Bank of America customers are earning one penny for every $100 they keep in a standard savings account.
The bank's flagship savings rate sits at 0.01% annual percentage yield, where it has essentially been parked for years, even as the Federal Reserve's rate hikes pushed competitors into the 4% to 5% range.
The gap between what big banks pay and what online banks pay is now one of the widest in modern banking history.
According to Bankrate and DepositAccounts data, the average online savings account yields roughly 4% or more, while the national average for traditional savings accounts hovers near 0.5%.
Bank of America sits well below even that modest benchmark.
So why does the Charlotte-based giant keep the rate so low?
Customers stay for the branch network, the mobile app, the Zelle integration, and the inertia of a paycheck that lands every two weeks.
Switching banks is a hassle, and the bank knows that most people won't bother for a few extra dollars a month.
The math gets less abstract with real money.
Park $10,000 in a Bank of America savings account for a year and you earn about $1.
Move that same $10,000 to a high-yield account paying 4.25% and you'd earn roughly $425.
That difference isn't a rounding error — it's a car payment, a month of groceries, or a chunk of an emergency fund.
Bank of America does offer higher yields, but typically only through promotional CDs or its Preferred Rewards program, which requires qualifying balances across checking, savings, and investment accounts.
In other words, you often need to already have significant money with the bank to get a better rate on your money.
The tiers start at $20,000 in combined balances and climb from there.
Many Bank of America savings accounts carry a $8 monthly maintenance fee unless you meet balance or deposit requirements.
Paying to hold cash that earns almost nothing is a double hit, though the bank waives the fee for certain account holders and Preferred Rewards members.
The Federal Reserve has started cutting rates, which means the 4%-plus yields on online accounts won't last forever.
But even as those rates drift down, the spread between a 0.01% account and a 3.5% account remains enormous.
Rate cuts don't make a near-zero yield competitive — they just make the comparison slightly less painful.
If you have cash sitting in a big-bank savings account and you don't need same-day branch access to it, moving at least part of it to an FDIC-insured high-yield savings account is one of the simplest financial moves available.
You can keep your checking account at Bank of America for bill pay and direct deposit, and still park your savings where it earns real interest.
Just watch for transfer limits, account minimums, and whether the advertised rate is a promotional teaser that drops after a few months.
Our take: a 0.01% savings rate isn't a service, it's a business model built on customers not paying attention.
The bank is betting that convenience and habit are worth more to you than hundreds of dollars a year.
Final Thoughts
For a lot of people, that bet pays off — for the bank.