Bank of America customers are earning a fraction of what they could get elsewhere.
The bank's flagship savings account pays just 0.01% APY, a rate that has barely budged even after years of Federal Reserve hikes pushed competitors well above 4%.
Put plainly: $10,000 parked there earns about $1 a year.
The same balance in a top-yielding online savings account at roughly 4.25% would generate around $425.
That gap is money customers are quietly handing over for the convenience of a familiar logo.
Big banks with millions of customers don't need to compete on rates.
They compete on branch access, ATMs, and brand trust.
Online banks like Ally, Marcus, and Synchrony have no branch network to fund, so they pass the savings back to depositors as higher yields.
Even Bank of America's own premium tier doesn't move the needle much.
Preferred Rewards members can get slightly better rates, but the top tiers still land well under 0.05% APY — still pennies on the dollar compared to what's available in the same market.
There's also a structural advantage working against savers.
Checking and savings accounts at the same bank feel sticky.
Automatic bill pay, direct deposit, and linked debit cards make switching feel like a hassle, so most customers never shop around.
The good news is that moving money is easier than most people think.
You don't have to close your Bank of America checking account to earn more.
Open a high-yield savings account online in about 10 minutes, link it to your existing account, and transfer funds electronically.
Transfers typically take one to three business days.
Confirm the account is FDIC-insured, watch for monthly fees or minimum balance requirements, and check whether the advertised rate is a promotional teaser that drops after a few months.
Some accounts also limit withdrawals, though federal rules no longer cap them the way they once did.
For emergency funds and short-term savings, the math is hard to argue with.
Keeping a small buffer at Bank of America for instant access makes sense.
Parking your entire savings there does not.
Rate-shopping isn't about loyalty or risk.
It's about getting paid for money you've already set aside.
A single afternoon of comparison shopping can be worth hundreds of dollars a year.
Our take: big-bank savings accounts are built for convenience, not yield, and customers who never check the rate are the ones funding that trade-off.
Final Thoughts
If you're leaving meaningful cash at 0.01%, you're not being conservative — you're just leaving money on the table.