Bank of America/Merrill Edge - Preferred Rewards

[atdharris]

What realistically happens if the US does default with MM funds? We just don't receive interest payments? We don't have a risk to the principle, do we?

[GaryA505]

What are you referring to as "PD"?

I have BofA and Merrill and I don't see that shown anywhere. Is it a secret?

[fullham]

Here are the terms. It says that you have to maintain the balance. Using the car gift card is a poor comparison (as is the time-share offer that you mentioned) because by definition that is a one-time thing, as would be a bank/brokerage bonus for depositing assets (although those do have requirements that you maintain the balance).
Here are the terms copied from their website:

Preferred Rewards Program Eligibility. You can enroll, and maintain your membership, in the Bank of America Preferred Rewards® program if you have an active, eligible personal checking account with Bank of America® and maintain the balance required for one of the balance tiers.

They also have the below in the program FAQ’s:

“No need to worry if your balances dip temporarily; you'll keep your Preferred Rewards program status for a full year. If after a year you no longer meet the balance requirement, you'll get a three-month grace period. If you haven't met the balance requirement after those three months, you'll be moved to a lower tier or lose your Preferred Rewards benefits, if you no longer qualify.”

So if customer wants to move assets to qualify he is free to do so and then withdraw them after qualifying and enjoy the PR benefits for a year, at which point he either needs to get the 3 month average balance back up or lose the PR benefits. I would argue it’s not worth the effort and might as well just leave the assets at ME, but if he chooses to move them back to Vanguard after qualifying, he is following all of the rules of the program and can take advantage of the PR benefits for a year at least.

[ChicagoBear7]

What are you referring to as "PD"?

I have BofA and Merrill and I don't see that shown anywhere. Is it a secret?

This link is from Merrill Lynch, but it is available for Merrill Edge too. You just need to call in to customer service to make the inital opening deposit. Once it is open, you do not need to keep $100k on deposit and can make deposits and withdrawals online. Additional deposits must be for at least $1,000, withdrawals can be for any even dollar amount. Current interest rate is 4.76%. Just be aware, Preferred Deposit is not available for retirement accounts. You need to use one of the money market funds, or ladder CDs/T-Bills for high yield cash management.

https://www.ml.com/solutions/preferred-deposit.html

[GaryA505]

What are you referring to as "PD"?

I have BofA and Merrill and I don't see that shown anywhere. Is it a secret?

This link is from Merrill Lynch, but it is available for Merrill Edge too. You just need to call in to customer service to make the inital opening deposit. Once it is open, you do not need to keep $100k on deposit and can make deposits and withdrawals online. Additional deposits must be for at least $1,000, withdrawals can be for any even dollar amount. Current interest rate is 4.76%. Just be aware, Preferred Deposit is not available for retirement accounts. You need to you one of the money market funds, or ladder CDs/T-Bills for high yield cash management.

https://www.ml.com/solutions/preferred-deposit.html

Thanks, I might use that starting next year. Most of my "cash" is currently in t-bills maturing in Janaury 2024 because I wanted to move some income into 2024.

[Lastrun]

What are you referring to as "PD"?

I have BofA and Merrill and I don't see that shown anywhere. Is it a secret?

This link is from Merrill Lynch, but it is available for Merrill Edge too. You just need to call in to customer service to make the inital opening deposit. Once it is open, you do not need to keep $100k on deposit and can make deposits and withdrawals online. Additional deposits must be for at least $1,000, withdrawals can be for any even dollar amount. Current interest rate is 4.76%. Just be aware, Preferred Deposit is not available for retirement accounts. You need to use one of the money market funds, or ladder CDs/T-Bills for high yield cash management.

https://www.ml.com/solutions/preferred-deposit.html

Could someone give me a use case for Preferred Deposit? Is it the FDIC insurance? Is it immediate funds availability? I ask this as many of the available money market funds offer a little higher rate with reasonably quick availability.

