Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card Review: High Rewards, Tough Approval

The Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card is a solid secured card for many reasons, including that it earns rewards at a really high rate with no annual fee.

You’ll have to deposit at least $200 to open the card. But Bank of America offers periodic account reviews to potentially upgrade you to an unsecured card and refund your deposit. With on-time monthly payments, you can use this card to help build or rebuild credit and earn great rewards in the process.

But it has a few drawbacks, starting with the fact that there’s no specified timeline for an upgrade. According to cardholder reports, you could wait two years or longer to get your deposit back. Some also report the card being harder to qualify for than the typical secured card. And you’ll face stiff penalties for late payments. For a more beginner-friendly card, consider the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card — it offers reviews for an upgrade starting at seven months.

Annual fee: $0

Monthly maintenance fee: $0

Sign-up bonus: N/A

Rewards: Earn 2% cash back on purchases for the first year from account opening. Thereafter, you'll earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases.

Security deposit: $200 to $5,000

APR: 28.24% Variable

Late fee: Up to $40

Penalty APR: Up to 29.99%

Foreign transaction fee: 3%

Other benefits:

• Periodic reviews to upgrade your card
• Free FICO score access
• Overdraft protection
• Account alerts

• You don't have to worry about hidden fees

  While some credit cards for poor or limited credit charge hidden fees that can add up and catch you off guard, you don’t have to worry with the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card. There’s a $0 annual fee, no application fees and no maintenance fees.

  This means you can keep your account open indefinitely without having to worry about expensive ongoing fees. This can improve the length of your credit history, which is a major factor in your credit score.

  	Annual fee	Maintenance fees	Total yearly fees
  Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card	$0	$0	$0
  Surge® Platinum Mastercard®	$75 - $125	$12.50 ($150/year), waived the first year	$275 to $475
  Indigo® Mastercard® for Less than Perfect Credit	$175 - $199	N/A	$175 to $199

• Very rewarding for a secured credit card

  While quite a few secured credit cards offer cash back rewards for spending, the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card does so with an exceptional rate. New cardholders earn 2% cash back on purchases for the first year from account opening. Thereafter, you'll earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases.

  This rate is on-par with some of the best rewards credit cards.

  LendingTree data: How many secured cards offer rewards?

  According to the 2024 Secured Credit Card Report from LendingTree, less than half of secured credit cards offer rewards for spending. Among those that do, only a portion of cash back cards (8 out 15) extend the same rewards on every purchase.

  Secured cards breakdown: Rewards
  Secured cards that offer rewards	19 of 47
  Secured cards with rewards that offer cash back	15 of 19
  Secured cards with cash back rewards that feature a single earnings rate	8 of 15

• Helps you build credit

  Aside from the rewards rate, the second biggest benefit of the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card is helping build credit. Users can charge small purchases to the card up to their credit limit, make on-time payments on the card and build valuable credit history over time.

  The card also offers a free FICO score that’s updated monthly, so cardholders can track their progress as they work toward better credit.

  → Learn more: What is a Secured Credit Card and How Does it Work?

• Chance to upgrade to an unsecured card

  Bank of America also says it periodically reviews accounts for this card and gives consumers the chance to get their deposit back. If that happens, you’ll be upgraded to the Bank of America^® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card, and you may even get a credit limit increase.

  However, Bank of America doesn’t offer a specific timeline for when your card might be upgraded.

• Requires at least a $200 deposit

  If you want to build credit with the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card, you’ll have to put down a minimum security deposit of $200. This deposit determines your credit limit, so you should put down an amount that’s equal to the line of credit you want.

  While depositing money isn’t ideal, a $200 minimum is standard for the industry. Also — unlike an annual fee — this deposit is fully refundable when you close or upgrade your account in good standing.

  Tip: Want a higher credit limit? Save up the largest security deposit amount you can. Bank of America allows you to deposit as much as $5,000 on this card.

• May be harder to get than most secured cards

  While the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card has some good qualities, many cardholders complain online that it’s difficult to get approved for — especially for those without an existing relationship with Bank of America.

  For example, multiple users (including this one) on the myFICO forum said they couldn’t get the card even after pledging a sizable minimum security deposit.

  Cardholders also report difficulty upgrading to an unsecured card, even after years of making on-time payments. A user on this Reddit thread claims Bank of America still hadn’t upgraded them after six years.

  If you want a secured credit card that’s more accessible, you may want to look into the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card — there’s no credit score required to apply.

  LendingTree data: Are Bank of America cards harder to get?

  Recent data from LendingTree suggests that Bank of America may be a less beginner-friendly issuer. For cardholders with scores below 600, Bank of America has a lower percentage of new accounts than most other issuers. Meanwhile, companies like Capital One, USAA and NFCU issue a very high percentage of new accounts for consumers in lower credit bands.

