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Quick Review
The BankAmericard® for Students is a Visa credit card that comes with the kind of 0% APR offer usually reserved for holders of good or excellent credit. Here’s what you need to know about the best and worst features of the card before deciding to apply:
- 0% APR for 21 months: You get 21 months of no interest on purchases and balance transfers. This can be helpful if you’re a student with major upcoming expenses—like buying books or moving apartments—or if you need to consolidate credit card debt.
- No welcome bonus or rewards: Many student credit cards give you rewards or welcome bonuses to earn you cash back when you use your card. Unfortunately, the BankAmericard® for Students doesn’t offer either.
- Other benefits are limited: Other student credit cards give you benefits like cellphone insurance or coverage against loss, theft, or damage of items you buy with your card. The BankAmericard® for Students gives you only limited benefits. The most interesting one is free FICO credit scores, which are useful to help you monitor your credit-building progress.
This card is a good choice for students who need 21 months without interest to pay off expenses or chip away at a consolidated credit card debt. Otherwise, students who need a card for regular everyday purchases should shop around for alternatives with rewards, welcome bonuses, or other benefits.
BankAmericard® for Students Pros & Cons
BankAmericard® for Students Important Details
- Card type: Personal Visa
- Annual fee: $0
- Purchase APR: 14.99%–24.99% (variable)
- Intro APR: 0% for 21 months on purchases and balance transfers
- Rewards rate: N/A
BankAmericard® for Students Rates & Fees
Fees
- Annual fee: $0
- Direct deposit and check cash advance fee: $10 or 3% of advance amount (whichever is greater)
- Bank cash advance fee: 5% of advance amount or $10 (whichever is greater)
- Balance transfer fee: $10 or 3% of amount transferred (whichever is greater)
- Wire transfer purchase fee: 5% of amount transferred or $10 (whichever is greater)
- Late fee: $40
- Foreign transaction fee: 3%
Interest Rates
- Purchase APR: 14.99%–24.99% (variable)
- Intro purchase APR: 0% for 21 months
- Balance transfer APR: 14.99%–24.99% (variable)
- Intro balance transfer APR: 0% for 21 months
- Cash advance APR: 17.99%–29.99% (variable)
- Penalty APR: None
With most credit cards, if you don’t pay your credit card balance in full each month, you’ll be charged interest. The interest you’ll pay each year depends on your credit card APR (“annual percentage rate”).
The APR you get on the BankAmericard® for Students will depend on your creditworthiness, but the range is relatively low compared to most cards on the market. So even after the 21 months of no interest, this card stands out for its low cost of carrying a balance.
0% Intro APR
If you make purchases on your card during the first 21 months you have it, you won’t pay any interest on them until the 21 months is over (whereupon you’ll switch to the normal APR of 14.99%–24.99% (variable) if you haven’t already paid off your balance in full).
You’ll also get 21 months of no interest on balances transferred in the first 60 days after opening your account.
Grace Period
The BankAmericard® for Students credit card has a grace period of 25 days. A grace period is the window of time between the end of your billing cycle (your credit card closing date) and the payment due date. If you settle your balance during the grace period, you’ll avoid paying interest on purchases made during that time.
On the other hand, if you don’t pay off everything on your card in time—meaning that you carry a balance from previous billing cycles—you’ll earn interest on charges made during the grace period.
BankAmericard® for Students Rewards
A major downside of the BankAmericard® for Students credit card is that it doesn’t have a rewards program or any welcome bonuses.
Most student credit cards offer rewards, so if you’re looking for a way to earn money back while making everyday purchases, check out alternatives to the BankAmericard® for Students.
BankAmericard® for Students Benefits
The BankAmericard® for Students gives you some basic benefits like:
- Free access to your FICO score every month through TransUnion.
- $0 liability for any fraudulent transactions on your card.
- An optional service to help prevent declined purchases, returned checks, or other overdrafts when you link your credit card to a Bank of America® checking account.
- Mobile Banking and text alerts to help you monitor your finances.
This covers the standard fare of credit card benefits, and doesn’t offer anything student-specific like good grade incentives, travel perks, or financial education resources.
BankAmericard® for Students Features
Credit Limit
The Bank of America website doesn’t specify what credit limit range is available on the BankAmericard® for Students, but reports claim you’ll have a minimum credit limit of $500. While BankAmericard® credit limits can go over $10,000, the maximum on the student card is probably much lower.