Also, the current rate seems transitory to me. As a rough guide in December of 2020, PD was paying about 0.05%, one month bills were at about the same, and Ally Savings was at 0.50%.

Lastly, how does PD show on the Merrill statement, is it lumped in with the brokerage transactions or is it segregated out?

[OrangeKiwi]

What are you referring to as "PD"?

I have BofA and Merrill and I don't see that shown anywhere. Is it a secret?

This link is from Merrill Lynch, but it is available for Merrill Edge too. You just need to call in to customer service to make the inital opening deposit. Once it is open, you do not need to keep $100k on deposit and can make deposits and withdrawals online. Additional deposits must be for at least $1,000, withdrawals can be for any even dollar amount. Current interest rate is 4.76%. Just be aware, Preferred Deposit is not available for retirement accounts. You need to use one of the money market funds, or ladder CDs/T-Bills for high yield cash management.

https://www.ml.com/solutions/preferred-deposit.html

Could someone give me a use case for Preferred Deposit? Is it the FDIC insurance? Is it immediate funds availability? I ask this as many of the available money market funds offer a little higher rate with reasonably quick availability.

Also, the current rate seems transitory to me. As a rough guide in December of 2020, PD was paying about 0.05%, one month bills were at about the same, and Ally Savings was at 0.50%.

Lastly, how does PD show on the Merrill statement, is it lumped in with the brokerage transactions or is it segregated out?

The use case is a very competitive FDIC insured savings account. It might not have been the best in Dec 2020, but it has been a couple years since it has been among the leading offers.

It is also Bank of America, so I assume it has some “too big to fail” protection built in.

It shows up separately, as savings account interest and will show up on a 1099-INT from Merrill.

[8foot7]

Also, the current rate seems transitory to me. As a rough guide in December of 2020, PD was paying about 0.05%, one month bills were at about the same, and Ally Savings was at 0.50%.

What does how much something was paying a two and a half years ago have to do with how much it's paying now?

[Lastrun]

The point essentially is would I be rate chasing---meaning that if rates fall again, Preferred Deposit (PD) will likely fall harder (lower) than the HYSAs. And its not what it was paying then, its what was it paying then compared to HYSAs.

So assume someone like me has an Ally savings account and VMFXX, and is in the BofA ecosystem, for what purpose would I need PD, other than the FDIC coverage noted above.

Plenty of HYSAs out there higher than PD with FDIC coverage. Why would I not go there?

Stated differently, its just about simplicity.

[zie]

I thought I would chime in here and give a report of my real yield on my cash back after being in the program for over a year now.

I do no optimizations and get 2.2%/yr return on my CC spend.

Obviously I'm not getting anywhere near 5.25% on an annualized basis. I think this is mostly due to a few factors:

* I don't optimize at all(I change categories only 2-3x a year, when I remember)
* I regularly hit the quarterly limit.
* Some of my regular spend is excluded from the 5.25% categories

I've added a new cash back card just this year, so I expect my return to go up a little more in 2023, as I should be able to get more of my spend within the quarterly limit.

I just thought I'd share some real-world return information in regards to the up to 5.25% cash back system, for those that are contemplating joining or wanting to know what a lazy, non-optimized return appears to be in practice. Better than straight up 2% cards, but not by much.

2.2% return on money I was going to spend anyway is a pretty good deal, and I have no plans on switching away, mostly because I don't know of a better way to lazily get a better return on my normal spend with no work.

If you do optimizations, what is your return looking like in practice?

[Hyperchicken]

[...]
I do no optimizations and get 2.2%/yr return on my CC spend.
[...]

Unlimited Cash Rewards card gives you 2.625% on everything with Platinum Honors tier - have you considered using that as a baseline for anything not in a special category?

[zie]

[...]
I do no optimizations and get 2.2%/yr return on my CC spend.
[...]

Unlimited Cash Rewards card gives you 2.625% on everything with Platinum Honors tier - have you considered using that as a baseline for anything not in a special category?

