Bank of America is one of the largest banks in the country, with branches on nearly every other corner and an app that millions of Americans open daily.
It is also paying a fraction of what many online banks offer on savings accounts.
As of this writing, the bank's standard savings rate sits around 0.01% APY, a number that has barely budged even as the Federal Reserve spent years pushing interest rates higher.
That gap matters more than most people realize.
If you keep $10,000 in a typical big-bank savings account at 0.01%, you earn about a dollar a year.
Park the same money in a high-yield savings account paying 4% or more, and you're looking at roughly $400.
Same money, same risk profile, four hundred times the payout.
Because switching is annoying, and the big banks know it.
Automatic bill pay, direct deposit, the familiar app, the branch down the street — these are the invisible hooks that keep deposits parked in low-yield accounts year after year.
It's just a business model built on inertia.
Bank of America does offer higher rates through its Preferred Rewards program, but there's a catch.
You generally need to hold tens of thousands of dollars across your accounts to qualify for the better tiers, and even then the rates often trail what you can get from an online-only bank with no minimum balance.
In other words, you may need to already have money to earn money on your money.
The bigger question is who benefits from this arrangement.
When you leave cash sitting at 0.01%, the bank lends that money out or parks it in safe securities earning far more, and keeps the difference.
That spread is a core part of how big banks profit.
None of this means you should panic or move everything tomorrow.
Brick-and-mortar banks still offer things online banks don't: physical branches, in-person help, notary services, and a sense of security for people who don't trust an app-only institution.
For some households, that's worth the trade-off.
But it's worth running the math on your own balance.
Look at what you actually keep in savings, multiply it by the rate you're earning, and compare it to a realistic high-yield alternative.
Many people are surprised to find they're giving up hundreds of dollars a year for the privilege of keeping their money where it already is.
If you do decide to move some cash, the mechanics are simpler than they sound.
Open the new account, link it to your existing bank, and transfer a chunk at a time.
Keep your checking account where it is if you like the branch access — you don't have to break up with your bank entirely, just stop letting it hold your savings hostage.
One more thing worth watching: rates on high-yield accounts aren't locked in forever.
They rise and fall with the broader rate environment, so a 4% offer today could drift lower next year.
The point isn't to chase the single highest number.
It's to stop accepting a near-zero one out of habit.
The bottom line: a big-name bank on the corner isn't automatically looking out for your best interest, and a 0.01% rate is a choice someone made — not a fact of nature.
Spend ten minutes checking what you're actually earning, and let the number decide.
Final Thoughts
Your loyalty is worth something, but probably not a dollar a year.