Bank of America introduces credit card rewards for electric vehicle owners – as it reports a 44% increase in charging transactions
Bank of America is the latest credit card company to expand its rewards program to include benefits for electric car owners.
The bank’s Customized Cash Rewards credit card now offers 3 percent cashback at EV charging stations — in addition to its offering for traditional gas station purchases.
It joins US Bank, which added electric cars to its gasoline rewards category in January 2022, and Sam’s Club Mastercard, which announced a 5 percent cashback offer on electric vehicle purchases in May 2022.
The move comes after Bank of America noticed a growing demand for an environmentally friendly rewards program.
In the first half of this year alone, the company saw a 44 percent increase in EV charging transactions on its cards, it said in a statement.
Bank of America is the latest credit card company to expand its rewards program to include benefits for electric car owners
Bank of America’s Customized Cash Rewards credit card now offers 3 percent cashback at electric vehicle charging stations
In addition to this new benefit, Customized Cash Rewards cardholders can also receive 3 percent cashback on cable, streaming, internet and phone plans.
President Biden has pledged to make two-thirds of new car sales electric by 2032 — and to roll out a network of 500,000 chargers across the country.
The government is also offering $7,500 in tax credits for motorists who invest in 10 specific electric car models. Another seven entitle buyers to $3,750.
However, an exclusive survey by found that a majority of Americans say government incentives aren’t convincing them to buy an electric vehicle – and that higher-income Americans are far more likely to consider buying one.
According to an analysis by the research institute Opinium, only 29 percent of people indicated that such incentives had any influence on whether they would buy an electric vehicle.
About 43 percent said it didn’t affect their decision at all — and another 15 percent said it made them less likely to consider the purchase.
Only 29 percent of Americans said government incentives had strengthened their considerations about purchasing an electric vehicle
Biden’s government has set a goal for two-thirds of all new car sales to be electric by 2032
According to an analysis by the research institute Opinium, higher-income Americans are significantly more likely to consider owning an electric vehicle than lower-income Americans
About 26 percent of people earning less than $50,000 said they would consider buying an electric vehicle in the future, while nearly half of those earning between $100,000 and $150,000 would do so.
A staggering 70 percent of Americans with an income of $150,000 or more said they would consider switching to an electric vehicle.
Electric cars are much more expensive to buy than their petrol counterparts, although they tend to be cheaper to run. Compared to driving a gas-powered car, it can take up to a decade for an electric vehicle to break even.
Figures from auto dealer Edmunds show that the average cost of a new gasoline car this May was $47,892, while the typical electric car would cost $65,381.