It's nice to be in a strong relationship — not just in your personal life, but in your financial life, too.
Some banks and credit unions offer extra benefits on their credit cards to customers who have a broader banking or investment relationship with the institution. In some cases, you could earn hundreds of dollars in additional rewards each year.
Here’s how it works: Most credit card issuers also offer deposit accounts, and they may have investment accounts, too. Some of these institutions grant additional rewards or fee waivers on their credit cards to customers who also hold investment or deposit accounts.
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In most cases, you must maintain a specified average monthly balance to qualify for the increased rewards. Or, with some issuers, certain credit cards are available only to applicants who hold a qualifying account with the card issuer or a partner.
The decision of where to hold your cash and investments depends on many other factors besides the potential to boost your rewards on a credit card.
But if one of these programs is available to you because of your existing status with a card issuer or one of its partners, it’s worth exploring whether you could be reaping the benefits.
Below, we’ve outlined the relationship programs from some well-known issuers.
Bank of America Preferred Rewards
One of the most long-standing and generous relationship bonuses is for Bank of America customers who are part of the bank’s Preferred Rewards program.
The program has four tiers, based on your combined average daily balance over three months in both Bank of America deposit accounts and Merrill investment accounts:
- Gold ($20,000 to less than $50,000)
- Platinum ($50,000 to less than $100,000)
- Platinum Honors ($100,000 to less than $1 million)
- Diamond Honors ($1 million or more)
Members of each tier receive increased rewards for their spending on eligible Bank of America credit cards. Those in the Gold tier get a 25% bonus on their spending rewards, those in the Platinum tier get a 50% bonus, and customers in the Platinum Honors and Diamond Honors tiers get a 75% bonus.
Most Bank of America personal and small-business credit cards are eligible, except for those that are co-branded with partners, such as the Alaska Airlines card. (Preferred Rewards customers enjoy other benefits, too, including waived or reduced fees on deposit accounts and lower interest rates on loans.
Thanks to the Preferred Rewards program, we deemed Bank of America a top choice for high-net-worth clients.)
Especially for those who qualify for the 75% bonus, the rewards can be exceptional. For example, the no-fee Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards card offers a standard 1.5% cash back on all purchases, which isn’t noteworthy.
But with the 75% bonus, you’ll earn 2.62% cash back, with no limits — a better rate on unlimited spending than you can get with other cards available from major issuers.
Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards, which also has no annual fee, offers a standard 3% cash back on a category of your choice (you select among categories such as gas, dining and travel) and 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs; the 3% and 2% rewards apply to the first $2,500 in combined spending in those categories each quarter.
You get an unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. With the 75% bonus, the cash-back rates rise to 5.25%, 3.5% and 1.75%, respectively.
Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite cardholders who qualify for the 75% bonus earn 3.5 points per dollar on travel and dining purchases and 2.62 points per dollar spent on all other purchases, compared with standard rates of 2 points and 1.5 points per dollar, respectively.
The points can be worth as much as 1.25 cents each toward airfare booked through Bank of America.
The card’s annual fee is $550, but it comes with a number of perks, including a credit of up to $300 annually for airline incidental fees (such as for baggage and seat upgrades), up to $150 annually for lifestyle conveniences (such as video-streaming services, food delivery, fitness subscriptions and ride-share services), and up to $120 to reimburse the application fee for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.
U.S. Bank Smartly Card
With U.S. Bank’s Smartly card, all cardholders earn an unlimited 2% cash back. Those who have a U.S. Bank Smartly Savings account plus qualifying balances in a U.S. Bank Smartly Checking or Safe Debit account, however, earn extra cash back on up to $10,000 in purchases each billing cycle. (After your spending surpasses that threshold, you earn the standard 2% rate.)
You get a total 2.5% cash back if your qualifying balance is between $10,000 and $49,999, 3% if your qualifying balance is between $50,000 and $99,999, and 4% if your qualifying balance is $100,000 or more.
If you hold at least $100,000 in eligible balances and spend $10,000 per month on the Smartly credit card, you could earn $4,800 in cash back each year.
