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Starbucks and Bank of America Announce Loyalty Partnership
A new collaboration will allow consumers to earn more cashback on their morning coffee.
About the partnership and rewards:
Today, Starbucks and Bank of America announced a new partnership. As a result, BofA debit and credit card customers can link their card to their Starbucks Rewards account in order to earn bonuses. Specifically, members can earn an extra 2% cashback (on top of their card’s base rewards) when reloading their Starbucks card or making other qualifying in-app purchases. Plus, members will also earn 1 bonus Star per every $2 spent at Starbucks.
According to the FAQ page, this offer is available for all Bank of America debit and credit cards as well as Merrill Lynch credit cards. However, ATM-only cards, HELOC accounts, fleet cards, and other exceptions are listed on the site.
To get started, customers must be enrolled in Online Banking or Mobile Banking. From there, they can activate this offer in the BankAmeriDeals section. As mentioned, users will also need to link their Starbucks Rewards account — but those who don’t already have an account can create one.
What they’re saying:
Announcing this promotion, Bank of America’s head of consumer and small business product strategy and transformation Shikha Narula said, “Partnering with Starbucks is part of our commitment to invest in meaningful ways to thank our clients for choosing to do business with us. We are pleased to give Bank of America clients and Starbucks customers even more opportunities to make their everyday financial lives more rewarding.”
On the other end of the partnership, Starbucks’ VP of loyalty strategy and marketing Ryan Butz stated, “We are pleased to partner with Bank of America and offer Starbucks Rewards members even more valuable benefits like Cash Back and more Stars. This partnership is the latest example of how we are continuing to invest in our most loyal customers to deepen engagement and connection by offering benefits and experiences that can’t be found anywhere else.
My thoughts:
I feel compelled to mention that this partnership with Bank of America comes after the discontinuation of Starbucks’ reward credit card (issued by Chase) last year. Also, this partnership reminds me of one Starbucks forged with Delta, which allows SkyMiles customers to earn bonus miles on cafe purchases and for flyers to earn extra stars on days they have Delta flights.
What’s most interesting to me is that this 2% back comes on top of any rewards your card already earns. That could mean huge cashback rates for those with Bank of America Preferred Rewards status. For example, a Platinum Honors member with the Customized Cash Rewards Credit Card and who’s selected dining as their 3% category could theoretically earn an additional 2% back on top of their 5.25% base earning rate (3% plus a 75% bonus) for a total of 7.25% back. While I don’t 100% know that such a scenario is possible, that’d be pretty massive if true.
As for me, not only do I not drink Starbucks as much as I used to but I also don’t have any BofA cards. Still, I think this is a truly interesting and awesome promotion that I hope others can take advantage of.
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