Bank of America Expands Rewards and Payment Tools

Bank of America introduces three new client tools — Refer-a-Friend, Custom Pay Plan, and My Credit — extending BofA Rewards loyalty benefits to tens of millions more customers in June 2026.

Refer-a-Friend pays $100 or 10,000 points per approved referral, capped at $500 or 50,000 points annually, for eligible credit card holders.
Custom Pay Plan converts qualifying credit card purchases of $100 or more into fixed installment plans lasting 3 to 18 months with upfront fee disclosure.
My Credit delivers free FICO Score and full credit report access, with dark web and Social Security Number monitoring for BofA Rewards members.

Lead

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) on June 10, 2026, unveiled three new consumer features — Refer-a-Friend, Custom Pay Plan, and My Credit — built on top of its BofA Rewards loyalty program, which launched May 27, 2026, and opened enrollment to more than 30 million newly eligible clients holding active personal checking accounts.

What Happened

The announcement, made from Charlotte, North Carolina, adds referral incentives, installment-payment flexibility, and credit health tools to the bank's retail product stack.

Refer-a-Friend enables holders of Customized Cash Rewards, Unlimited Cash Rewards, and Travel Rewards credit cards to generate personalized referral links through the Bank of America mobile app or online banking. Each approved referral earns $100 in bonus cash rewards or 10,000 points, with annual caps set at $500 or 50,000 points. The bank plans to extend the program to additional card products throughout the remainder of 2026. Custom Pay Plan converts qualifying credit card purchases of at least $100 into structured installment arrangements typically spanning 3 to 18 months, with a fixed monthly fee disclosed before enrollment. Cardholders retain the rewards earned on the original purchase and keep standard purchase protections, positioning the product as a bank-managed alternative to third-party buy-now, pay-later services. My Credit replaces Bank of America's prior FICO Score offering with a broader suite including free access to a full credit report, personalized insights, and real-time alerts on score changes and suspicious activity. The tool integrates with Erica, the bank's AI-powered assistant. BofA Rewards members receive additional protections: dark web monitoring, Social Security Number surveillance, and full-service identity restoration.

Strategic Context

The latest BofA news centers on a comprehensive overhaul of the bank's relationship-based loyalty architecture. The no-fee BofA Rewards program reorganizes benefits into four tiers — Member, Preferred Plus (minimum $30,000 combined balance), Preferred Honors ($100,000), and Premier ($1 million) — with estimated annual value ranging from $150 to $4,000 depending on tier and engagement.

BofA payments flexibility anchors the new positioning. Custom Pay Plan addresses the installment-credit segment natively within existing credit card accounts, competing with standalone BNPL providers without requiring clients to adopt a separate platform. By preserving purchase rewards and protections within the plan, the bank removes a key friction point that has made third-party BNPL products attractive. Banking loyalty economics shift further toward relationship breadth. Preferred Honors and Premier tier members now receive subscription credits for streaming, entertainment, and news services — up to $96 and $180 per year, respectively. Lifestyle benefits across travel, dining, and wellness have been extended to customers with $100,000 or more in combined balances, down from a previous $1 million threshold, opening the perks tier to a materially larger pool of clients.

The Bank of America rewards infrastructure supports a broader push to deepen digital engagement among the bank's nearly 70 million U.S. clients, 59 million of whom are verified digital users. More than 50 AI-enabled fraud detection models underpin the enhanced security capabilities announced alongside My Credit.

Market Reaction

The new tools are incremental additions to the retail franchise rather than structural changes to revenue or cost guidance. Near-term financial impact is expected to be modest. The strategic payoff lies in higher cross-sell rates, lower attrition, and a wider share of clients' everyday financial activity over time.

Outlook

Bank of America's June 2026 product rollout signals a sustained effort to capture a larger share of everyday financial activity from its existing client base. Extension of Refer-a-Friend to additional card products through the year, combined with the credit-monitoring integration via Erica, indicates the bank is treating payments, rewards, and identity protection as a unified engagement layer. With 30 million previously ineligible clients now enrolled and a multi-tier structure designed to incentivize balance growth, the institutional emphasis is on relationship deepening over new client acquisition.