My newest card was supposed to be this card, but wires got crossed somewhere, and I ended up with another of the category cards. In another year(?) I should be eligible for one of these and will work a little harder at adding it to my growing repository of BOA cards

[sailaway]

For those with Preferred Deposit, have you been able to make transactions on the Merrill Edge app? It shows up in the list of things to be traded, but there is no buy/sell button like vti.

[wenchleaf]

For those with Preferred Deposit, have you been able to make transactions on the Merrill Edge app? It shows up in the list of things to be traded, but there is no buy/sell button like vti.

No, the only way I have found is through the website

[Marseille07]

No, the only way I have found is through the website

When can we transact? Is this 24x7 or weekdays only? The $1000 requirement gives me pause to play with it.

[wenchleaf]

No, the only way I have found is through the website

When can we transact? Is this 24x7 or weekdays only? The $1000 requirement gives me pause to play with it.

If I remember it let me transact at any moment and was instantaneous. It's been awhile, I've left it at $1 for quite some time.

[Marseille07]

If I remember it let me transact at any moment and was instantaneous. It's been awhile, I've left it at $1 for quite some time.

Thank you, this is pretty good then.

What happens if you zero out the position? You'd have to make another call to re-initialize?

[wenchleaf]

If I remember it let me transact at any moment and was instantaneous. It's been awhile, I've left it at $1 for quite some time.

Thank you, this is pretty good then.

What happens if you zero out the position? You'd have to make another call to re-initialize?

Yes. But of course you can be liquidated below $1k at any moment as well in theory. I'll probably bump my balance up just in case.

[Marseille07]

Yes. But of course you can be liquidated below $1k at any moment as well in theory. I'll probably bump my balance up just in case.

I don't think I've read anything on the maintenance balance. If $1 has been working for you, I wouldn't worry too much.

[GoodOmens]

Just got am email that my linked BoA account with a 0 balance will be closed if I don't transfer money in.

That a thing? Is there a minimum balance? All I could do at the time (now) was transfer over 53 cents as my balance (100k+) at Merril is tied up in GOTXX/ treasuries. I transfer money into ME bi-weekly, but skip going into BoA.

Hopefully 53 cents is enough ....

We want to remind you that your account(s) will be closed soon because it hasn't been used in a while and has a zero balance. We don't want that to happen — you can keep it open by transferring money or making a deposit into the account:

[Marseille07]

Just got am email that my linked BoA account with a 0 balance will be closed if I don't transfer money in.

That a thing? Is there a minimum balance? All I could do at the time (now) was transfer over 53 cents as my balance (100k+) at Merril is tied up in GOTXX/ treasuries. I transfer money into ME bi-weekly, but skip going into BoA.

Hopefully 53 cents is enough ....

We want to remind you that your account(s) will be closed soon because it hasn't been used in a while and has a zero balance. We don't want that to happen — you can keep it open by transferring money or making a deposit into the account:

There's no minimum balance but the institutions can terminate doing business with you for any reason. Don't play with fire. Some poster reported that they lost the Preferred Rewards ecosystem forever because their checking got shut down.

[vaylie]

Just got am email that my linked BoA account with a 0 balance will be closed if I don't transfer money in.

That a thing? Is there a minimum balance? All I could do at the time (now) was transfer over 53 cents as my balance (100k+) at Merril is tied up in GOTXX/ treasuries. I transfer money into ME bi-weekly, but skip going into BoA.

Hopefully 53 cents is enough ....

We want to remind you that your account(s) will be closed soon because it hasn't been used in a while and has a zero balance. We don't want that to happen — you can keep it open by transferring money or making a deposit into the account:

I think it might be a combined lack of activity + lack of balance. IMO it would be worth transferring to BoA, then transferring to Merrill biweekly instead. It's an extra step sure, but it keeps your checking account active.

[EnjoyIt]

Just got am email that my linked BoA account with a 0 balance will be closed if I don't transfer money in.

That a thing? Is there a minimum balance? All I could do at the time (now) was transfer over 53 cents as my balance (100k+) at Merril is tied up in GOTXX/ treasuries. I transfer money into ME bi-weekly, but skip going into BoA.

