Bank of America customers are earning a fraction of what their money could be making elsewhere, and with grocery bills still stubbornly high, that gap is starting to sting.
The bank's standard savings account pays a rate that most Americans would struggle to notice on their monthly statement.
Meanwhile, the same money parked in a high-yield account at an online bank could be earning several times more.
If you keep $10,000 in a typical big-bank savings account, you might earn enough over a year to cover a couple of trips to the grocery store.
Move that same $10,000 to a competitive online savings account, and you're looking at hundreds of dollars instead.
That's a car payment, a utility bill, or a month of groceries.
The Federal Reserve spent years pushing interest rates higher to fight inflation.
Those hikes eventually showed up in mortgage rates and credit card APRs almost immediately.
They did not show up in most traditional savings accounts.
Big banks have little incentive to pass along higher rates when customers rarely switch.
Loyalty, in this case, comes with a price tag.
Renters and homeowners feel this from both directions.
Rents climbed sharply over the past few years, and mortgage rates remain well above the lows of 2020 and 2021.
Every dollar sitting idle in a low-yield account is a dollar not working to offset those costs.
The cushion that savings is supposed to provide has gotten thinner.
Credit cards add another layer of pressure.
APRs on many cards sit above 20%, meaning carrying a balance costs far more than any savings account pays.
If you're holding cash in a low-rate account while carrying credit card debt, you're losing on both ends.
Paying down that balance is often the better move than chasing a slightly higher savings yield.
Start by checking the rate on your current savings account, which is usually buried in your online banking portal or statement.
Compare it to what's available at online banks, many of which have no minimums and are federally insured.
Moving money between banks takes minutes and doesn't require closing your existing account.
You don't have to abandon your primary bank.
Many people keep checking at a big bank for branches and ATMs while parking emergency savings somewhere that actually pays.
The point is making sure your money isn't quietly losing ground to inflation while you assume it's fine.
The gap between what big banks pay and what's available elsewhere isn't a secret, but it's easy to ignore when everything else costs more.
A few minutes of comparison shopping won't fix inflation, but it can put real dollars back in your pocket each month.
Final Thoughts
That's worth more than the convenience of doing nothing.