Scenario
Updated September 2, 2026 · Written by Tim · Calculator-driven, not editor-picked · Methodology v2026.09.1
If you keep $100,000+ across Bank of America and Merrill, you have something no card list accounts for: Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors, which adds 75% to the rewards on BofA's own consumer cards. The unglamorous Unlimited Cash Rewards card — 1.5%, ignored by every ranking — quietly becomes 2.625% on every purchase.
This scenario assumes you want cash back, not a points hobby: every card here is valued at what its rewards cash out for, and BofA's own cards get the 75% boost (their co-brand cards, like the Atmos and Alaska cards, don't — the program skips them). Under those two honest assumptions, the ranking inverts.
Who this fits
Key insight
The winner is Bank of America's Unlimited Cash Rewards at ~$926/yr — 1.5% boosted to 2.625% on all $35,000 of this profile's annual spend, no annual fee, no categories, no caps. The best non-BofA flat-cash cards — Citi Double Cash and Wells Fargo Active Cash at 2% — trail by about $220/yr at ~$706 each; that gap is pure Preferred Rewards, and it recurs every year you hold the relationship. BofA's Travel Rewards card computes to the same number (same boosted rate, redeemed against travel purchases instead of as direct cash), so pick by redemption preference. The catch worth naming: 2.625% flat beats the field only when your points are worth cash to you — under typical point valuations, transferable-points cards still out-earn it. This page is for the client who knows they'll never transfer a point.
Ranked by net annual value — rewards minus the full annual fee, counting only credits that arrive automatically — for excellent-credit applicants. Points here are valued at their cash-out floor — no transfer-partner upside, because this reader will never use it. Bank of America's own cards include the 75% Preferred Rewards boost this scenario assumes — co-brand cards don't get it.Run your own numbers in the calculator.
$926/yr
net rewards
The headline act: 1.5% that Platinum Honors turns into 2.625% on everything, paid as plain cash, no annual fee. Nets ~$926/yr on this profile — about ~$926/yr ahead of any non-BofA flat card, forever, as long as the Merrill balances stay. If you later want to optimize, the Customized Cash Rewards boosts to 5.25% on one chosen category (capped at $2,500/quarter) and pairs naturally on top.
$926/yr
net rewards
Mathematically the same ~$926/yr — the identical boosted rate, earned as points that erase travel purchases at a fixed cent each. Zero foreign transaction fee where Unlimited Cash charges one. Pick this twin if there's any travel on your card; pick Unlimited Cash if you want the money as money.
$706/yr
net rewards
The best flat cash rate you can get WITHOUT a banking relationship: 2% everywhere, no fee. Nets ~$706/yr here. If your Merrill balances ever leave, this is the card the BofA pair degrades into — worth knowing, not worth switching for while the boost holds.
$706/yr
net rewards
Identical math to Double Cash — 2% flat, ~$706/yr. The pair being tied is the point: unboosted flat cash is a commodity, and Platinum Honors is the only thing on this page that beats the commodity rate.
$586/yr
net rewards
4x on gas and travel bonuses at no fee nets ~$586/yr for this profile — category cards can't keep up when 61% of the spending is "everything else" and the flat rate on it is 2.625%.
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This ranking is fixed against the spending profile above. Drop your own monthly numbers into the calculator and we'll re-rank against your actual spend — same algorithm, different inputs.
Run my own numbersCard data verified against issuer terms. Rates and fees may change — verify on the issuer's site before applying. Rewards values use the point valuations published on our methodology page.
