The Bank Rewards You Might Be Missing

Today's episode is sponsored by Bank of America. To learn more about BofA Rewards and see where you land, head to bofa.com/bofarewards http://bofa.com/bofarewards Welcome to So Money, everyone. You know the loyalty economy when you see it. Airlines have status tiers. Your grocery store has a rewards app. Hotels want you to hit the next level of points before your trip. But did you know your bank could be another place to unlock exclusive benefits? I didn’t until now, and here's the part that got my attention: Access is changing. More banking customers than ever now have access to real rewards, and the kinds of benefits available to them are expanding, too. If you haven't looked at what's available to you lately, it's worth a review. My guest today has spent her career inside that shift. Shikha Narula is Managing Director and Head of Consumer Deposit Products and Rewards at Bank of America. Before this, she led US consumer lending products at American Express, and spent 16 years at Citi in cards and marketing. So she's watched this industry rethink, again and again, what it actually means to reward a customer for sticking around. In our conversation, we're going to talk about The forces actually reshaping banking right nowWhat that means for how we should evaluate our own banking relationship andShikha will walk us through BofA Rewards, which launched this year and represents a pretty different approach to who gets rewarded and for what. By the end of this episode, we’re going to walk through a bank check in that takes less time than waiting for your coffee, and it could be worth real money that you don't even know you have access to. How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey https://www.jotform.com/build/262556781257063 and help shape the podcast in 2027. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  Today's episode is sponsored by Bank of America.

• 0:06Speaker 01

  We spend a lot of time listening to our clients. We do a lot of research. We're listening to the conversations that they are having with our associates when they are in the financial centers. Those are all the things that we funnel in to creating these benefits and curating the benefits and continuing to enhance them over time.

• 0:25Speaker 00

  Welcome to So Money, everybody. You know the loyalty economy when you see it, right? Airlines have status tiers. Your grocery store has a rewards app. Hotels want you to hit the next level of points before your trip. But did you know your bank could be another place to unlock exclusive benefits? I didn't know until now, and here's the part that got my attention. Access is changing. More banking customers than ever now have access to real rewards, and the kinds of benefits available to them are expanding as well. If you haven't looked at what's available to you lately, it's worth a review. My guest today has spent her career inside that shift. Shikha Narula is a Managing Director and Head of Consumer Deposit Products and Rewards at Bank of America. Before this, she led U.S. consumer lending

• 1:10Speaker 00

  products at American Express and spent 16 years at Citi in cards and marketing. So she's watched this industry rethink again and again what it actually means to reward a customer for sticking around. In our conversation, we're going to talk about the forces actually reshaping banking right now, what that means for how we should evaluate our own banking relationship. And Shikha will walk us through B of A Rewards, which relaunched this year and represents a pretty different approach to who gets rewarded and for what. And by the end of this episode, we're going to walk through a bank check-in that takes less time than waiting for your coffee, and it could be worth real money that you don't even know

• 1:52Speaker 00

  you have access to. Shikha Narula, welcome to So Money. It's great to have you on the show. Thanks for coming on.

• 1:59Speaker 01

  It's great to be here. Thank you for having me.

• 2:02Speaker 00

  You have such an impressive career. You worked in consumer finance at large banks. You're now leading Consumer Deposit Products and Rewards at Bank of America. Tell me what you see as being the through line in terms of what you have learned about all the things people want from their money relationships and how it's stayed true across all three firms?

• 2:25Speaker 01

  I think the true line for me has been it's about helping clients get more value from their financial lives, whether it's through lending, banking, or rewards. A lot has changed over the years, but the fundamentals continue to be the same. People, even people like you and me who are in the industry, we don't think of things in terms of product. We think of things in terms of what are our goals, our priorities, the life moments that are important to us, whether it's that wedding that's coming up or a travel, the trip that we've always wanted to take. So to me, it's all about building financial solutions that help people navigate those important moments in their lives. And it's super important

• 3:09Speaker 01

  to make banking feel more connected and be more relevant to clients.

• 3:14Speaker 00

  I get that, to support our lifestyles. I think that's so true. You don't think about the products necessarily, but just how is this going to help me accomplish my goals? What has surprised you most, though, in terms of the behaviors, the banking behaviors that people have, trends? When you came to Bank of America, was there anything that sort of was a learning curve or an interesting discovery?

• 3:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think people are getting more and more comfortable with having relationships with multiple financial institutions. They may have a checking account with one company and a credit card with another, investment account with another bank. So the challenge for banks isn't about just attracting clients. It's about becoming that client's primary financial relationship. Bank of America is very unique. We have a huge set of clients and a breadth of services that we provide to our clients, whether it's banking, investing, lending, and rewards. So from a client perspective, real value can be in bringing those relationships

• 4:18Speaker 01

  together, having those relationships be more connected, because it creates a more simple, seamless experience for them. At the same time, it gives them a lot more value in having that overall relationship in one place. So for me, as we thought about B of A Rewards, that was a great example of that shift, because it got those individual, all the products together and created that broader relationship with our clients.

