Eligible grocery pickup orders paid online can qualify for the Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card’s Online Shopping category—even when you pick them up at the store. With Online Shopping selected and an eligible first-year offer, qualifying online purchases can earn 6% instead of the standard 2% grocery-store rate. The card has no annual fee.
Quick answer: Change how you check out, not what you buy. Place the grocery order through the retailer’s website or app, pay online with the card, and choose store pickup.
Grocery pickup cash back: key facts
- First-year Online Shopping rate: 6% cash back on qualifying purchases when Online Shopping is the selected choice category and the account is eligible for the first-year offer.
- Standard grocery-store rate: 2% cash back on qualifying grocery-store purchases.
- Shared quarterly spend cap: The higher 6% choice-category rate and 2% grocery-store and wholesale-club rate apply to the first $2,500 in combined purchases each quarter. Purchases above the cap earn the standard 1% rate, before any eligible BofA Rewards bonus.
- Checkout requirement: Place and pay for the order online through the retailer’s website or app. An online order paid for at the store does not qualify as Online Shopping.
- Merchant-coding caveat: Bank of America relies on information submitted by the merchant to identify an online purchase, so a pickup order is not guaranteed to qualify.
How to use online checkout for grocery pickup
To use this strategy, select Online Shopping as your choice category in BofA Online Banking or the Mobile Banking app before purchasing. Then place the order through the grocery retailer’s website or app, pay with the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card through the retailer’s website or app, choose pickup, and check the rewards after the transaction posts. Whether a purchase qualifies for Online Shopping depends on how the merchant reports the transaction.
Pay online—not at pickup. Bank of America says purchases ordered online but paid for in-store do not qualify for the Online Shopping choice-category bonus. In-store purchases made with a mobile or digital wallet, including phone-tap payments on a contactless payment device, do not qualify as Online Shopping.
Does Vons grocery pickup count as Bank of America Online Shopping?
Yes, it did in Wise Bread’s September 2026 Vons.com pickup test. The Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards record shows an Online Shopping category bonus on a $46 charge. It lists $3.45 in pending cash back, or 7.5% of the purchase, including the first-year bonus and this account’s relationship bonus.
The checkout evidence: Vons.com shows store pickup selected, card payment, and a $46 estimated total. That amount matches the $46 charge shown in the Bank of America transaction record.
The transaction evidence: Bank of America lists a transaction date of September 12, 2026, the merchant description “GROCERY STORES, SUPERMARKETS,” and “Online Purchase: Y.”
The rewards evidence: Bank of America lists the following rewards for our Vons.com pickup purchase:
- REWARDS BASE — 1%: The card’s base cash back on the purchase.
- CATEGORY BONUS — 2%: The record says “for online shopping purchase,” showing that our grocery pickup qualified for our selected Online Shopping category. Combined with the base rewards, this makes 3% cash back.
- RELATIONSHIP BONUS — 1.5%: This account’s Preferred Honors tier in BofA Rewards adds a 50% bonus on the standard 3% Online Shopping rate, or 1.5%.
- REWARDS BONUS — 3%: The separate first-year cash back bonus. The relationship bonus does not apply to this additional 3%.
The base, category, and first-year rewards total 6% cash back before the relationship bonus. This account’s relationship bonus brings the total to 7.5%—$3.45 in pending cash back on our $46 purchase.
What we noticed about pickup: Grocery pickup can save time because you can skip shopping the aisles, but someone else chooses your produce. In our Vons test, the bananas looked good but were less ripe than we preferred. Vons lets shoppers add item-preference notes and choose whether to allow substitutions, so specify your preferred ripeness and review substitution settings before checkout. Check produce and frozen items when you collect your order.
Important limitation: This documents one Vons.com pickup purchase. It does not guarantee that every Vons order or every grocery retailer will be coded as an eligible Online Shopping purchase. Merchant reporting determines eligibility.
Does online grocery pickup actually save money?
It can, but only if the extra cash back is greater than any pickup fees, price differences, tips, or other added costs.
Compare the same basket after discounts, fees, tips, and cash back. With the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card, select Online Shopping and pay online. Eligible new cardholders during the first year from account opening can earn 6% on qualifying online purchases in the first year, versus 2% at grocery stores.
For a hypothetical $150 grocery basket after discounts, the comparison looks like this:
| Hypothetical shopping option | Total charged | Cash back | Cost after cash back |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-store purchase earning 2% | $150 | $3.00 | $147.00 |
| Online pickup earning 6%, no extra cost | $150 | $9.00 | $141.00 |
| Online pickup earning 6%, with $10 in extra costs | $160 | $9.60 | $150.40 |
Result: Pickup saves $6 when there are no added costs, but it costs $3.40 more when the online order adds $10 in extra costs, after rewards.
When do extra costs erase the extra cash back?
Break-even is when added online costs cancel out the extra cash back. Count all extra costs, including pickup fees, higher prices, and tips.
For this hypothetical $150 basket, the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card’s eligible first-year 6% Online Shopping rate versus 2% at grocery stores puts break-even at about $6.38 in total extra costs, assuming the full online charge earns 6%. Below that break-even point, pickup costs less after cash back; above it, buying in-store costs less overall.
The break-even calculation for this $150 basket is:
$150 × (0.06 − 0.02) ÷ 0.94 = $6.38 in extra costs (rounded)
Here, 0.94 is 1 − 6%, assuming the entire online charge earns 6%. The break-even online total is about $156.38 after discounts and fees, before cash back. If the added costs themselves earn no rewards, the threshold is $6 in extra costs.
