Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, is paying some savings customers as little as 0.01% annual percentage yield — a rate that hasn't budged much even after the Federal Reserve pushed its benchmark rate to a two-decade high.
On a $10,000 balance, that's about a dollar a year.
Meanwhile, the same bank was charging interest rates north of 20% on many credit cards and pocketing the difference.
Big banks with millions of customers know most people don't shop around for a better savings account, so they have little incentive to pay up.
The gap between what banks earn on your deposits and what they hand back is called the "spread," and it's one of the most profitable, least discussed arrangements in American finance.
As of this writing, the national average savings rate sits around 0.4% to 0.6%, depending on who's counting, while many online banks and credit unions are offering 4% or more on high-yield savings accounts.
Park $10,000 in a 4% account and you'd earn roughly $400 a year.
Leave it at Bank of America's lowest tier and you might earn one dollar.
That's a difference of about $399 — enough to cover a month of groceries for a family of four.
Bank of America does offer a higher-yield option, but there's a catch: its "Preferred Rewards" tiers require you to hold thousands in combined balances across checking, savings, and investment accounts.
The top tier, which pays closer to 0.04%, requires a $100,000 balance.
So the customers who could most use a break — the ones with a few thousand in savings — are the ones getting the least.
There's a fairness argument here, and a practical one.
Banks argue they provide branches, ATMs, fraud protection, and the convenience of a full-service relationship.
But it's also true that deposit insurance covers you up to $250,000 per depositor at any FDIC-insured bank, whether you're at a megabank or a tiny online one.
Your money isn't safer at Bank of America.
The quiet part is how much this adds up across the country.
U.S. households hold trillions in deposits.
Even a fraction of a percentage point of foregone interest represents billions in lost household income every year — money that doesn't flow into groceries, rent, or retirement accounts.
If you're a Bank of America customer, it's worth checking your current APY.
Log in, find your savings statement, and look for the interest rate disclosure.
If it's 0.01%, you're essentially letting the bank borrow your money for free.
Moving even part of your emergency fund to a federally insured high-yield account is a fifteen-minute task that could pay hundreds a year.
That said, high-yield accounts come with trade-offs.
Some have minimum balances, limited transfers, or no physical branches.
Rates fluctuate with the Fed, so today's 4% could become tomorrow's 2%.
And there's no guarantee any bank keeps its rate where it is.
The point isn't to chase the highest number — it's to stop accepting the lowest one without asking why.
Banks are businesses, not charities, and they'll pay depositors the least the market lets them get away with.
That's not scandalous; it's just how it works.
Final Thoughts
The scandal is how few Americans ever check.