• 4:45Speaker 00

  Yeah. And speaking of incentives, and you brought up B of A Rewards, we're going to get into it. But just taking a step back, looking at these loyalty programs, typically when we hear the term, we think airlines, hotels, retail companies offering loyalty programs. How is that mindset showing up in banking, this interest in having a relationship with loyalty, right? Signing up for loyalty, how is it becoming more important now for consumers who are banking?

• 5:15Speaker 01

  Yeah. So consumers, they want the same level of personalization and recognition from their bank that they have come to receive from other brands and other companies and other industries. So they want their bank to understand them, to recognize them, and make that experience feel a lot more personal. Loyalty is becoming a lot less about just those individual products, but it's a lot more about providing that overall relationship. So at its best, loyalty creates a deeper connection between the clients and the brand for the longer term.

• 5:51Speaker 00

  I was just at a dinner this weekend. It was for New York Food and Wine Festival, which Bank of America is the premier sponsor, and I got a taste of what it's like to be among some of these reward members on the 51st floor of the tower in Times Square, wine tastings. I was like, okay, I could get used to this. I like this a lot. Talk a little bit more about how Bank of America is thinking about loyalty in this environment. We'll get into sort of the specific tiers and the offerings, but just generally, like, what is the approach?

• 6:22Speaker 01

  Yeah. First of all, I'm very glad you got to experience that dining experience. So in today's day and world, I think clients have a lot more choices, and they're switching providers. It's much easier to do that than what it used to be. People have come to expect seamless experiences across all aspects of their daily lives. Digital is a huge part of that. So when you think about B of A Rewards, we introduced a new digital experience that makes it easier for clients to see and access all of their rewards in one place. At the same time, money is becoming a lot more personal. So even though it's a digital first world,

• 7:03Speaker 01

  trust and human connection is incredibly important. So for me, loyalty brings those two things together. It's all about providing a great digital experience that's backed by human relationships. So that's how we're thinking about it.

• 7:20Speaker 00

  What's interesting is I'm an elder millennial, Gen Xer, and when you think about generational wealth, this transference of wealth that's coming into my generation pretty soon, it's already happening. How is Bank of America thinking about working with the different generations? Sometimes I feel like there's a lot of emphasis on the young adults, because they need to learn banking and come up with some sort of system for themselves. And then there's the retirees that have the disposable income. But in the middle, you've got elder millennials, Gen X, and now, of course, the transference of wealth coming into that generation. Is that impacting your thinking or your approach to rewards or any sort of consumer banking?

• 7:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, families are a lot more tuned into thinking about what their legacy is going to look like across generations. Younger generations are becoming much more influential in financial decision planning. So for us, that reinforces the importance of building relationships early and growing with clients over time. B of A Rewards has been a very important part of that broader relationship. We're looking to deliver tangible value for our clients, starting off early with all the changes that we've made to the program more recently. We're providing those benefits early so that we can strike those relationships early on in their financial lives. And then we want to help them grow from there.

• 8:44Speaker 00

  Let's get into it. Let's talk about B of A Rewards. It relaunched this year, and there were some important changes. But first, tell us what it is, how it works, and then we'll get into some of the big changes.

• 8:58Speaker 01

  Yeah. So B of A Rewards, that's our no-fee loyalty program that rewards all of our checking clients for their overall relationship with Bank of America. We offer a wide range of benefits as part of the program. It includes credit card reward bonuses, lending discounts, subscription credits to add a higher end. We also have lifestyle benefits and other perks that come in. So we weave together a lot of benefits that can help clients at various stages of their lives. And like I mentioned, those benefits increase in value as clients bring in more assets to Bank of America.

• 9:37Speaker 00

  I gotta think that right now, with the lending environment the way that it is, that's a pretty nice perk to be a member and to get access to some of those incentives. So one of the big changes was that B of A Rewards removed this $20,000 minimum balance requirement that the preferred rewards program had. Why did you decide to do this, and why now?

• 10:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, so we wanted more clients to be able to have access to our rewards program. And if you think about it, it creates a win-win, right? Clients are able to see value sooner. And for us, we are able to begin those relationships early in people's financial journey, right? So it creates that win-win for both us and for our clients. Not everyone can bring significant amounts of assets early into in their financial lives. But we still want them to feel recognized and feel rewarded. So removing that minimum balance requirement was a very intentional move on our part to be able to reward clients early in their financial lives and strike those relationships early with them.

