Bank of America is paying 0.01% on its standard savings account.
On $10,000 parked there for a year, you earn about a dollar — less than a single candy bar, and that's before inflation quietly eats the rest.
The gap matters more than ever because the Federal Reserve has kept its benchmark rate elevated for months.
Online banks and money market funds have used that window to pay 4% or more.
Meanwhile, the big four banks are sitting on a mountain of near-zero deposits, and that spread is a big part of why their earnings stay plump.
Move $10,000 from a 0.01% account into a 4.25% high-yield savings account and you're looking at roughly $425 a year instead of a buck.
That's a car insurance payment, a few weeks of groceries, or a chunk of a credit card balance — money most households would notice.
Bank of America does offer higher rates through its Preferred Rewards program, but there's a catch.
You generally need $20,000 to $100,000 in combined balances to unlock the better tiers, and even then the top savings yields often land well below what online competitors advertise.
In other words, the reward for loyalty is a smaller penalty, not a great deal.
This is the standard playbook: pay little on deposits, lend that money out at much higher rates, and keep the difference.
It worked beautifully for decades because switching banks felt like a hassle.
That friction is exactly what's being monetized.
What's changed is how easy the alternative has become.
Opening a high-yield account online takes about ten minutes, often with no minimum and no monthly fee.
Transfers between banks typically clear in one to three business days.
The main things to check are FDIC insurance, any balance caps on the top rate, and whether the account limits withdrawals.
A few practical notes before you move anything.
Keep your checking account where your direct deposit and bills live if switching is a headache — you don't have to leave Bank of America entirely.
Just stop treating savings as a place to store cash out of habit.
Also watch for promotional rates that quietly drop after a few months, and confirm the account is FDIC-insured rather than a fintech middleman holding your funds elsewhere.
If you have three to six months of expenses sitting in a low-yield account, that's the pile to relocate.
Money you'll need in the next few weeks for rent or a big bill should probably stay put.
One more thing worth doing: check what your current bank actually pays.
A lot of people assume they're earning something reasonable and never look.
Log in, find the rate, and compare it against what's available.
The number is usually worse than people guess.
The broader takeaway is that loyalty to a big bank brand is now a measurable cost, and it shows up as forgone interest rather than a fee you can see.
In a year when every dollar of household budget is under scrutiny, a 0.01% savings rate is one of the most expensive defaults in personal finance.
Final Thoughts
Moving your cash isn't a risky bet — it's just reading the number on the screen and acting on it.