Update 10/6/26:
- Customized Cash Rewards is at an all time high with $275 cashback (plus $200 after $1k spend and 6% cashback first year on choice category).
- Unlimited Cash Rewards now matches all time high at $225 (plus $250 after $1k spend and 0% APR for 15 months).
- Travel Rewards is at $225 – has been much higher in the past.
- Most notably, they added a fourth available card with a strong bonus – the Premium Rewards card gets $425 from Rakuten, plus 60,000 points from BofA. See our full post on that offer here.
Update 10/5/26: Customized Cash Rewards is at an all time high with $250 cashback (plus $200 after $1k spend and 6% cashback first year on choice category).
Update: Back to $325 on travel rewards
Update 9/28/26:
- Travel Rewards card $400 (plus $250 after $1k spend). Equal all time high
- Customized card up to $200 ($225 is all time high)
- Unlimited card up to $200 ($225 is all time high)
Update 9/8/26: Travel rewards is back to $375.
Update 9/7/26: Travel Rewards increased from $375 to $400:
- Travel Rewards card $400 (plus $250 after $1k spend)
- Customized card up to $225
- Unlimited card up to $225
Update 9/5/26: Increased again, all are new all time highs:
Update 9/1/26: Travel Rewards is up to $350, highest ever. Turns this into a solid $350 + $250 bonus with just $1k spend requirement. UCR is up to $150, highest ever. CCR is still at $150. (ht to reader Nice Me)
Update 8/26/26: They’ve now added Unlimited Cash Rewards with a $75 bonus (ht Lucifer). CCR and TR are still available as well – currently $150/$250.
Update 7/14/26: Customized cash is still at $200 and travel rewards is at $275. Will probably stop providing updates unless we see an all time high or increased base offer on any of them.
Update 7/10/26: Travel rewards back down to $125.
Update 6/30/26: Customized cash is up to $200, travel rewards is still $275. New all time high on the customized cash, travel rewards has been up to $300 before.
Update 6/22/26: Back up to $275/$175. CCR matches the highest ever and TR is close to highest ever.
Update 5/15/26: Back up to $275/$150. Not highest ever, but close. (ht MFK)
Update 5/12/26: Back down to $125/$75.
Update 5/3/26: BofA Travel Rewards is up to $300, highest ever. Customized Cash Rewards is up to $175, highest ever.
Update 5/1/26: Back down to $125/$75.
Update 4/17/26: Travel Rewards is now $250, Customized cash is $150. Highest on both currently, this is in addition to standard sign up bonuses.
Update 4/8/26: Travel rewards is back down to $150 (from $75) and customized cash has increased to $150 (from $75). This is in addition to the standard sign up bonuses.
Update 4/5/26: Travel rewards is now $250 for a combined $500. Will add this to our best credit card bonus page.
Rakuten is offering up to an additional $150 when applying for a Bank of America card through its portal. Rates are as follows:
Users that have elected to receive Membership Rewards points instead of cashback will see $0 and be ineligible to earn anything.
Affiliates can sometimes earn well in excess of $500 for a successful applicant. Normally shopping portals are forbidden from offering incentives on credit cards as other affiliate partners don’t like it. Rakuten must have negotiated this deal specially with Bank of America to get around these clauses. (We don’t use credit card affiliate links on Doctorofcredit ever.)
Rakuten launched something similar with Chase that was at one point offering $300/30,000 additional points. At launch that was a smaller bonus so it’s possible Rakuten will increase these Bank of America offers. It’s important to note that this $150/$75 is in addition to the standard sign up bonuses on these cards which are:
- Customized cash: $200 + increased cashback first year
- Travel Rewards: 25,000 points after $1,000 in spend
We’ve actually try to negotiate similar increased bonuses for our readers with card networks directly before and have always been told it’s not possible due to existing contracts with other partners (we are working on a deal that would effectively pass on any affiliate commission to a charity partner). It’s great to see that Rakuten has been able to pull this off and hopefully they can expand it.
If you don’t already have a Rakuten account you can currently get a $50 referral bonus.
According to DPs from earlier this year, US Bank business accounts were working.
it changes daily
Where do you think Rakuten is getting the “cash back” from?
What banks allow using these cards for credit card funding?
DP: Applied for CCR last night, went under review. Called 888-230-6262 this morning and approved. I applied for TR on 9/28 but was denied. This CCR application didn’t pull Experian once again or any others. No BoA checking, just closed it last week. Only 1.5k CL Will Rakuten reward me $250 or any other amount? (When I clicked the Rakuten link to apply, it was $250)
I am only seeing $75 from Rakuten for Customized Cash. Did it only last 1 day?
True, Rakuten is not applying for the applicant, but there must be an incentive to be giving such a hefty cashback… and they say *they* are giving the cashback not BOA. That can’t be for free. I think it would be helpful to understand if there is any information sharing/collecting and if so, what that information is.
Yes and on recon also denied. But that’s my bad for not having anything in checking account and 3k balance on cc. I paid it off and added 5k to checking and once it clears I’ll call recon tomorrow
Have you seen it yet Niko?
Rakuten is just a click through, you’re not having them apply for you with your information.
In applying through Rakuten, sensitive info is being given to BOA to get approved. Do we know what sorts of info is being shared with Rakuten or being collected by them for these bank offers?
Can I close the ones I have and reapply through rakuten.
How many pulls do you have? I was denied for same reasons Have boa checking account but applied when had 0.00 in it and had 3k out of 15k in BoA cc Just curious about another hard pull etc
Finally pulled the trigger, at 275$ and approved. Maybe it could have gone higher, esp with thanksgiving around the block… but happy with my decision. Thanks doc and will! Applied via rakuten app, up until the point that it wanted me to go to BoFA app after approval. I do not currently see the line item for it in rakuten, will report back when I see it.
Thanks..Was your application also initially denied?
Yes you can. The 888 number in the 450 boa Rakuten thread is what I called
How long after being approved until I can switch back to MR?
How quickly was it for the shopping trip to show as pending for you?
Seriously just approved for the card for P2 on 9/23. Somehow I missed these offers
Heather Yes, one is not like the other 🙂 Spend $1k and get $200 from BoA and $250 from Rakuten.
I just got approved for the BofA customized cash through Rakuten’s $250 offer. Will I also qualify for the $200 welcome bonus as well?
can i call them n check? i think it’s probably i have too much credit from other banks but my personal credit limit is not even much I have maye 8 or so card across multiple banks and few other business ones..Idk what the hell their risk profile is,
Yes, just be patient for a couple days. The $0 means your application trip tracked successfully. It will update to the rewards amount you’re owed in 2-3 days (usually within 24hrs of actual approval – even after recon). Rest assured, that you’ll get the offer that you applied for at the time, not the one that is current.
Down to $250 now
Annoying surely, but could always be an identity verification issue
Did you try for P2 under your Rakuten and it work?
Did it track?
BOFA is the only bank in america which has denied me a CC twice now, 1st was almost 7-8 yrs ago when i didnt have a good credit history but even now what the heck. Never applying for their sh*t again. I have 800+ credit score I have got 1 personal card in 2 years and 1 business. That’s it, I never thought they would pull out this crap now.
Just realized I’m only 2/12 Anyone know if you apply for two cards at once when 2/12 if that can bypass the 3/12 limit? Also I’m being asked to come into a branch to verify identity for the checking, I guess I should probably wait until I do that before I apply…
It’s $275 and Premium rewards is $425