BofA Business 24-Month Application Caution
Bank of America · last reviewed 2026-06
Summary
On a BofA business card, you may be declined if your business has held another BofA business card in roughly the past 24 months - but if approved, the welcome bonus is fully re-earnable.
Medium confidence: the issuer publishes the clause, but enforcement is discretionary and outcomes vary.
What it does
BofA's business card terms say you may be declined for a new business card if your business entity currently has, or has had, another BofA business card in the preceding 24-month period. This is an approval-side, discretionary screen, not a bonus lock: approvals inside the window happen regularly, enforcement varies, and BofA business cards carry no 24-month bonus-suppression clause (unlike some BofA personal cards), so an approved bonus posts normally.
How it works
- It is an approval caution, not a bonus restriction - the bonus stays re-earnable, so we keep the card in your recommendations with its full welcome value.
- It is discretionary and inconsistently enforced; many applicants are approved within the 24-month window.
- It keys on having had any BofA business card (not just the same product) in roughly the last 24 months.
- It is treated as per-person, not per-EIN: opening under a new business entity does not reliably reset it (BofA appears to tie the EIN to your SSN), so a different business is not a fresh slot.
- A first-time BofA business applicant is not affected.
What to do
- You can still apply: this is a "may be declined" caution rather than a block, and BofA makes the call.
- To stay clear of the rule, space BofA business applications more than 24 months apart.
- If approved, expect the welcome bonus to post normally.
Want to see how this rule affects your card portfolio? Open the Application Calendar (PointBagel Pro) - it tracks the issuer rules we encode against your real applications and tells you when each one clears.