Starbucks and BofA roll out coffee and cash-back rewards

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Starbucks and Bank of America began a joint rewards program on Thursday aimed at retaining tens of millions of shared customers, the companies said.

Any of BofA's 45 million cardholders who link their accounts with Starbucks Rewards accounts will get 2% cash back for purchases at the coffee chain, the companies said in a statement. For every $2 spent at Starbucks, customers will get an extra "star" to trade in for drinks, food and other products.

“We want to be a part of every transaction they do, big or small,” said Shikha Narula, head of consumer and small business rewards at BofA, which is the second largest U.S. lender.

Starbucks' loyalty program, which began in 2009, has about 34.3 million rewards members whose purchases account for a majority of its U.S. revenue, according to the company's fiscal first-quarter earnings.

The partnership with BofA is meant to bring “new value and new utility” to participating customers, said Ryan Butz, vice president of loyalty strategy and marketing at Starbucks.

The deal adds to Starbucks' existing joint program with Delta Air Lines. In November, the coffee company said it would announce two rewards partnerships, one of which is the BofA tie-up, and another with a “world-class hospitality company” that has yet to be announced.

(Reporting by Waylon Cunningham in San Antonio and Lananh Nguyen in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)