Hopefully 53 cents is enough ....

We want to remind you that your account(s) will be closed soon because it hasn't been used in a while and has a zero balance. We don't want that to happen — you can keep it open by transferring money or making a deposit into the account:

I would assume since you have these accounts you also have credit cards that give you cash back. Just have them do cash back into your checking account and then do whatever you like with the cash.

[GoodOmens]

Just got am email that my linked BoA account with a 0 balance will be closed if I don't transfer money in.

That a thing? Is there a minimum balance? All I could do at the time (now) was transfer over 53 cents as my balance (100k+) at Merril is tied up in GOTXX/ treasuries. I transfer money into ME bi-weekly, but skip going into BoA.

Hopefully 53 cents is enough ....

We want to remind you that your account(s) will be closed soon because it hasn't been used in a while and has a zero balance. We don't want that to happen — you can keep it open by transferring money or making a deposit into the account:

I would assume since you have these accounts you also have credit cards that give you cash back. Just have them do cash back into your checking account and then do whatever you like with the cash.

Good call. I have my cash back going direct to ME. I’ll have it go to BoA instead.

[MisterBill]

Unlimited Cash Rewards card gives you 2.625% on everything with Platinum Honors tier - have you considered using that as a baseline for anything not in a special category?

My newest card was supposed to be this card, but wires got crossed somewhere, and I ended up with another of the category cards. In another year(?) I should be eligible for one of these and will work a little harder at adding it to my growing repository of BOA cards

I have the UCR and wish I could convert it to a CCR. It used to be an MLB CCR card, and got converted to UCR. It's useless to me since I have a PR card. Have tried multiple times to convert, but because it's a MasterCard, they don't show any conversion options. But not useless enough to cancel since you never know what will happen in the future.

BTW, how does one apply for the wrong type of card??

[FedGuy]

I have the UCR and wish I could convert it to a CCR. It used to be an MLB CCR card, and got converted to UCR. It's useless to me since I have a PR card. Have tried multiple times to convert, but because it's a MasterCard, they don't show any conversion options. But not useless enough to cancel since you never know what will happen in the future.

I'm in a similar boat. One of my old BoA cards was just involuntarily converted into a UCR, which I don't need because I also have the PR. I've tried converting the UCR but was told no. I'm now giving some thought to trying to convert the PR instead, but the annual fee doesn't hit for about six months so I'm waiting and seeing for now.

[zie]

Unlimited Cash Rewards card gives you 2.625% on everything with Platinum Honors tier - have you considered using that as a baseline for anything not in a special category?

My newest card was supposed to be this card, but wires got crossed somewhere, and I ended up with another of the category cards. In another year(?) I should be eligible for one of these and will work a little harder at adding it to my growing repository of BOA cards

I have the UCR and wish I could convert it to a CCR. It used to be an MLB CCR card, and got converted to UCR. It's useless to me since I have a PR card. Have tried multiple times to convert, but because it's a MasterCard, they don't show any conversion options. But not useless enough to cancel since you never know what will happen in the future.

BTW, how does one apply for the wrong type of card??

It was during an in-person appt with a banker.

[EnjoyIt]

How to get a spouse involved?

Let's say I have $100k at Meryl. If I make that a joint account, does my spouse now qualify for platinum honors or does she have to have her own Meryl account?

[wenchleaf]

How to get a spouse involved?

Let's say I have $100k at Meryl. If I make that a joint account, does my spouse now qualify for platinum honors or does she have to have her own Meryl account?

Yes, she qualifies from joint accounts. Only thing to note is that if course IRAs only count for that individual, but many do find it useful to use IRAs as they count towards that balance

[MisterBill]

How to get a spouse involved?

Let's say I have $100k at Meryl. If I make that a joint account, does my spouse now qualify for platinum honors or does she have to have her own Meryl account?

