Bank of America customers holding money in a standard savings account are earning 0.01% APY, according to the bank's published rate sheet.
A $10,000 balance generates about one dollar of interest over a full year.
Meanwhile, the same $10,000 parked in a top-yielding online savings account can bring in roughly $400 annually at current rates near 4%.
The gap between those two numbers is the single biggest pricing decision millions of Americans never make.
The reason the big-bank rate stays low is simple: it doesn't have to move.
Bank of America's savings product is a default, not a destination.
Customers land there automatically when they open a checking account, and inertia does the rest.
The bank pays almost nothing on deposits while lending that money out at market rates — a spread that shows up in its quarterly earnings.
Without thousands of branches to maintain, they compete on yield to pull in deposits.
That's why names like Ally, Marcus, and Synchrony consistently sit near the top of rate tables while legacy banks stay pinned near zero.
The Federal Reserve's rate path matters here too.
After the aggressive hikes of 2022 and 2023, many online accounts climbed above 5%.
As the Fed has eased, those yields have drifted down to the 4% range — still hundreds of times higher than what Bank of America pays on its base savings tier.
Worth noting: Bank of America does offer a higher-yield tier, but it comes with strings.
Preferred Rewards members can earn more, though qualifying typically requires maintaining substantial combined balances across accounts.
If you're already there, check your current rate.
If you're not, you're likely in the 0.01% pool.
Opening a high-yield savings account takes minutes online, and transfers between banks usually clear within a few business days.
The main friction is psychological — people stay with the bank where their checking account lives out of habit.
One practical approach: keep checking at Bank of America if you rely on its branches and ATM network, but move your savings elsewhere.
There's no rule requiring your emergency fund to sit in the same building as your debit card.
On a $20,000 balance, the difference between 0.01% and 4% is roughly $800 a year.
Over five years, with rates holding anywhere close to current levels, that gap approaches a used car.
Our take: leaving savings in a 0.01% account is one of the most expensive defaults in personal finance, and it happens to millions of people precisely because nobody sends them a letter about it.
Final Thoughts
Spend ten minutes checking your current APY this week — the number on your statement might be the most actionable piece of financial information you'll read all month.