Bank of America doesn’t have the most high profile of rewards cards, but they do several interesting ones such as Virgin Atlantic (big bonuses, those miles are ubiquitious through transferable points partnerships, and good deals on ANA and Delta redemptions); Alaska (a good frequent flyer program and no bank transfer partners); Asiana (great award chart and the card offers a credit towards surcharges).

In recent times they’ve become a tougher approval.

• A couple of years ago they added what became known as the ‘2/3/4 rule’: they’d give you at most 2 cards every 2 months, 3 every 12 months, and 4 every 24 months. This wasn’t about how many new cards you signed up for total across all issuers, this was about how many Bank of America cards you could get.

• Then in the spring they added a 24 month rule to many cards, that they wouldn’t approve you for a card if you had one of the same cards open or had had that card within 24 months.

Now, per Doctor of Credit, it appears they have added a new rule that looks at the total number of cards you’ve been approved for across all issuers.

Depending on whether you have a banking relationship with BofA or not will determine whether that rule is more or less harsh than Chase’s 5/24.

• If you have a bank account with Bank of America, they may approve you as long as you’ve had fewer than 7 cards in the last 12 months.
  
• If you do not have a bank account with Bank of America, they may approve you as long as you’ve had fewer than 3 cards in the last 12 months.

Copyright: wolterk / 123RF Stock Photo

There are some reports that customers with big financial relationships with Bank of America, such as at least $250,000 in assets on deposit, may be exist from this rule.