• 10:43Speaker 00

  Yeah, I appreciate that. Remembering that even though you're 25 and you don't have an accumulation of wealth yet, you're on a journey. So partnering with someone at that stage is really smart. So walk us through the tiers, Shikha, and tell us like where someone listening might land and where they may earn some really great benefits.

• 11:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, there are four tiers within the program. We have the member, preferred honors, and premier. Every client with a personal checking account can participate in the program, starting off in the member tier. For preferred honors and premier tiers, those are determined by total asset value that a client has with Bank of America. As you move up the tiers, you unlock additional value, whether it's getting higher credit card rewards, bonuses, lifestyle perks, or access to exclusive experiences, one of which you got a taste of over the past weekend. But we've designed the program in such a way that you will feel meaningful value at every tier.

• 11:48Speaker 01

  Even when you start within the member tier, there's a lot of benefits that we folded into that tier, whether it is fraud identity monitoring solutions, deals at over 15,000 brands. So no matter which tier you are in and where you are in your financial life, you will unlock value with the of A rewards. And you can go into our B of A rewards hub within our mobile app and get a clear view into your benefits and see how you can make the most out of them.

• 12:15Speaker 00

  For someone who has just a basic checking account, thinking of maybe someone who just graduated from college, they're younger, they're not sitting on a big balance, but they're ambitious, they're going to get there. What is the realistic tangible benefit that they would actually notice day to day as a reward member?

• 12:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, so one of the things that I'm most excited about about B of A rewards is that you don't need a large balance to take advantage of the program. For many people, the value shows up in practical ways, like earning more through credit card rewards, bonuses on the purchases that they're already making. They also have access to exclusive cash back deals and discounts. So those are things that are part of your everyday spending and those deals and discounts can actually help you stay through them. And also with the expanded program, we have now new fraud and identity monitoring benefits that are available through MyCredit, which in today's day and age, with all the concerns

• 13:15Speaker 01

  around data, security, and protection, I think is a huge benefit for clients. So I would say those are some real tangible benefits that folks at every tier can take advantage of.

• 13:26Speaker 00

  Yeah, we need all hands on deck when it comes to identity protection, for sure.

• 13:30Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 13:31Speaker 00

  And this is an opt-in program. It's not like you're going to automatically get this, you have to opt in, but it's very simple.

• 13:38Speaker 01

  Yes, you have to sign up, but it's super simple. Like you mentioned, it's literally one click to enroll and you can start unlocking value and getting benefits.

• 13:48Speaker 00

  The range of the value that B of A has seen in terms of these rewards is pretty significant. I mean, starting at around $150 to $4,000. What do you recommend in terms of making the most of the program? Because I think this is where a lot of consumers fail, is we sign up for the rewards, but we don't keep on top of it. We don't educate ourselves on what's available to us. It takes a little bit of planning, perhaps. So just some tips on how to make the most of this, so we don't leave any rewards on the table.

• 14:21Speaker 01

  So I think the biggest thing is to take a few minutes and make sure you fully understand the benefits that are available to you, because clients will be surprised by how much is included in there. The second thing I'll say is think about where you're spending your money, what do you have coming up, whether there's travel coming up, shopping, groceries, and look at what benefits you can take advantage of for you to be able to relate it to those things that you may have coming up. The third thing I'll call out is value kicks in when you really stack up benefits. Because you have a range of benefits available, you can stack those benefits up. So you may earn a rewards bonus on a purchase, you can take advantage of a cash back offer,

• 15:03Speaker 01

  you can look at our lifestyle benefits that are available and take advantage of a perk or an experience that you wanted to try. So again, it's not about you're going to see value at every tier, no matter what. It's making sure you know what those are, you think about them more intentionally, and you go in and take advantage of them.

• 15:21Speaker 00

  Can you share some of these lifestyle benefits? I'm just curious. And this again is for, this is preferred honors tier, starting at $100,000. Tell us a little bit about what's in store.

• 15:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, so that's another very nice change that we made with the program, that we expanded access to our very sought after lifestyle benefits, and now many more clients have access to them. So previously, those were reserved only for clients with a million or more, so our premier clients, that's where they started. But now with the changes that we made, these benefits are now accessible to anyone with more than $100,000 in assets. So that's starting off at our preferred honors tier. And it includes a broad range of lifestyle benefits and exclusive offers. And think about the lifestyle categories such as dining, entertainment, travel, wellness,

• 16:14Speaker 01

  sports, and you have access to either exclusive offers or complimentary access across certain partners. And we're bringing in new experiences and events. We recently hosted the New York Fashion Week event with the Culture magazine. We also offered private dinners for our premier tier members at the New York City Wine and Food Festival, which you got to experience. So again, it's about broadening access to very exclusive benefits, and we've just done that with the changes that we've made.

