Bank of America is paying 0.01% on its standard savings account.
Yes, you read that right — one one-hundredth of one percent.
Less than the cost of a single item from the dollar menu, for keeping five figures parked at the second-largest bank in the country.
Meanwhile, the same bank happily charges interest rates in the high teens and low twenties on its credit cards.
The spread between what you earn and what you pay isn't a rounding error.
The Federal Reserve's benchmark rate has spent recent years well above zero, and plenty of online banks — Ally, Marcus, Synchrony, and others — have been paying north of 4% on plain savings accounts during that stretch.
The gap between 0.01% and 4% on a $10,000 balance is roughly $400 a year.
That's real grocery money, a car insurance payment, or a chunk of a monthly rent check, just sitting in a different institution.
The account is already linked to your checking, your direct deposit, your autopay.
Moving money feels like a chore, and the bank is counting on that feeling.
Branches and ATMs feel like a service, but you're paying for them with foregone interest whether you ever walk inside or not.
Some Bank of America savings accounts pay slightly better rates — but only if you keep thousands parked there or hit certain relationship thresholds.
It's a nudge to concentrate more of your money in an account that pays less than inflation, which means your balance is shrinking in real terms even when the number looks flat.
Chase, Wells Fargo, and most big brick-and-mortar banks run the same playbook.
The 0.01% figure isn't an outlier; it's the industry standard for customers who don't shop around.
The people who notice and leave subsidize nothing — they just stop donating.
If you want to check where you stand, log in and find the interest rate on your savings account.
It's usually buried a few screens deep, sometimes listed as "APY" and sometimes not shown at all.
If you can't find it in two minutes, that tells you something.
Open a high-yield savings account online, link it to your existing checking, and transfer what you don't need for monthly bills.
Keep a buffer at the big bank if the branch access genuinely matters to you.
You just have to stop letting the default option decide your return.
Some high-yield accounts have minimum balances, monthly limits on withdrawals, or promotional rates that drop after a few months.
A 4% teaser that falls to 1% in six months is still better than 0.01%, but read the terms before you move your emergency fund.
The uncomfortable truth is that loyalty to a big bank is a one-way street.
They'll waive your fee if you jump through hoops, but they won't pay you a competitive rate out of goodwill.
My take: this isn't a scandal, it's a pricing decision, and the only vote that counts is where your balance sits.
Banks aren't charities, and nobody should expect them to be — but customers shouldn't confuse convenience with a good deal either.
Final Thoughts
Five minutes of account-shopping can be worth more than a year of brand loyalty.