Bank of America's standard savings account still pays a rate that starts with a zero.
As of early 2026, the bank's everyday savings yield sits at just 0.01% annual percentage yield, the same rock-bottom figure it has held for years.
On a $10,000 balance, that works out to about one dollar a year in interest.
Meanwhile, the same bank is promoting a different savings product with a much bigger number attached.
Its Preferred Rewards program tiers can push savings yields meaningfully higher for customers who park serious money at the bank and hit balance requirements across accounts.
The catch is that those rates only unlock once you qualify, and most everyday savers do not.
The bank pays next to nothing on the account most people actually open, while dangling better rates in front of customers who already have tens of thousands of dollars sitting there.
It is a loyalty program dressed up as a savings account.
National averages for traditional savings accounts hovered near 0.4% to 0.6% through late 2025, according to federal deposit data, while top online banks have spent the past two years paying in the 3.5% to 4.5% range.
Moving $15,000 from a 0.01% account to a 4% account is roughly $600 a year, money that vanishes quietly if you never check.
The reason big banks get away with it comes down to inertia.
Switching savings accounts sounds like a hassle, so millions of people leave cash parked where their checking account lives and never look at the yield again.
There is also a real trade-off worth naming.
Online banks often lack branches, and moving money between institutions can take a day or two.
For some households, the convenience of instant transfers and a familiar app is worth something.
But it is rarely worth $600 a year on a mid-size balance.
If you want to stay at Bank of America, the practical move is to check whether you qualify for a Preferred Rewards tier and what rate that actually gets you.
If you do not qualify, or the math still comes up short, open a high-yield savings account elsewhere and treat it as your emergency fund.
Keep a small buffer at the big bank for bills, and let the rest earn something closer to the market rate.
Some big-bank savings accounts carry monthly maintenance charges that can quietly eat whatever interest you do earn unless you meet a minimum balance.
Read the fee schedule before you decide anything is fine as-is.
The bottom line is that the rate on your savings account is not a fact of nature.
It is a number the bank chose, and it changes the moment enough customers notice.
Final Thoughts
A few minutes comparing yields is one of the highest-paid chores in personal finance, and most people skip it every single year.