• 16:45Speaker 00

  How do you know what people want, Shikha? Like, how do you know what sorts of benefits to provide? And, you know, there's lifestyle benefits, but also the everyday benefits, like the credit card rewards bonus and identity monitoring and all that. Like, how do you identify these benefits?

• 17:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, so we spend a lot of time listening to our clients. We do a lot of research, we're listening to the conversations that they're having with our associates when they are in the financial centers. Those are all the things that we funnel in to creating these benefits and curating the benefits and continuing to enhance them over time. I think people get excited about those special dining events, perks that are available to them, but at the same time, they also look for these everyday benefits that can enrich their daily life. So I think it's a combination of both, and that's what we've attempted to do with B of A rewards.

• 17:41Speaker 00

  Before we go, I would love to just discuss a little bit about, for those listening who really haven't ever evaluated their banking relationship, what is the recommendation? How do we do this step by step when we're trying to assess our relationship with our bank? What's a good first step?

• 17:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think the best first step is to know what you're eligible for. You want to get a full view of everything that you have access to. And then think about the rewards and benefits, how can you get them to work together? You can stack benefits like we talked about, whether it's the credit card rewards bonus, cash back deal, subscription credit, you can stack them on top of each other to make the most of the rewards program. The third thing is think of what you have coming up. You may be planning a trip or attending an event. And then go take a look at the benefits that may be available, how can you take advantage of them? And then don't forget that your financial life is going to evolve over time. So always do those periodic check-ins to see what else might be more meaningful for

• 18:43Speaker 01

  you today, based on where you are in your journey. So to me, I think that's how you can make the most of what's available to you.

• 18:51Speaker 00

  Yeah, just spend some time in the app. I find that it's a useful way, instead of maybe playing Candy Crush, go into your bank app and actually see what's available to you. I get this question a lot, and I'm curious what you think about this, Shikha. So people come up to me and they're like, should I consolidate my accounts under one financial roof? Because on the one hand, I want to be able to unlock some additional value, but what should you weigh? What are some of the factors you think that people should consider, pros, cons, before they decide to consolidate or perhaps spread accounts across institutions?

• 19:28Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think one of the biggest advantages of consolidating is simplicity, because it gives you a full view of everything in one place. Our lives are getting very complicated, everyone is super busy. So just the ease of being able to see everything in one place, to me, is a huge value of consolidating, right? Also, I think when you put things together, you might unlock more benefits just because everything is sitting in one place. Your financial institution might reward you with more because you have all of your relationships with them, right? So to me, I think those are all the benefits you get in keeping something in one place. But I do recognize that one size doesn't fit all, and there might be reasons why people

• 20:10Speaker 01

  may choose to have their financial relationships in different places. To me, the key is just making sure you're understanding the benefits. So if you're choosing to spread out, just make sure you know what you, hopefully you're not missing out on much, just make sure you're going in and checking for that.

• 20:26Speaker 00

  No, it's true. I mean, there's a lot of tools out there to help you see all of your financial accounts on one dashboard. One thing that I have learned over the years is that when people leave a job and they take their 401K to an IRA, they forget to manage it. And then they don't continue contributing, it's dormant, it might sit in cash, and then they've lost all that time in compounding, simply because it was one other account that just fell off the radar. So I can see why consolidating can be beneficial in that case. Now, you've worked across, as we mentioned at the very beginning of this conversation, you've worked across multiple institutions, you've been in the industry for some time.

• 21:10Speaker 00

  Putting on your sort of like forecasting hat, where do you see banking loyalty specifically going in the future, in the next few years, five years?

• 21:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think banking is going to feel a lot less transactional and a lot more personal. I think it's going to continue showing up in some unexpected places, helping clients save time, save money, and help them make everyday financial decisions with greater confidence. I think the best loyalty programs won't be, would be programs that won't feel like programs at all, they'll just become a part, natural part of the relationship, always continuing to deliver more value for clients.

• 21:52Speaker 00

  And if someone could just do one thing this week to get more value out of their bank relationship, what should it be? Easy step?

• 22:00Speaker 01

  Listening to this podcast, I think is a great start, but in all seriousness, just spend some time, think about your financial life as a whole, not just think about your individual accounts, just think through the full financial picture. And then as you're planning that next purchase or that next trip that you have coming up, just think about the various benefits or perks that you might be able to take advantage of, because a small amount of planning can go a long way. It can help you get more value from the money that you're already planning to spend.

• 22:30Speaker 00

  Shika, thank you so much. And folks listening, we're going to break down those tiers in our show notes. And if you want to learn more about B of A rewards and see where you land, head over to BofA.com/BofARewards. We'll drop that link as well in the show notes. Shika, again, thank you so much for your time. I understand this is your first day in a new building. Honored that you made so money part of your first day, and we hope to have you back.

• 22:55Speaker 01

  It's a pleasure being with you, Pranesh. Thank you. Thank you for having me.