Rakuten is offering an extra cash-back bonus on select Bank of America credit card applications through its shopping portal, giving U.S. consumers another way to stack rewards when applying online now, with the biggest upside for shoppers who want no-annual-fee cards and may also qualify for Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards program.
How the bonus works
Rakuten’s current portal rates show a $250 cash-back bonus for the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card and a $150 bonus for the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards credit card, according to the shopping portal. Those amounts sit on top of each card’s existing sign-up offer, which can raise the first-year value for applicants who would have applied anyway.
The rates can change without notice, which is standard for shopping portals. Rakuten says portal payouts fluctuate, and tracking is not guaranteed on every transaction, even though the company has built a reputation for relatively reliable credit on qualifying purchases.
For consumers, the key step is simple: start at Rakuten before applying so the portal can register the referral. If the offer is live, the application should route through Rakuten to Bank of America’s card page, where the issuer handles underwriting and approval.
Why these cards draw attention
The two cards in the promotion are not annual-fee products, which has long made them popular among people who want straightforward rewards without a recurring cost. Bank of America markets Travel Rewards as a flexible, no-annual-fee card for everyday spending and travel redemptions, while Customized Cash Rewards gives cardholders a rotating or chosen category structure that can fit specific spending patterns, according to the bank.
Customized Cash Rewards also stands out because Bank of America lets cardholders select an “Online Shopping” category, a feature that can be valuable for frequent e-commerce buyers. The portal post says that category can earn 6% cash back during the first year, up to $2,500 in purchases per quarter, which adds another layer of value for applicants who plan to use the card heavily early on.
That first-year window matters because welcome offers are temporary by design. Card issuers use them to attract new accounts, and shopping portals use them to steer traffic to partner banks and retailers. When both layers line up, the effective rebate can rise quickly, especially on cards with no annual fee.
The Preferred Rewards factor
The strongest long-term case for these cards often comes from Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards program. According to Bank of America, eligible members can receive a 25% to 75% rewards bonus on qualifying Bank of America credit cards, depending on their tier.
That bonus can materially change the math for ongoing spending. A card that looks modest on its own can become far more competitive when a customer also holds banking and investment balances with Merrill or Bank of America, since the rewards boost applies after the member reaches an eligible tier.
The catch is that qualifying for those tiers is not automatic. Bank of America ties Preferred Rewards to relationship balances, and users need to check the bank’s current rules because eligibility thresholds and timing can affect when a bonus starts. Existing members should also confirm whether any transition period applies before assuming the higher rates are active.
What the numbers suggest
The portal post says the current Rakuten bonus, combined with the existing card sign-up offers, can push first-year value for both cards into the roughly $500 range. That estimate depends on whether the portal tracks correctly, whether the applicant qualifies for the card, and whether the issuer’s own offer remains available when the application is submitted.
For a consumer who was already considering one of these cards, that is a meaningful spread. A portal bonus of $150 or $250 does not change the card’s core features, but it can improve the initial return and shorten the payback period for everyday spending.
Some shoppers also use the Online Shopping category strategically for merchant gift cards, including Costco gift cards, as noted in the portal post. That kind of tactic can be attractive to budget-conscious households, though the real benefit depends on the purchase channel, the card’s category rules, and whether the transaction qualifies under the issuer’s terms.
What readers and the industry should watch next
The immediate takeaway is timing. Portal bonuses are temporary, issuers can refresh welcome offers at any time, and Rakuten’s payout rates often move with little warning, so consumers who are interested will want to compare the current portal rate against Bank of America’s direct application page before applying.
For readers, the practical question is whether the extra Rakuten bonus outweighs the hassle of adding one more step to the application process. For the industry, the broader signal is that shopping portals remain an important acquisition channel for banks, especially when they can layer their own offers with a third-party cash-back incentive.
What to watch next is whether Rakuten keeps these bonuses live on the Bank of America cards and whether Bank of America adjusts its own welcome offers or Preferred Rewards terms, since both changes could alter the total value for new applicants very quickly.
