Bank of America customers hoping their savings account is finally keeping pace with inflation are in for the same old disappointment.
The bank's flagship savings rate still sits at a measly 0.01% annual percentage yield, a figure that has barely budged even as the Federal Reserve spent years pushing interest rates higher.
That means $10,000 parked in a standard BofA savings account earns about a dollar a year.
Meanwhile, a growing list of online banks and even some traditional competitors are offering yields north of 4%, with a few topping 5% on high-yield savings accounts.
It is the difference between a savings account that slowly grows and one that quietly shrinks once inflation is factored in.
At 0.01%, your money loses purchasing power every single month.
Here is the uncomfortable question: why does the second-largest bank in the country pay so little when it clearly does not have to?
The answer is that it does not need your deposits badly enough.
Bank of America holds trillions in customer money, and a huge chunk of it sits in checking accounts that pay nothing at all.
Customers who keep their checking, savings, and direct deposit under one roof tend to stay put out of habit, convenience, or plain inertia.
A customer with $20,000 in savings is essentially handing the bank hundreds of dollars a year in forgone interest, a quiet subsidy that shows up nowhere on a statement.
Every major online bank offering 4% or more still provides FDIC insurance, mobile check deposit, and debit cards.
BofA runs thousands of branches, pays for a massive workforce, and spends heavily on marketing.
Someone has to cover those costs, and it is usually the depositor earning a penny on the dollar.
The bank will point out that its savings rate is variable and that customers can explore certificates of deposit for higher returns.
That is true, but BofA's CD rates also trail the best online offers by a wide margin in most terms.
The message is consistent: if you want a real return, look elsewhere.
Switching is not as painful as it sounds.
Opening a high-yield account online typically takes under 15 minutes.
You link your old bank, transfer the balance, and keep your BofA checking account if you still want branch access and ATMs.
Some high-yield accounts require a minimum balance or have monthly fees that eat into the yield.
Promotional rates can drop after a few months.
And moving money out of BofA will not happen overnight, so plan for a few days of transfer time.
Leaving a bank you have used for 20 years feels disloyal, even when the bank has shown no loyalty in return.
But a savings account is a product, not a relationship.
If a competitor pays 400 times more for the same FDIC protection, the math makes the decision for you.
The uncomfortable truth is that BofA's 0.01% rate is not an oversight.
It is a business decision that works beautifully for shareholders and poorly for savers.
As long as enough customers never check the rate, nothing changes.
Final Thoughts
The only real leverage you have is your balance, and the only way to use it is to move it.