Bank of America Transfer Partners: What You Need to Know in June 2026
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BofA Atmos Card Relationship Bonus: June 2026
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With the launch and rebranding of the three new Atmos cards, one of the most interesting benefits is the 10% rewards bonus on all points earned from card purchases. This additional earn rate is nothing to scoff at, since it is a 10% increase on all points earned.
So, 3x on foreign purchases with an eligible Bank of America account is actually 3.3x, which puts the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card as the best card for traveling internationally.
To get this 10% rewards bonus, there’s a little requirement listed: “if you have an eligible Bank of America® account.”
The crux of this article is answering that exact question: what is an eligible Bank of America account that qualifies you for the 10% Rewards Bonus?
Deep in the terms & conditions of the card, there’s this specific guidance:
“An active Qualifying Account is an open consumer (non-business) checking or savings account with Bank of America N.A. or an investment account with Merrill that maintains an average daily balance greater than $0 or a Bank of America checking or savings account that has had a deposit or withdrawal within 90 days.”
| Account type | Qualifies for 10% bonus? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Advantage SafeBalance Banking | Yes | Free monthly fees if you are under 25. |
| Advantage Plus Banking | Yes | Standard checking account. |
| Advantage Relationship Banking | Yes | Higher minimum balance to waive the fee. |
| Bank of America Advantage Savings | Yes | Counts as an active consumer savings account. |
| Merrill Edge investing account | Yes | Easiest path; balance above $0 qualifies. |
| Featured CD / Fixed Term CD / Flexible CD | No | Time deposits are excluded. |
| Bank of America IRA | No | Retirement accounts are excluded. |
| Merrill Lynch IRA | No | Retirement accounts are excluded. |
Here are the following checking/savings accounts that qualify for the 10% bonus:
Merrill Lynch investing accounts also qualify.
Based on the specific guidance here, Certificates of Deposit (CD) and IRAs do not qualify for the 10% bonus:
Even if you open a Qualifying Account, there are some other things to keep in mind:
This means that if you open a new account, it might take 2 months before you see any bonus points come in.
For qualifying cardholders, there’s nothing too important to take away from this.
If you’re under 25 years old, you should open the Advantage SafeBalance Banking account because there are no monthly fees if you’re under age 25. Once you maintain an average daily balance above $0, you are set to qualify for the bonus points.
For those of you 25 and older, there’s a few alternative options:
I have a Merrill Lynch Edge Account, so I’m going to be using that method to access the bonus.
10% might not seem like a lot, but the big that is that it’s a 10% bonus to the points earned with each $1 spent. So, if you earn 3x points on foreign transactions, then that becomes 3.3x points per $1 spent on all foreign transactions.
If you’re like me and value Atmos points at 1.5 cents per point, you’re basically getting a (minimum) flat 4.95% back on all your spend when traveling abroad. For comparison:
Getting 4.95% cash back is… ridiculous. Essentially, that 10% goes pretty far when considering that you earn 3x on foreign purchases in the first place.
The math gets even more interesting on big-ticket international spend such as hotels, tours, and dining abroad, where most flat-rate cash back cards top out around 2%. On a $5,000 international trip qualifying as foreign spend, the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card with the Relationship Bonus produces a total of 16,500 Atmos points (15,000 points from 3x points; 1,650 from bonus 10%), worth about $247 at a 1.5 cents-per-point valuation.The same spend on a 2% cash back card produces $100 flat.
Try using our Atmos Summit Calculator if you're weighing out the card's benefits!
Bank of America has a program called “BofA Rewards” that gives a 10-75% bonus on eligible credit card rewards. For example, here are some cards that qualify for the BofA Rewards bonus (the following list is not exhaustive):
There are four Preferred Rewards tiers, which are based on your 3 month combined average daily balance in your combined Bank of America deposit and Merrill Lunch investing balances:
With the Premier tier, you will earn a 75% rewards bonus. So, that means a Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card earns 1.5% base cashback on all purchases and goes all the way up to a total of 2.625% on all purchases with the Premier bonus (this is an incredible earn rate).
However, Preferred Rewards® benefits do not impact Atmos card earnings. It doesn’t matter what tier you have; there is no bonus on your Atmos mileage rate.
The Atmos 10% Relationship Bonus is a separate enhancement that lives outside the Preferred Rewards tier system. In practice, that simplifies things: you do not need $1 million+ sitting with Bank of America to get the maximum Atmos earn rate. A $10 balance in a Merrill Edge account unlocks the same 10% bonus that a Premier-tier client would receive on this specific card.
If you’re planning on getting the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card, make sure you also open a qualifying Bank of America account. The easiest account is the Merrill Edge investing account, which qualifies as long as you maintain a balance greater than $0, so you’ll minimize your opportunity cost this way.
With the relationship bonus, you get 3.3x points per $1 in foreign spend, which is an incredible benefit to have in your back pocket.
No. The terms specifically reference consumer checking, savings, and Merrill investing accounts. A standalone credit card relationship does not unlock the 10% Relationship Bonus on the Atmos card.
Up to 60 days from the date you open a new qualifying account. After that, purchases made between the fifth business day of one month and the fifth business day of the next earn the bonus on that statement cycle.
No. The terms explicitly limit qualifying accounts to consumer (non-business) checking or savings products, plus Merrill investing accounts.
No. IRAs at both Bank of America and Merrill are excluded. You need a non-retirement Merrill investing account, such as a standard Merrill Edge brokerage, with a balance above $0.
The Relationship Bonus is calculated on points earned from purchases. Welcome offer points awarded for hitting a spend threshold are issued separately and are not multiplied by the bonus.https://www.nextcard.com/articles/bank-of-america-transfer-partners
