Libby Sweeney is a credit cards editor. Her previous experience writing and editing content for readers to better understand includes both the world of sports and data protection. She is also an experienced copy editor for three published books and i.
Libby Sweeney Credit Card EditorLibby Sweeney is a credit cards editor. Her previous experience writing and editing content for readers to better understand includes both the world of sports and data protection. She is also an experienced copy editor for three published books and i.
Written By Libby Sweeney Credit Card EditorLibby Sweeney is a credit cards editor. Her previous experience writing and editing content for readers to better understand includes both the world of sports and data protection. She is also an experienced copy editor for three published books and i.
Libby Sweeney Credit Card EditorLibby Sweeney is a credit cards editor. Her previous experience writing and editing content for readers to better understand includes both the world of sports and data protection. She is also an experienced copy editor for three published books and i.
Credit Card Editor Harlan Vaughn Credit Card EditorHarlan Vaughn is a credit cards editor with over a decade of experience. With a deep understanding of the credit card industry, his passion for travel strategies drives his commitment to helping others maximize their credit card rewards. Harlan's exp.
Harlan Vaughn Credit Card EditorHarlan Vaughn is a credit cards editor with over a decade of experience. With a deep understanding of the credit card industry, his passion for travel strategies drives his commitment to helping others maximize their credit card rewards. Harlan's exp.
Harlan Vaughn Credit Card EditorHarlan Vaughn is a credit cards editor with over a decade of experience. With a deep understanding of the credit card industry, his passion for travel strategies drives his commitment to helping others maximize their credit card rewards. Harlan's exp.
Harlan Vaughn Credit Card EditorHarlan Vaughn is a credit cards editor with over a decade of experience. With a deep understanding of the credit card industry, his passion for travel strategies drives his commitment to helping others maximize their credit card rewards. Harlan's exp.
| Credit Card Editor
Updated: Jun 25, 2024, 11:39am
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If you’re interested in checking preapproval for a Bank of America card, you’re out of luck—Bank of America doesn’t offer a preapproval or prequalification function for any of its products. The bank’s website does offer a function that can show you products depending on the type of card you’re looking for, but nothing with a prequalification for consumers.
Maybe you’ve been eyeing a few different Bank of America credit cards for a while and want to get a better idea of which you should apply for.
Many banks have a preapproval process for prospective cardholders. This means the bank has seen some information about you—likely your basic info and credit score—and determined you meet some approval criteria for a certain product.
This can be fairly common: Even if you’re not a customer, banks have the ability to pull prescreened reports of individuals under the law of “permissible purpose” in the Fair Credit Reporting Act to determine if they’d like to initiate potential business. Consumers have the ability to opt out of lenders checking these reports under the FCRA as well. And of course, if you already are a customer at a bank, it has that information to determine what other products you may be a solid candidate for.
Getting preapproval for a credit card is often a good indicator of your chances of receiving an actual approval without having to go through a hard credit check. If a card issuer offers preapproval, it’s worth checking out before you submit your official application.
There are two primary ways to learn if you’re preapproved by an issuer:
If you’re interested in a Bank of America credit card, you can use an online tool on the Bank of America website to check for “customized offers”.
This involves filling out a brief application that asks for basic contact information like your name and Social Security number. You will also be asked to specify the type of credit card you are interested in such as a rewards card, a balance transfer card, a cash-back card, etc., though you have the option to say you’re not sure. If you’re a Bank of America customer, you have the option to log in with your username and password from this page to prepopulate the form.
Once you submit the form, Bank of America will do a soft inquiry of your credit, meaning they’ll take a quick peek at your current credit health. Because it’s not a hard inquiry, it will not show up on your credit report or have a negative impact on your credit score.
After a few moments, your information will be processed, and you’ll receive an offer for a card (or cards) that match your credit level and criteria. After that, you can decide if you want to move forward with an official application. These do not guarantee any likelihood of approval for the cards that appear, so bear that in mind and be sure to do your own research before applying if you’re worried about application denial.
If there’s a particular Bank of America credit card that you know you want and you have the credit score and income to qualify, you can skip past the customized offer page and go straight to the application.
You can apply for a Bank of America credit card by finding the card’s page online and clicking the Apply Now button on that page. You’ll need to supply your personal information, including Social Security number and total annual income.
You can also apply for a Bank of America credit card over the phone by calling 800-932-2775.
After your submit, one of the following things will happen:
If you’re approved, you’ll receive your card within seven to 10 days. If you’re denied, Bank of America has to tell you why, which will give you the opportunity to seek other products better suited for you.
There’s no rule that says you need to start with a preapproval offer to apply for a Bank of America credit card, because that isn’t possible. The only downside is without preapproval, it may be harder to pick which card to apply for. Take advantage of the bank’s “customized offers” tool to get an idea of what to look for.
And if you want to go further, see if you can be preapproved for similar cards from other lenders. Many other lenders do offer credit card preapproval, so you can get a better idea of what you may qualify for.
As long as your credit and income information don’t change after preapproval and before you complete the actual application, you can feel reasonably confident that you’ll be approved without issue.
