Bank of America's flagship savings account is still paying 0.01% APY, and that number has barely budged even as the Federal Reserve spent years pushing interest rates higher.
On a $10,000 balance, that works out to roughly one dollar a year.
The bank does offer a higher-tier option, the Preferred Rewards program, which can push savings yields to around 0.04% APY for top-tier customers.
That's still a rounding error compared to what online banks and money market funds have been paying, with many of those accounts sitting between 4% and 5% APY for much of the past two years.
A saver with $10,000 in a high-yield account earning 4.25% would collect about $425 in a year.
The same money sitting in a standard Bank of America savings account earns about $1.
The difference isn't a fee or a hidden charge — it's simply the rate the bank chooses to pay.
Branch access, a familiar app, direct deposit already set up, and the feeling that moving money is a hassle.
Those are real reasons, but they're also the reasons banks count on customers not to move.
Bank of America isn't doing anything illegal here.
Savings rates are set by each institution, and big banks have long paid far less than their online-only competitors because they don't need to compete for deposits the same way.
The trade-off is that you get branches and ATMs; you give up yield.
Worth noting: the Fed has been cutting rates, so the 4% to 5% era on high-yield savings may be cooling off.
Even at 3.5% or 4%, an online account still pays hundreds of times more than 0.01%.
If you're a Bank of America customer, the practical move is to check what your savings is actually earning right now.
Log in, find the APY, and run the numbers on your balance.
If it's 0.01%, you're not alone — but you're also not stuck.
You don't have to close your checking account to fix this.
Many people keep their everyday bank for bills and direct deposit, then park emergency savings at an online bank or credit union with a higher rate.
Transfers between them usually take a day or two, which is fine for money you're not touching weekly.
One caution: chase the rate, not the hype.
Some accounts advertise high teaser rates that drop after a few months, and some come with minimum balance requirements or monthly fees that eat into the gain.
Read the fine print and compare the ongoing APY, not the promotional one.
The bottom line is that loyalty to a big bank's savings account is quietly costing American households real money every month.
A few clicks to compare rates won't make anyone rich, but on a $10,000 balance it's the difference between a dollar and a few hundred.
Final Thoughts
That's not a gimmick — that's just arithmetic.