How To Get Preapproved for a Bank of America Credit Card
Bank of America offers several types of credit cards that could help you with your financial goals — including cash back cards, balance transfer cards and travel cards. Before applying for these cards, you may want to see if you’re preapproved.
Getting preapproved for a Bank of America credit card doesn’t guarantee you’ll get approved for a card. However, preapproval gives you a better idea of your approval odds without affecting your credit score, unlike with official credit card applications.
Bank of America’s online preapproval tool is the fastest and easiest way to see if you’re approved. Besides this, you have a few other options for getting preapproved.
Ways to prequalify for a Bank of America credit card
How to get preapproved for a Bank of America credit card
There are several ways to check if you’re preapproved for a Bank of America card, including preapplying online or checking your Bank of America account.
1. Check the Bank of America preapproval tool
Bank of America allows both preexisting customers and non-customers to check for preapproved offers online. You simply enter your information on Bank of America’s Personalized Credit Card Offers form and select the type of card you’re interested in. Then, the page will populate with preapproved offers, if you qualify for any.
2. Receive an offer in the mail or online
If you’re an established Bank of America customer, you may receive unprompted preapproval offers in the mail. These may be for credit cards you’re interested in, or cards Bank of America thinks you’re a good fit for.
To apply, you’ll simply follow the steps that Bank of America outlines for you on your preapproval notice.
3. Visit your local branch
If you’re not sure if you’re preapproved for any Bank of America cards or you don’t know how to check online, visit your local branch. After speaking to a representative, you can find out what you’re preapproved for and get help finding the best fit for you.
Best Bank of America credit cards for preapproval
You can get preapproved for several Bank of America credit cards, including rewards cards, secured cards and travel cards. Check with Bank of America’s online tool to see if you’re preapproved for any of these cards. While there’s no guarantee that you’ll be preapproved for any Bank of America card, the following are a few of the best cards that Bank of America offers:
| Card | Welcome offer | Earning rate | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card | Earn a $200 online cash rewards bonus after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening | Earn 3% cash back in the category of your choice. 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs for the first $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club quarterly purchases. 1% cash back on all other purchases. | $0 |
| Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card | Earn 25,000 online bonus points after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening - that can be a $250 statement credit toward travel purchases | Earn 1.5 points per $1 spent on all purchases. | $0 |
| BankAmericard® credit card | N/A | N/A | $0 |
What's the difference between preapproved and prequalified?
How to boost your approval odds for a Bank of America card
There are a few steps you can take to give yourself the best chance of getting approved for a Bank of America card, like checking your credit health and timing out applications.
Check your credit report
You can check your credit report for free on LendingTree Spring to make sure there are no errors on it that may hold you back from getting approved. There’s no limit to how often you can check your credit report. You should check before you submit a credit card application to get the most up-to-date picture of your credit health.
Space out your credit card applications
If you’ve recently applied for a credit card from any bank, including Bank of America, you may want to let some time pass before applying for a Bank of America credit card. A hard inquiry from a credit card application will typically cause a temporary decrease to your credit score. If you wait until your score bounces back, you may increase your approval odds.
What to do if you don’t get preapproved for a Bank of America credit card
If you don’t get preapproval for a Bank of America credit card, don’t worry. You have other options, like getting preapproved for a card from another bank, or working on improving your credit.
Improve your credit score
Having a low credit score can prevent you from being preappoved, especially for valuable cash back or travel credit cards.
To improve your credit score, you can try becoming an authorized user on a family member’s card, taking out a credit builder loan or applying for a credit card with a cosigner. If your credit score increases, you can check Bank of America’s preapproval form again to see if you qualify for any offers.
Try the preapproval process with a different bank or issuer
If you’re not preapproved with Bank of America, you may have better luck at another issuer. Most major issuers have cards you can get preapproved for. It’s worth checking each of their credit card preapproval forms online, since it won’t affect your credit score.
Consider a secured credit card
Secured credit cards are a great option for building credit if you can’t get approved for an unsecured credit card. Bank of America offers several secured cards, including the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card and the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card. These cards accept applicants with lower credit scores in exchange for a cash deposit. If you maintain a good payment history with the card, you may eventually qualify to have your deposit refunded.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, Bank of America offers preapproval for credit cards. You may check online to see if you’re preapproved for certain offers, or you may receive preapproved offers in the mail.
The credit score you need to qualify for a Bank of America credit card varies by credit card. In general, you’ll have better odds of getting approved if you have a higher credit score. If you’re having trouble getting preapproved for a regular Bank of America credit card, you may be able to get preapproved for a secured credit card with a lower credit score.
You don’t need preapproval to get officially approved for any Bank of America credit card. Preapproval also doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be approved for a Bank of America card. It simply shows that you have a good chance of getting approved.
Getting preapproved — or checking if you are — should not impact your credit score. When you check for preapproval, Bank of America will likely pull a soft credit check which doesn’t hurt your credit score. However, if you do get preapproved and choose to apply for the credit card, the bank will perform a hard credit check, which may temporarily lower your credit score.