Yes, and I actually added my wife to my BofA checking account a couple of years ago, so she could apply for a PR card and get the boosted cash back (she was already on the ME account). I actually thought about using this to get a second safe deposit box for free, but it turns out that we don't need it.

[Carno]

Finding out the percentage of the fund that is exempt from states or a certain state tax could be pretty involved. I read you previous posts in favor of TTTXX and I assume they were based on 100% state tax exemption (all states not a certain one such as CA). This may be worth the time for huge amounts of cash but not if it is a couple of thousands.

Yeah, the USGO for TTTXX last year was a bit hard for me to find, since it wasn't in the main Blackrock tax page.

This topic linked to the PDF that indicates that it was 96.29% in 2022.

Since the fund updates its holdings daily, it seems like it will be a high number again this year based on what has been posted so far.

Even with a slightly lower USGO percentage, I'm still earning significantly more from TTTXX than the TFDXX.

In any case, I've generally been keeping funds in MM funds that I anticipate that I may want to use with a day or two notice. Otherwise, I plan to roll Treasury bills.

Great analysis. I currently own VMFXX (Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund). Should I switch to VUSXX (Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund) based on the same logic of USGO (US General Obligations?) percentage? I was reading that both of these funds are taxed at normal Fed tax income level, but that VUSXX is state tax exempt and VMFXX has 30% of its distributions are subjected to state tax each year.

[Unitek]

I apologize if this has been asked before. I recently opened a ME account because of the reward promotion, and I am having a hard time linking my checking account with SoFi to it. I have tried using both the online verification and the paper form (with void check), and they both failed.

For those who have done it, how were you able to transfer fund from an external account to ME? I don't have any other bank accounts. Would Fidelity CMA account work? If so, what are steps needed to link it? Thanks!

[zie]

I apologize if this has been asked before. I recently opened a ME account because of the reward promotion, and I am having a hard time linking my checking account with SoFi to it. I have tried using both the online verification and the paper form (with void check), and they both failed.

For those who have done it, how were you able to transfer fund from an external account to ME? I don't have any other bank accounts. Would Fidelity CMA account work? If so, what are steps needed to link it? Thanks!

I've always linked the other direction, i.e. from Fidelity I linked to my BOA Checking account, not to my ME CMA account directly. I've never tried connecting directly to my ME CMA account. I want a level of indirection, my ME CMA has 6+ figures in it, so I don't want any direct links to it, if I could turn off all in/out I would. Instead I just limit the in and out to/from my BOA checking account. Transfers from BOA to ME are instant, so there is no further delay in doing it this way. This works for me, since all of my income is sent to a Fidelity CMA called 'incoming'. Once a month I login and spend that account to $0.

So to do it with SOFI, I would login to SOFI and do an external link to my BOA Checking account. Then I would initiate transfers from SOFI, not from BOA.

I assume it should work fine the other way, but I've just never tried. You could always make an appt with your local BOA branch and they could probably walk you through whatever it is you are doing wrong.

[bbrock]

Updates: preferred rewards platinum honors. BofA CCR. Choice category online shopping. Primarily use it exclusively to buy $500 Costco cash cards, with some grocery store spending as well. I called the rep yesterday to get the combined spending for the choice category and 2% as they stated that is the easiest way to get a tally. As of yesterday, for this quarter at $2628. So it looks like the excess $128 to get a 1.75% bonus. Not a big difference since the Costco visa was paying 2%.

Wow, a $2500 limit goes quick.

Well, I would say, I’m still a rookie with the system/card and getting the kinks worked out especially with my DW who really doesn’t like to follow the cheat sheet I made to know which card to use where, I have now just informed her let’s only use the CCR to Purchase Costco cash cards. So, putting it away until 7/1.

So perhaps I should transfer my wife’s Roth IRA to ME and get her her own CCR, but I know it ultimately will fall on me to do all of the budgeting/calculations/tracking for her card. It would give us $2500 more in wiggle room for online shopping though.

