BoA Debuts Luxury Credit Card With Airline, Lifestyle Credits

Bank of America is debuting a luxury credit card called the Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite card, CNBC reported.

The card was rolled out Nov. 22. Some of its features include a $550 annual fee and double points on travel and dining and 1.5X points on other eligible purchases, according to the report. There is also a $300 annual airline incidental credit and $150 annual lifestyle credit.

Cardholders can earn 50,000 points, worth $500 or $600, if they spend $3,000 within 90 days of the account opening, the report stated.

That isn’t as good as some other cards’ benefits, though, including Citi’s Citi Premier Card’s $95 annual fee and better welcome bonus, with the promise that new cardholders can earn 80,000 points, worth $800, if they spend $4,000 in the first 90 days, according to the report.

Meanwhile, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card comes with a welcome bonus of 50,000 points, worth $750, if redeemed for travel after cardholders spend $4,000 on the first 90 days after opening an account, the report stated.

There are other issuers making luxury cards this year, too, including Capital One putting out its Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. That card comes with up to $300 statement credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, along with a yearly anniversary bonus of 10,000 bonus miles, according to the report.

Bank of America also made some changes to its Preferred Rewards program, adding a new tier for those with over $1 million in deposit or investment accounts, and another for those with over $10 million, the report stated.

In October, Bank of America rolled out its Account Validation fraud prevention service, which is intended to help clients make electronic credit or debit payments. They can also check the status of their accounts and authenticate the owners.

Read more: Bank of America Debuts Account Validation for Corporate and Public-Sector Clients

David Kretz, head of Global Payments at Bank of America, said the rise of more fraud since the pandemic began has made it so companies need more insight into whether a person is who they say they are.

The difference between Account Validation and other fraud prevention tools is the ability to respond to client inquiries almost in real time. It also helps prevent misdirected payments to the wrong account numbers.