 percent category for the Customized Cash Rewards card. Let’s also assume that you have a $400 credit limit for each card. Because these are secured cards, it’s likely that your credit limit will be small to start with. Here’s what you can expect to earn on various types of monthly spending with these two cards:
| Category | Monthly spend | Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card | Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groceries (or wholesale clubs) | $100 | $2.00 at 2% cash back | $1.50 |
| Online shopping (including cable, internet, phone plans and streaming) | $100 | $3.00 at 3% cash back | $1.50 |
| Other miscellaneous spending | $150 | $1.50 | $2.25 |
| Total | $350 | $6.50 | $5.25 |
These numbers were calculated for a monthly spend where you put only purchases that would help you max out the value you’d get from the Customized Cash Secured. If you spent a lot more in miscellaneous spending, you might get more value from the Unlimited Cash Secured.
So, over the course of a year, either of these cards could provide a decent amount of cash back — especially considering they are secured cards. Most of the top secured cards don’t offer rewards at all, so any rewards you are able to earn should be looked at as a benefit.
Why should you get the Bank of America Customized Cash Secured?
If you want to build or improve your credit score while earning bonus cash back rewards, the Bank of America Customized Cash Secured card can help. Just make sure you’re comfortable updating your bonus category as frequently as you need to with this card or you won’t earn the boosted rewards rate.
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As a secured card, you won’t get many benefits. The fact that you can earn rewards at all makes this card an outlier in the secured credit card space. However, there are a few benefits you should know about:
- $0 fraud liability
- Free access to your FICO credit score
- Overdraft protection when you link an eligible Bank of America checking account to your credit card
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You can redeem cash rewards for statement credits, deposits to an eligible Bank of America account or credit to an eligible Merrill account. You can also use your rewards to pay for purchases at Amazon.com or to check out with Paypal. As long as your account remains open and in good standing, cash rewards will not expire.
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No credit history is needed to qualify for the Customized Cash Secured.
Why should you get the Bank of America Unlimited Cash Secured?
Like the Customized Cash Secured, the Unlimited Cash Secured offers the opportunity to build or improve your credit score. The Unlimited Cash Secured also shares similar features and benefits. The main difference with this card is that you’ll earn a flat 1.5 percent cash back on all of your purchases.
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Like the Customized Cash Secured card, the Unlimited Cash Secured also offers free access to your FICO credit score, $0 fraud liability and overdraft protection, among other basic card benefits. Although the card is light on benefits, the fact that it offers a simple earnings structure (which is exactly the same as the unsecured version of the card) could make it worth it.
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Cash back can be redeemed for statement credits, deposits to an eligible Bank of America account, credit to an eligible Merrill account or to pay for purchases with Amazon.com or Paypal.
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No credit history is needed to qualify for the Unlimited Cash Secured.
The bottom line
Because both the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card and the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card are from the same issuer, their features and benefits are almost identical. The main difference between these two cards is their respective rewards rates.
If you think you’ll eventually upgrade to either card’s unsecured counterpart, the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card or the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card, take a closer look at each of those cards. If your eventual goal is to get an unsecured card, start with the secured version that matches your spending habits the best. You can even check out our comparison of these two unsecured cards to help you decide.
*Information about the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card and Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card has been collected independently by Bankrate. Card details have not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.
*The Bank of America content in this post was last updated on March 7, 2025.
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