Bank of America customers are earning 0.01% on their savings accounts.
It means $10,000 parked in a standard BofA savings account earns roughly one dollar over an entire year.
Meanwhile, a growing list of online banks and credit unions are paying between 4% and 5% on the same money.
On that same $10,000, the difference is about $400 to $500 annually.
The gap has widened dramatically since the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates in 2022.
Big banks like Bank of America are flush with deposits.
They do not need to lure new customers with high rates, so they don't.
Online banks, which lack costly branch networks, compete by passing higher yields to savers.
It is a classic case of customer inertia meeting corporate math.
The Fed's rate hikes were designed to cool inflation, and they did slow price growth.
But they also handed savers a rare opportunity that many are missing.
Grocery bills, rent, and credit card APRs all climbed during the same period.
For households feeling squeezed, the interest left on the table is real money that could offset those higher costs.
BofA does offer higher yields through its Preferred Rewards program, but those rates typically require large combined balances across checking, savings, and investment accounts.
The top tier still often trails what a basic online savings account pays with no strings attached.
Switching does not have to be all-or-nothing.
Many people keep their checking account at a big bank for ATMs and branches while moving emergency savings to a high-yield account elsewhere.
Transfers between banks usually take one to two business days, and federal insurance still covers up to $250,000 per depositor, per institution.
One caveat: high-yield rates are variable.
If the Fed cuts rates, those 4% to 5% yields will drift lower.
But even at 3%, an online account still beats 0.01% by a wide margin.
The catch is that some promotional rates come with minimum balance requirements or monthly direct deposit rules, so read the fine print.
For anyone carrying credit card debt at 20% or higher, paying that down first usually beats chasing yield.
But for cash you need liquid and safe, leaving it in a near-zero account is a quiet, ongoing loss.
The math is not complicated, and it does not require a financial advisor to see.
Our take: loyalty to a big bank's savings account is costing the average saver hundreds of dollars a year, and most people will never notice because the statement looks normal.
A 20-minute comparison of online rates could be one of the highest-paid hours of your financial year.
Final Thoughts
Just remember that rates move, so check back periodically rather than setting it and forgetting it.