Bank of America customers checking their savings statements this month are seeing the same number they've seen for years: 0.01%.
That's the standard rate on the bank's basic savings account, and it hasn't budged even as the Federal Reserve spent 2022 and 2023 pushing interest rates to their highest level in two decades.
Meanwhile, the average grocery bill for a family of four has climbed roughly 25% since early 2020, according to USDA data.
Rent is up more than 20% in most metro areas over the same stretch.
So the money sitting in that low-yield account is losing purchasing power twice as fast — once to inflation, and again to a rate that rounds to zero.
Park $10,000 in a Bank of America standard savings account for a year and you earn about $1.
The same $10,000 in a high-yield savings account paying 4% or more earns roughly $400.
That's not a rounding error — it's a month of groceries, a utility bill, or a chunk of a credit card balance.
The gap exists because big banks don't have to compete for deposits the way online banks do.
Bank of America's advantage is its branch network and its app, not its savings rate.
Customers stay for convenience — direct deposit, Zelle, the ATM on the corner — and the bank knows it.
Switching costs are real, and so is inertia.
Bank of America does offer a higher-tier option, the Preferred Rewards program, which bumps savings rates for customers who keep larger combined balances across checking, savings, and investments.
But even those tiers have historically paid a fraction of what online competitors offer.
You generally need $20,000 or more parked at the bank to qualify for the lowest tier.
If you're carrying credit card debt at 20%+ APR, paying that down beats chasing yield anywhere.
If you have an emergency fund sitting idle, though, the difference between 0.01% and 4% compounds fast.
A $15,000 emergency fund earns about $1.50 a year at Bank of America versus roughly $600 at a competitive online account.
The catch with high-yield accounts: they're usually online-only, transfers can take a day or two, and some require minimum balances or direct deposit to unlock the best rate.
That's the trade-off — convenience versus yield.
Many households split the difference, keeping a month of expenses at the big bank for quick access and moving the rest to a higher-yielding account.
The Fed has signaled cuts ahead, and high-yield savings rates will drift down with them.
But 3% still beats 0.01% by a wide margin, and the window to lock in a better rate may be closing.
The move takes about 20 minutes online — far less time than it takes to notice the money quietly leaking out of your account each month.
The uncomfortable truth is that loyalty to a big bank rarely pays.
Banks count on customers not checking, not comparing, and not moving.
The rate on your statement isn't a reflection of your value as a customer — it's a reflection of how much the bank thinks it can get away with.
Final Thoughts
Checking that number, and acting on it, is one of the few financial moves that costs nothing and pays immediately.