Bank of America’s One-Day Promotion Turns Holiday Spend Into Rewards Opportunities

Bank of America is rolling out a limited-time offer to incentivize its customers to use the company’s credit cards more during the holiday shopping season. 

The promotion, which the bank calls More Rewards Day, runs for 24 hours on Nov. 6 and offers eligible Bank of America rewards credit cards customers additional bonuses on top of the rewards they can already earn with their cards, according to a press release from the company. 

The promotion gives credit card issuers a blueprint for how they can engage with cardholders and motivate them to make an issuer’s credit card their payment instrument of choice while shopping for the holidays. 

Despite concerns regarding the state of the economy, consumers continue to turn to their credit cards to complete transactions. 

A recent report reveals that Bank of America added 1 million credit cards to its portfolio during the third quarter. And spending on the bank’s credit and debit cards rose during the quarter, on a year-over-year basis.

JPMorgan Chase also reported growth in credit card activity during the third quarter. Bank of America only trails JPMorgan Chase when it comes to ranking the largest banks in the U.S. by assets, according to Federal Reserve data. 

But distinctive programs such as Bank of America’s upcoming one-day promotion may help the bank close the gap on Chase.

Credit card issuers offer many different flavors of credit card rewards programs. Some focus on cash back perks, while others provide cardholders the opportunity to earn points they can redeem for travel rewards.

Lora Monfared, Head of Consumer Card Products at Bank of America, said in the release announcing More Rewards Day that the promotion awards cardholders with bonus cash back, miles, or points.

Issuers can learn a lot from how Bank of America is structuring the promotion. First, it’s allowing all customers who carry its consumer or business credit cards to participate as long as their cards are open and have active charging privileges. 

By opening the promotion to many cardholders, the bank is shielding itself from potential criticism from a customer who thought they were eligible to take part in the deal but may have overlooked certain details.

Bank of America is also keeping the expenses of the promotion in check by limiting it to a single day. 

Previous More Rewards Day promotions have connected Bank of America cardholders with total bonuses of $74 million.

This year marks the fourth consecutive year that Bank of America will run its More Rewards Day offer. The previous three More Rewards Day events allowed cardholders to earn $74 million, the company said in its press release.

By associating the offering with the holiday season, the bank also stands to build goodwill with its cardholders as well as prospects who catch wind of the promotion.

“We’re excited to uphold this annual holiday tradition and share this special offer with our clients,” Monfared said in the release.