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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
Rewards rate winner
Intro APR winner
Annual fee winner
Foreign transaction fee winner
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.
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.
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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