[Unitek]

I apologize if this has been asked before. I recently opened a ME account because of the reward promotion, and I am having a hard time linking my checking account with SoFi to it. I have tried using both the online verification and the paper form (with void check), and they both failed.

For those who have done it, how were you able to transfer fund from an external account to ME? I don't have any other bank accounts. Would Fidelity CMA account work? If so, what are steps needed to link it? Thanks!

I've always linked the other direction, i.e. from Fidelity I linked to my BOA Checking account, not to my ME CMA account directly. I've never tried connecting directly to my ME CMA account. I want a level of indirection, my ME CMA has 6+ figures in it, so I don't want any direct links to it, if I could turn off all in/out I would. Instead I just limit the in and out to/from my BOA checking account. Transfers from BOA to ME are instant, so there is no further delay in doing it this way. This works for me, since all of my income is sent to a Fidelity CMA called 'incoming'. Once a month I login and spend that account to $0.

So to do it with SOFI, I would login to SOFI and do an external link to my BOA Checking account. Then I would initiate transfers from SOFI, not from BOA.

I assume it should work fine the other way, but I've just never tried. You could always make an appt with your local BOA branch and they could probably walk you through whatever it is you are doing wrong.

Thank you for your response. It all makes perfect sense. However, in order to qualify for the promotion, the money has to come from an external source other than BOA. In my case, would transferring it from SoFI to BOA and then to ME disqualify me?

[erp]

I apologize if this has been asked before. I recently opened a ME account because of the reward promotion, and I am having a hard time linking my checking account with SoFi to it. I have tried using both the online verification and the paper form (with void check), and they both failed.

For those who have done it, how were you able to transfer fund from an external account to ME? I don't have any other bank accounts. Would Fidelity CMA account work? If so, what are steps needed to link it? Thanks!

This is slightly unusual since most people would ACAT in some shares, but in your case couldn't you just write and deposit a paper check written against your SoFi checking account?

otw I have been able to link from another bank into a CMA at ME - you have to call and ask for your (routing and) account number though. The number you see on your login (which has letters in it) is not the account number needed for ACH, but they will give it to you over the phone.

[GaryA505]

I apologize if this has been asked before. I recently opened a ME account because of the reward promotion, and I am having a hard time linking my checking account with SoFi to it. I have tried using both the online verification and the paper form (with void check), and they both failed.

For those who have done it, how were you able to transfer fund from an external account to ME? I don't have any other bank accounts. Would Fidelity CMA account work? If so, what are steps needed to link it? Thanks!

I would suggest calling them to get help. The last time I called my wait time was about 3 minutes and that was on a Sunday!

I have transfered assets in-kind to Merrill from both Vanguard and Fidelity brokerage accounts and had no problems. I opened an IRA and a CMA at Merrill to get the $1000 bonus on each. I am "trying them out" and will decide if I want to use them going forward, as I slide into retirement (kinda like sliding into home base).

[zie]

I apologize if this has been asked before. I recently opened a ME account because of the reward promotion, and I am having a hard time linking my checking account with SoFi to it. I have tried using both the online verification and the paper form (with void check), and they both failed.

For those who have done it, how were you able to transfer fund from an external account to ME? I don't have any other bank accounts. Would Fidelity CMA account work? If so, what are steps needed to link it? Thanks!

I've always linked the other direction, i.e. from Fidelity I linked to my BOA Checking account, not to my ME CMA account directly. I've never tried connecting directly to my ME CMA account. I want a level of indirection, my ME CMA has 6+ figures in it, so I don't want any direct links to it, if I could turn off all in/out I would. Instead I just limit the in and out to/from my BOA checking account. Transfers from BOA to ME are instant, so there is no further delay in doing it this way. This works for me, since all of my income is sent to a Fidelity CMA called 'incoming'. Once a month I login and spend that account to $0.

So to do it with SOFI, I would login to SOFI and do an external link to my BOA Checking account. Then I would initiate transfers from SOFI, not from BOA.

I assume it should work fine the other way, but I've just never tried. You could always make an appt with your local BOA branch and they could probably walk you through whatever it is you are doing wrong.