After year one: The standard 3% Online Shopping rate versus 2% at grocery stores lowers the break-even point to about $1.55 in total extra costs on the same $150 basket, assuming the full online charge earns 3%.
These are Wise Bread illustrative calculations, not results from the Vons transaction. Unless noted, the examples assume the full charge earns the stated cash-back rate; BofA Rewards relationship bonuses and credit-card interest are excluded. Each purchase must fit within the unused portion of the $2,500 combined quarterly spending cap for the choice category, grocery stores, and wholesale clubs.
How much of the $2,500 quarterly spend cap will groceries use?
The Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card’s $2,500 quarterly spending cap is shared across choice-category, grocery-store, and wholesale-club purchases.
Example: At $600 per month, qualifying grocery pickup totals $1,800 per quarter. At 6%, those purchases earn $108 cash back, compared with $36 at the 2% grocery-store rate—a difference of $72.
That $1,800 in quarterly spending leaves $700 under the combined $2,500 cap, assuming no other qualifying choice-category, grocery-store, or wholesale-club purchases have used the cap and the full quarter falls within the eligible first-year offer.
Does the grocery pickup strategy still work after year one?
Yes, potentially. Without a BofA Rewards relationship bonus, qualifying Online Shopping purchases earn 3% after the first-year offer ends, versus 2% for grocery-store purchases. With BofA Rewards, those rates increase to 3.3%-5.25% and 2.2%-3.5%, respectively, depending on the member’s tier.
On a $150 basket, qualifying online pickup earns $1.50 more than an in-store grocery purchase at the standard 3% versus 2% rate. With BofA Rewards, the difference is $1.65 to about $2.63, depending on the tier—before additional costs and while the purchases remain within the shared quarterly cap. Pickup fees or other added costs can erase that advantage.
BofA Rewards Member tier has no membership fee or minimum balance requirement, but participation requires enrollment and an eligible Bank of America personal checking account. Monthly checking-account fees may apply if waiver requirements are not met.
Can online pickup also work at drugstores?
Potentially, online pickup can work at drugstores. Applying Bank of America’s Online Shopping rules, eligible drugstore orders placed and paid for online for in-store pickup may qualify for the Online Shopping choice-category bonus, depending on merchant reporting. Drug Stores is also a separate selectable category. The potential advantage of keeping Online Shopping selected is that one choice category may cover qualifying online purchases from both grocery retailers and drugstores, rather than requiring a category switch.
See Best Credit Card for Pharmacy Purchases in 2026 for BofA’s drugstore rewards and our CVS pickup test, which also qualified for the Online Shopping category bonus.
Frequently asked questions about grocery pickup and Bank of America Online Shopping
Can grocery pickup earn 6% cash back with the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card?
Yes. Eligible grocery pickup orders paid through a retailer’s website or app can earn 6% when Online Shopping is selected and the account is within an eligible first-year offer. Eligibility depends on merchant reporting, and the shared $2,500 quarterly spend cap applies.
Does ordering groceries online and paying at pickup qualify for Online Shopping?
No. Bank of America excludes purchases ordered online but paid for in-store from the Online Shopping choice-category bonus. Paying at the register with a phone, digital wallet, or contactless payment device does not turn an in-store payment into an Online Shopping purchase.
What if Vons finalizes my credit card charge on pickup day?
That does not, by itself, mean you paid in-store. Vons says it pre-authorizes the estimated total when you place an order online, then finalizes the actual order amount on the day of delivery or pickup. The key distinction for this strategy is completing checkout and payment online rather than paying at the counter; Bank of America rewards eligibility still depends on merchant reporting.
Do I need to select Online Shopping every month?
No. Bank of America says your choice category stays selected until you change it. You can change the category once each calendar month, and a change applies to future purchases.
Can I use Vons for U offers and still earn credit card cash back?
Yes. Vons says eligible Vons for U offers apply to online grocery orders when the account used for online grocery shopping is the same as, or linked to, the Vons for U loyalty account.
In Wise Bread’s test, the Vons.com checkout summary shows $5 in “Vons for U savings,” and the matching Bank of America rewards record shows pending Online Shopping cash back on the $46 charge after discounts. See the transaction evidence above.
Can I get extra discounts by ordering groceries online for pickup?
Yes. During Wise Bread’s September 2026 Vons.com test, the site displayed an offer for $30 off an order of $75 or more with code SAVE30. Vons states that the offer applies to a qualifying first online pickup or delivery order placed through a company-owned website or app and is limited to one use per household.
With the Bank of America Customized Cash Rewards card, select Online Shopping and pay online. Eligible purchases earn the applicable category rate on the amount charged after discounts, subject to the shared quarterly spend cap.
Can existing cardholders unlock 6% cash back by switching to Online Shopping?
Not simply by switching categories. The 6% rate combines the standard 3% choice-category rate with a separate 3% first-year cash-back bonus on eligible accounts during the first year from account opening. Changing the choice category does not start or extend the first-year offer.
The bottom line: Pay online, verify the reward, and compare the final cost
Use grocery pickup for purchases already in your budget. Select Online Shopping before you buy, complete checkout and payment through the retailer’s website or app, confirm how the transaction is categorized after it posts, compare the final price after fees and discounts, and leave room under the $2,500 combined quarterly spend cap.
The goal is to earn more cash back on the same groceries—not to spend more to earn rewards.
