Do you have to bank with Bank of America to use its merchant services?
Summary
Yes. Bank of America requires a Bank of America business checking account to apply, and your card sales must settle into it. In exchange, qualified account holders can get same-day funding at no charge, and Preferred Rewards for Business members get up to 0.10 percentage point off the Simplified Pricing rate, which starts at 2.65% + 10¢ in person.
Three rules in one disclosure
The fine print on the merchant services page says three things in a row: you need a Bank of America business checking account to apply, you must be enrolled in Business Advantage 360 (the bank's online business banking platform) to have a merchant account, and processing funds must be settled into a Bank of America business checking account.
The same account pays for the point-of-sale software. The monthly plan fee plus sales tax comes out at the end of each billing cycle, and if you cancel mid-month there is no pro-rated fee; you pay the full month. The service itself comes from the bank: the disclosure says merchant services products are provided by Bank of America, N.A. and affiliated banks.
The published rates
Simplified Pricing has one rate per way of taking the card:
- In person (swipe, dip, tap): 2.65% + 10¢
- Online ecommerce: 2.99% + 30¢
- Keyed in by hand: 3.50% + 15¢
The bank also says it offers custom pricing, without publishing what that looks like.
What Preferred Rewards takes off
If you are enrolled in Preferred Rewards for Business, are on Simplified Pricing, have an account with an 8-digit merchant ID, and settle into a Bank of America business checking account, you get a processing rate discount by tier: 0.05% at Gold, 0.07% at Platinum, 0.10% at Platinum Honors. It arrives as a credit on the merchant account at the end of each billing cycle.
For a shop taking $20,000 a month in person across 800 transactions:
The top tier saves this shop $20 a month.
Same-day funding, and which cards count
Bank of America offers no-fee same-day funding to qualified account holders and next-day funding to all merchants. Same-day access is subject to credit approval; an approved merchant picks one funding window to send the payout to the Bank of America checking account used for settlement. It covers Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express OptBlue transactions plus PIN debit, including EBT, and the bank adds that exceptions may apply.
Contract and POS costs
You sign a merchant services agreement, but the bank says no length of term is required and there is no penalty for closing the account. The page also advertises no long-term contracts, no hidden fees, and no early termination fees, and notes that pricing rates are subject to change.
Software plans, before tax:
- Basics: $10 a month per location
- Starter: $10 a month per terminal
- Growth: $79 a month for the first terminal, $19 for each additional one per location
- Pro: $129 a month for the first terminal, $29 for each additional one per location
Hardware is sold separately. The D135 mobile card reader is $109, the A35 PIN pad $329, and the L1400 station $879. Put the $20,000 shop on one Starter terminal and its monthly bill with no rewards tier comes to $620.
Sources
- business.bankofamerica.com/en/merchant-services
- business.bankofamerica.com/en/merchant-services/software
- business.bankofamerica.com/en/merchant-services/hardware
Related on this site
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- What does it cost to get card sales into your bank faster than the next business day?
- What the headline rate leaves out
- Every provider we hold, and which publish a rate
- Effective rate calculator
Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pricing pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.