The interest rate on the Smartly Checking account tops out at a negligible 0.005%. The Smartly Savings account offers a standard rate of 0.05%, but if you also have a Smartly Checking account, a Safe Debit account or the Smartly credit card, your savings can earn a more enticing yield.
By maintaining a combined balance of at least $100,000 in qualifying U.S. Bank deposit and investment accounts, for example, you could recently get a 3.5% yield with Smartly Savings.
PenFed Honors Advantage
PenFed Credit Union offers two credit cards with benefits for members of its Honors Advantage program. To be eligible for the program, you must maintain a qualifying Access America or Free Checking account or be an active duty, reserve, honorably discharged or retired member of the military.
Honors Advantage members who have the no-fee PenFed Power Cash Rewards card receive 2% cash back on all purchases, with no limits, instead of the standard 1.5%. And for those who have the PenFed Pathfinder Rewards card, PenFed waives the $95 annual fee.
This card offers 4 points per dollar on travel purchases and 1.5 points per dollar spent on all other purchases. Points are worth about 0.85 cent apiece if you exchange them for gift cards; if you use points to make hotel reservations, they’re worth a more attractive 1.25 cents each.
Other Pathfinder perks include auto-rental insurance coverage, trip-delay reimbursement, a credit of up to $120 to reimburse the application fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, complimentary access to airport lounges in the Priority Pass Select network and a credit of up to $100 annually for ancillary fees with 10 domestic airlines.
Citigold and Citigold Private Client
Citibank recently introduced the Citi Strata Elite card ($595 annual fee), and those who are members of the bank’s premium relationship program get extra benefits. If you qualify for Citigold, which requires a minimum combined average monthly balance of $200,000 in eligible linked deposit, retirement and investment accounts, you get a $145 annual credit on the card.
And Citigold Private Client customers, who must maintain $1 million or more in qualifying account balances, get a $595 credit the first year they have the card and $145 yearly thereafter. The bank offers the same annual credits to Citigold and Citigold Private Client customers who have the Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard, which has a $595 annual fee. (We recently named Citi one of the top banks for high-net-worth clients.)
Among Strata Elite’s perks are free airport-lounge access through a Priority Pass Select membership, four yearly passes to American Airlines Admirals Club lounges, $300 off a hotel stay of two nights or more booked through Citi Travel, and up to $120 in reimbursement for a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee.
The AAdvantage Executive World Elite card offers free access to Admirals Club lounges, a free checked bag on domestic American Airlines flights, and a credit of up to $120 for a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee.
Benefits Through Brokers
The Platinum Card from American Express exclusively for Charles Schwab. If you have an eligible investment account with Charles Schwab (including an IRA or a Schwab One brokerage account), you can get this version of the American Express Platinum card, which has a $695 annual fee. Besides the standard benefits that Amex Platinum offers (more on those below), the Schwab card comes with an annual bonus, depending on the amount of your Schwab holdings.
You’ll receive a $100 card statement credit if your qualifying Schwab holdings are $250,000 to less than $1 million, a $200 statement credit if your holdings are from $1 million up to $10 million, or a $1,000 credit if you have $10 million or more in your Schwab accounts.
Among the plentiful benefits for all holders of American Express Platinum are a $200 annual airline-fee credit, a $200 annual hotel credit, a $199 credit toward a CLEAR Plus membership (which provides expedited security screening at the airport), reimbursement for a Walmart+ membership (which provides free shipping from Walmart and other perks), $200 yearly in Uber Cash (for Uber rides and Uber Eats deliveries), and access to Priority Pass and American Express Centurion airport lounges, among other lounge networks.
Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred American Express Card. Customers who have a brokerage account with Morgan Stanley or E*Trade can sign up for this card, which is a version of the standard Amex Blue Cash Preferred card. Brokerage customers get a $100 statement credit after they spend $15,000 a year on the card, which has a $95 annual fee (waived the first year).
Blue Cash Preferred provides an outstanding 6% cash back on select streaming subscriptions as well as on up to $6,000 spent yearly at the supermarket. It also offers 3% back for spending at gas stations and on transit (such as taxis, tolls and train fares) and 1% on other spending.
Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.
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