Bank of America Platinum Plus Mastercard Business Review

Full Review of Bank of America Platinum Plus Mastercard Business

Pros Explained

• Attractive APR Terms: This card's interest-rate advantages begin with its introductory offer of a 0% introductory APR on purchases for the first seven billing cycles. While balance transfers are not eligible, the offer is helpful in providing more than half a year in which you can carry business expenses on the card without incurring interest charges. After that 0% APR period expires, and a regular APR takes effect, your interest rate may increase by less with the Bank of America Platinum Plus Mastercard Business card than with most other cards. That’s especially true for businesses with excellent credit, for which this card makes the most sense. The card’s lowest regular APR of 14.99% variable, typically granted to those with the best credit, is significantly lower than the typical minimums for business credit cards. For example, the variable APR for the Chase Ink Business Preferred begins at 15.99% and the Spark 1% Classic from Capital One has a 26.99% variable APR for all cardholders.
• $300 Bonus: New cardmembers are eligible to earn a $300 introductory statement credit if they spend $3,000 in net purchases within 90 days of account opening. It’s true that $300 is not the biggest bonus for a no-annual-fee business card. The Chase Ink Business Cash, for example, offers $1,000, but for a higher spending threshold. Nonetheless, it’s still an easily earned windfall if you normally spend at least $1,000 per month for your business. 

Cons Explained

• No Rewards: Since this is not a business-rewards credit card, you won't earn points, miles, or cash back when you make purchases with the card. That applies even if you do your business banking with Bank of America, and qualify for the Preferred Rewards for Business rewards bonuses available with some of the bank's credit cards. The absence of rewards could be a major disadvantage when you compare this card against others.

Who This Card Is Best For

The Bank of America Platinum Plus Mastercard Business card is best suited to businesses with excellent credit who anticipate needing to carry a balance on a credit card, and so have the priority to keep the cost of doing so as low as possible. The card's seven-billing cycle 0% APR offer assists in that goal, but more important are its ongoing low APR rates, which could reduce interest costs on a sizable balance by hundreds, even thousands, of dollars a year for those with favorable credit scores.

The Bank of America Platinum Plus Mastercard Business card also has appeal for businesses that have a small or nonexistent accounting staff and could benefit from some assistance to stay on top of their books. As with cards from competitors including Wells Fargo, this card allows access to a suite of online accounting services. Those include tools that facilitate automatic payments and transfers, and that download transactions into QuickBooks. 

Bank of America Platinum Plus Mastercard Business Card Bonus

Since Bank of America Platinum Plus Mastercard Business has no rewards program, it isn't among the cards that use tens of thousands of bonus points as an inducement to apply. Instead, like some of its key competitors, it provides an introductory cash bonus. You earn a statement credit of $300 if you spend at least $3,000 with the card over the first 90 days after you open an account. 

Bank of America Premium Rewards Credit Card's Outstanding Benefits

• Cash flow management tools: The card allows access to a suite of online accounting services, including tools that facilitate automatic payments and transfers, and that download transactions into QuickBooks. 

Standard Benefits

• Unlimited employee cards at no additional cost
• Travel and emergency services
• $0 fraud liability protection
• Fraud monitoring
• Online and mobile account access
• Paperless statement option

Cardholder Experience

Bank of America ranked fifth out of eight and scored below average in the J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Small Business Credit Card Satisfaction Study.

The bank offers 24/7 customer service, which is common among major financial institutions. There’s also a live chat option on the website, and it’s available even if you’re not a customer of the company who is logged into your account—a level of accessibility that isn’t offered by the customer service portals of all card issuers. 

Security Features

This card comes with the security features that are typical of other business credit cards. Those features include:

• Chip protection
• $0 fraud liability protection
• Fraud monitoring
• Overdraft protection
• Paperless statements

You can also set up security alerts and notifications when you log in to your online account. That can make it easier to monitor account activity, such as purchases or wire transfer requests, to help you detect and avoid fraud. 

Fees to Watch Out For

These fees are fairly standard, with the exception of the regular APR, which is less than is charged by many business credit cards, especially at the lower end—as in the interest rate charged to customers with the best credit records and scores.  

Final Verdict

The Bank of America Platinum Plus Mastercard Business card is a true basic credit card, in the sense that it’s deliberately designed to forgo frills—most notably, any rewards—in service of delivering unusually low APRs. 

Those interest rates are especially appealing at the low end of the range, for businesses that have the best credit records. Those rates begin at just 14.99%, which is five or more percentage points less than a number of this card's key competitors charge.

That emphasis reflects an apparent desire by Bank of America to attract the target businesses for this card: enterprises with excellent credit who seek a business credit card they can use as needed to address short-term cash-flow needs without racking up the customary high interest charges.

If that isn't a priority for your business, you're better off looking to other cards that offer rewards and a more rounded lineup of benefits. Of course, you're not confined to choosing a single card for use by your business. You could, for example, choose to acquire both the Bank of America Platinum Plus Mastercard Business card along with another card or two with strengths that fill in the weak spots of this one. 

Such a combination would allow you to charge the Bank of America Platinum Plus Mastercard Business card expenses you anticipate carrying for a month or more, especially during your initial seven billing cycles with the card, when a 0% APR applies to new purchases. And then using another card for expenses you plan to pay off promptly, and so earn rewards on those purchases. 

Within Bank of America's card lineup, the choice of an additional card might include the Bank of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard credit card which offers 3% and 2% cash back on the first $50,000 in combined choice-category and dining purchases each calendar year, and then 1% cash back thereafter. If you're a high roller, with a five or six-figure balance in a Bank of America or Merrill account, this card offers the added benefit of being able to get a rewards bonus as a Bank of America Preferred Rewards for Business member.