Cash Advances
The BankAmericard® for Students classifies the different types of cash advances into two main categories, which have different fees. The two categories are:
- Bank cash advances: This category encompasses most types of cash advances, including ATM withdrawals, over-the-counter withdrawals at a bank branch, and cash equivalent cash advances (e.g., loading money onto gift cards and other prepaid cards).
- Direct deposit and check cash advances: This category includes two specific types of cash advances. A direct deposit cash advance is a way to deposit cash from your credit card into your checking account. A check cash advance is a way to pay for something using a check linked to your credit card account (instead of being linked to your bank account, as normal checks are).
Direct deposit and check cash advances have slightly cheaper fees than bank cash advances do. However, all cash advances are expensive for the following reasons:
- Cash advances have fees: All cash advances involve fees, where the fee depends on which type of cash advance. For direct deposit and check cash advances, the fee is either 3% of the amount of each transaction or $10 (whichever is greater). For bank cash advances, the fee is more expensive, at either 5% of the amount of each transaction or $10 (whichever is greater).
- Cash advance APR is high: In this case, the cash advance APR is 17.99%–29.99% (variable) for direct deposits and check cash advances, and 29.99% (variable) for bank cash advances. This is a high rate, so interest charges on your cash advance will add up quickly.
- Cash advances don’t have a grace period: Interest starts to accrue immediately on the money you’ve withdrawn through a cash advance. This means you can’t avoid paying interest like you can with regular purchases on your card.
The Bank of America website also refers to something called your “cash credit line.” 1 The cash credit line determines how much of your credit line you’re allowed to use for bank cash advances—which is less than the full amount of your credit limit.
Balance Transfers
A credit card balance transfer is when you transfer debt from one card to another to consolidate debt onto a card with a lower interest rate. The BankAmericard® for Students is a great balance transfer credit card for students, as you get 21 months of 0% APR on transferred debts.
To benefit, you must transfer any balances within 60 days of opening your account. After the 21-month interest-free period, transferred balances will be subject to the normal APR of 14.99%–24.99% (variable).
You’ll be charged a balance transfer fee of either 3% of the amount you transfer or $10 (whichever one is greater).
Wire Transfers
If you make a wire transfer with a non-financial institution as opposed to a bank (e.g., if you go to Western Union or MoneyGram), there’s still a fee. The fee is either 5% of the amount involved or $10 (whichever is greater).
Foreign Transactions
The BankAmericard® for Students credit card has a foreign transaction fee of 3%.
This is normal among credit cards, but isn’t ideal if you’re planning to study abroad or travel internationally during your studies. Instead, look for a card without foreign transaction fees. For example, the foreign transaction fees on Capital One cards, including their student credit cards, are always 0%.
Credit Reporting & Credit Building
Your credit report consists of information that your lenders pass to the credit bureaus about your account, where other lenders can view it. This is known as credit reporting, and it’s crucial for building credit.
Fortunately, Bank of America reports monthly to all three credit bureaus, so using your card responsibly will help improve your three most important credit scores.
Credit Score Requirements
The BankAmericard® for Students credit card doesn’t specify any credit score requirements on its website. However, student credit cards are usually aimed at young people with limited credit or even no credit history at all, so you’ll probably have a good chance of qualifying even if your credit isn’t well established.
To help you work out which of its credit cards might be most suitable for you, Bank of America offers something called customized offers; this tells you which Bank of America credit cards are recommended for you, specifically.
Note that your credit score usually impacts not only your approval odds but also the credit limit and APR that a card issuer proposes to you.
Application and Approval
If you’re a US citizen and over 18 years of age, you can apply for the BankAmericard® for Students online. You can also call their customer service line at (800) 932-2775 and use the priority code: TC0276
If you’re not a US citizen, and you don’t have an SSN, you can only apply by calling the customer service line (and using the reference priority code TC03LJ) or going to your local bank. You might not get all of the same offers when you apply in person, though.
Customer Service
If you have questions about the BankAmericard® for Students credit card, you can call customer service at: (800) 732-9194
Should You Get the BankAmericard® for Students?
The BankAmericard® for Students is most suitable for young borrowers who will benefit from the lengthy 0% intro APR period—students who need to consolidate debts or to pay for upcoming expenses, for example.
However, it’s not a good card for anyone studying abroad, due to the 3% foreign transaction fee. And even if you’re not going abroad, many students in the US will also be better off with a card that rewards them for their everyday purchases. Most of our top-ranked student credit cards offer rewards, so these are a good place to start.
Comparable Cards
Here’s a look at how the BankAmericard® for Students credit card compares to three other student cards on the market.