  Percentage of new credit cards from issuer by cardholder credit score

  Card Issuer	560 to 599	520 to 559	Under 520
  BANK OF AMERICA	3.5%	1.7%	0.8%
  JPMORGAN CHASE	5.0%	2.1%	1.0%
  U.S. BANK	9.7%	5.3%	3.4%
  CAPITAL ONE	22.3%	16.6%	9.5%
  WELLS FARGO	1.8%	0.8%	0.4%
  AMERICAN EXPRESS	5.1%	2.6%	1.7%
  BARCLAYS	6.7%	2.4%	0.9%
  CITI	4.6%	1.4%	0.7%
  NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION	18.1%	14.3%	10.4%
  DISCOVER	7.7%	5.4%	2.5%
  USAA	16.9%	8.5%	4.3%
  All Issuers	11.0%	7.4%	4.2%

• Higher-than-average APR for a secured card

  While interest rates on secured credit cards tend to be on the high side, LendingTree’s average APR report shows that the variable interest rate on the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card exceeds the average for secured credit cards. This means you’ll pay more interest than you probably need to when you carry a balance on this card.

• Penalties for paying late

  If you make a late payment on your Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card, you’ll have to pay a fee of up to $40. You could also be hit with a penalty APR of up to 29.99% if your payment is extremely late.

• No specific timeline for a card upgrade

  While the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card does advertise account reviews for an upgrade to an unsecured card, the timeline isn’t specified. Some issuers offer guaranteed account reviews starting between six and 12 months. For example, the Discover it^® Secured Credit Card — which has a reputation for upgrading cardholders quickly — starts automatic account reviews at seven months, and the Chase Freedom Rise® Credit Card lists a timeline starting at 12 months.

  Warning: According to Reddit reports, users have waited from eight months to two years to be upgraded from the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card to an unsecured credit card. One user on Reddit even claims to have had the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card for 10+ years without being upgraded, even with a current credit score in the mid-700s.

Hoping to boost your approval odds for the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card? Consider these tips:

• Develop a relationship with Bank of America before you apply. You can do this by opening a checking or savings account and making a deposit.
• Ask for help in a branch. See if a banking representative can help you apply in person.
• List all your income sources on your application. If you are over 21, you can include your partner’s or spouse’s income on your application. If you are under 21, you can report regular deposits into your account from other people, like your parents.

→ See How to Apply for a Credit Card in 7 Steps

Bank of America offers several secured cards with the same minimum deposit and $0 annual fee. Rewards are the main differentiator, so make sure to pick the rewards that best meet your needs.

Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Quicksilver Secured Cash Rewards Credit Card is a similar cash back card from Capital One — a more beginner-friendly issuer based on our internal data. Users get to earn a flat rewards rate of 1.5% cash back on all purchases for a $0 annual fee.

Capital One goes the extra mile to let you gauge your approval odds and see if you’re pre-approved without a hard inquiry on your credit reports. You’ll also get automatic reviews for a credit line increase in as little as six months.

Discover it^® Secured Credit Card

The Discover it^® Secured Credit Card may also be easier to get since it doesn’t require a credit score to apply, and you can see if you’re preapproved without a hard inquiry.

There’s a $0 annual fee, and users get to earn 2% cash back at Gas Stations and Restaurants on up to $1,000 in combined purchases each quarter. 1% unlimited cash back on all other purchases - automatically. Best of all, it offers a clear path to upgrade. Starting at seven months, Discover will automatically review your account each month, and may refund your deposit with on-time payments and a good status on all your credit accounts.

U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Secured Card

If you want an all-around great rewards credit card that you’ll want to keep using long after the upgrade, the U.S. Bank Altitude Go Visa Secured Card is one of the best secured options you can find. It offers one of the highest rewards rates around on restaurant purchases. You’ll earn 4X points on dining, takeout and restaurant delivery on your first $2,000 each quarter, 2X points at grocery stores (excluding discount stores/supercenters and wholesale clubs), streaming services and gas stations/EV charging stations, 1X on all other eligible purchases. Points can be redeemed in a variety of ways, including for travel and cash back at a value of 1 cent per point. It also offers a $15 streaming service credit after 11 months of streaming services are purchased.

However, a minimum security deposit of $300 applies. This is higher than the deposit required for the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured Credit Card and several other options.

We take a comprehensive, data-driven approach to identify the best credit building cards. We use an objective rating and ranking system that evaluates over 200 credit cards from more than 50 issuers. All recommendations are made by LendingTree’s editorial team, completely independent of affiliate partnerships or compensation. Every card is selected based on its merit and ability to help people achieve their financial goals. We use the following criteria to make our picks:

• Annual savings (50% of rating): We calculate how much the average cardholder can save with the card on a yearly basis. If it’s a rewards card, we use U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and $300 in monthly spending (the typical starting credit limit for an introductory card) to calculate how much the average cardholder can earn in rewards. We then subtract fees — including annual fees and maintenance fees — from this amount.
• Credit-building features (50% of rating): We give points for features that help build credit, including reports to all three credit bureaus, regular account reviews for card upgrades and free credit score access. We take away points for features that can be costly to cardholders trying to build credit, such as security deposits, penalty APRs and late payment fees.