Thank you for your response. It all makes perfect sense. However, in order to qualify for the promotion, the money has to come from an external source other than BOA. In my case, would transferring it from SoFI to BOA and then to ME disqualify me?

I haven't any idea, I imagine it depends a lot on which promotion and what the tiny details are. I'd recommend either calling or showing up @ your local BOA(with an appt) to find out. They know their rules and promotions way better than I do.

[sailaway]

So, I have to log in to Merrill with an actual computer (not a mobile device) and it must be during normal business hours to get money out of the Preferred Deposit?!? (ie, can't schedule a withdrawal today to happen Tuesday). Did I miss where y'all said there were so many hoops to jump through even after the initial set up?

[Marseille07]

deleted

[erp]

So, I have to log in to Merrill with an actual computer (not a mobile device) and it must be during normal business hours to get money out of the Preferred Deposit?!? (ie, can't schedule a withdrawal today to happen Tuesday). Did I miss where y'all said there were so many hoops to jump through even after the initial set up?

In a pinch you might be able to use the browser on your mobile device to execute an order. Someone above did say that the app doesn't allow it viewtopic.php?p=7272520#p7272520

Does anyone know if I completely withdraw PD, I have to make another call to re-initiate PD? Do I just need to leave $1 to avoid that? I'm looking at MMFs again now that the debt ceiling deal is happening on Tuesday.

Probably it's safest to leave something there. Why take the chance over $1? Someone above did confirm that worked for them viewtopic.php?p=7272545#p7272545

[Marseille07]

Probably it's safest to leave something there. Why take the chance over $1? Someone above did confirm that worked for them viewtopic.php?p=7272545#p7272545

Thank you.

Given that PD seems like a cash position where $1 is 1 share, my guess is that selling all shares would make the position go away and you'd have to make a call to re-initialize. With the link you shared, I'll try the $1 approach after the debt ceiling deal is officially signed.

[spammagnet]

Thank you for your response. It all makes perfect sense. However, in order to qualify for the promotion, the money has to come from an external source other than BOA. In my case, would transferring it from SoFI to BOA and then to ME disqualify me?

I don't think so. They started out as exogenous funds. The route within BA/ME doesn't matter.

There is a multi-month lookback period. It was 52 weeks (correction: 24 weeks*) last time I looked. It sometimes changes as the offer is revised. They summarize flows out of BA/ME and flows into BA/ME. If that's negative, it counts against your new money so you have to bring in more.

*It may change but the BofA web page details say 24 weeks as of the time of this edit. Previous information was from the DoC article on the offer. It's apparently an old version of the BA offer. They edit the effective dates of the current offer but don't always refresh the boilerplate.

[bdfe9]

Per my latest banking statement, BofA is removing the ACH out fee and using Merrill Edge to transfer out for free is no longer needed:

Good news - starting May 21, we are eliminating and lowering more fees!

For personal accounts, when you use Online Banking to transfer funds to another bank:

· We will stop charging a $3 or $10 fee for ACH transfers to another bank.
· All ACH transfers scheduled before the cut-off time on a business day will be delivered the following business day.

Additionally, we will lower the Incoming International Wire Transfer Fee from $16 to $15.
As a reminder, on May 23, 2023, we will stop charging an International Transaction Fee when an international debit card
purchase is processed in U.S. dollars. However, keep in mind, debit card purchases processed in a foreign currency will continue
to be charged the International Transaction Fee which is equal to 3% of the U.S. dollar amount of the transaction

[Marseille07]

Per my latest banking statement, BofA is removing the ACH out fee and using Merrill Edge to transfer out for free is no longer needed:

Good news - starting May 21, we are eliminating and lowering more fees!

For personal accounts, when you use Online Banking to transfer funds to another bank:

· We will stop charging a $3 or $10 fee for ACH transfers to another bank.
· All ACH transfers scheduled before the cut-off time on a business day will be delivered the following business day.

Additionally, we will lower the Incoming International Wire Transfer Fee from $16 to $15.
As a reminder, on May 23, 2023, we will stop charging an International Transaction Fee when an international debit card
purchase is processed in U.S. dollars. However, keep in mind, debit card purchases processed in a foreign currency will continue
to be charged the International Transaction Fee which is equal to 3% of the U.S. dollar amount of the transaction

Excellent news, thanks for sharing.

[Carno]

I sold TTTXX shares @ 04:15 AM PT and was surprised to see cash available immediately to withdraw. Transferred the cash to BofA checking and balance also available immediately to withdraw cash. So basically I could sell shares of TTTXX and move the cash out to whatever third-party destination immediately. My question is can I also do this with TSTXX or TFDXX or TOIXX since I don't have these funds and no experience trading them?

[lstone19]

Per my latest banking statement, BofA is removing the ACH out fee and using Merrill Edge to transfer out for free is no longer needed:

Good news - starting May 21, we are eliminating and lowering more fees!

For personal accounts, when you use Online Banking to transfer funds to another bank:

· We will stop charging a $3 or $10 fee for ACH transfers to another bank.
· All ACH transfers scheduled before the cut-off time on a business day will be delivered the following business day.

Additionally, we will lower the Incoming International Wire Transfer Fee from $16 to $15.
As a reminder, on May 23, 2023, we will stop charging an International Transaction Fee when an international debit card
purchase is processed in U.S. dollars. However, keep in mind, debit card purchases processed in a foreign currency will continue
to be charged the International Transaction Fee which is equal to 3% of the U.S. dollar amount of the transaction

Great. However, our BofA checking account is in our trust's name. I tried to link it to our Fidelity CMA also in the trust's name and it failed. I tried again selecting "business account" for the Fidelity CMA and it worked. That only allows transfers out which is fine for my purposes as both directions is already set up at the Fidelity end and all I really wanted to add was the ability to push from BofA.

[anon_investor]

I sold TTTXX shares @ 04:15 AM PT and was surprised to see cash available immediately to withdraw. Transferred the cash to BofA checking and balance also available immediately to withdraw cash. So basically I could sell shares of TTTXX and move the cash out to whatever third-party destination immediately. My question is can I also do this with TSTXX or TFDXX or TOIXX since I don't have these funds and no experience trading them?

I believe it is the same, I have done it with TOIXX in the past. Just know that at some times in the day, Me will not let you make a mutual fund transaction.

[erp]

I sold TTTXX shares @ 04:15 AM PT and was surprised to see cash available immediately to withdraw. Transferred the cash to BofA checking and balance also available immediately to withdraw cash. So basically I could sell shares of TTTXX and move the cash out to whatever third-party destination immediately. My question is can I also do this with TSTXX or TFDXX or TOIXX since I don't have these funds and no experience trading them?

Are you saying this AM? Can you check if the order is still showing right now as open (and cancellable)? That's weird if it sold immediately unlike a normal mutual fund (esp before market opens?)

I do know that selling a MMF adds it to cash available for trade. I have done this before which is nice since I don't have to wait an extra day when I miss the early trade cutoff.

[anon_investor]

I sold TTTXX shares @ 04:15 AM PT and was surprised to see cash available immediately to withdraw. Transferred the cash to BofA checking and balance also available immediately to withdraw cash. So basically I could sell shares of TTTXX and move the cash out to whatever third-party destination immediately. My question is can I also do this with TSTXX or TFDXX or TOIXX since I don't have these funds and no experience trading them?

Are you saying this AM? Can you check if the order is still showing right now as open (and cancellable)? That's weird if it sold immediately unlike a normal mutual fund (esp before market opens?)

I do know that selling a MMF adds it to cash available for trade. I have done this before which is nice since I don't have to wait an extra day when I miss the early trade cutoff.

ME is weird like that, I have tested it before. Once you place the sell order, the funds are available to trade or withdraw (immediately transferrable to a linked BoA checking account too).