Bank of America customers holding cash in a standard savings account are earning almost nothing on it.
The bank's headline savings rate has hovered around 0.01% for years, and that number has barely budged even as the Federal Reserve has kept its benchmark rate in a range of 4.25% to 4.50% for much of the past year.
On a $10,000 balance, 0.01% earns about $1 a year.
The same money in a top-yielding online savings account paying roughly 4% would earn around $400 — a difference of nearly $399 for doing nothing more than moving the cash.
This isn't a Bank of America problem alone.
The biggest U.S. banks have long paid a fraction of what smaller online banks offer, betting that customers value branch access, familiar apps and the hassle-free feeling of keeping everything in one place.
The Federal Reserve doesn't set savings rates directly.
It sets the federal funds rate, which is what banks charge each other overnight.
When that rate rises, banks can earn more on the money they hold.
Many of the largest banks don't, because deposits keep flowing in anyway.
Bank of America has pointed to its broader deposit base and relationship pricing when asked about the low rate.
Customers with larger combined balances across checking, savings and investment accounts can sometimes qualify for higher tiers through the bank's Preferred Rewards program — but even those tiers tend to pay well under what an online-only bank offers.
Americans are carrying record credit card balances, and the average card APR has stayed above 20% for two straight years.
That means many households are borrowing at 20%-plus while their savings sit at 0.01% — a spread that quietly works against them every month.
Food-at-home prices have climbed more than 20% since early 2020, and rent has risen faster than wages in many metros.
With less slack in the monthly budget, moving savings feels like a chore rather than a priority — which is exactly the inertia big banks count on.
There's no rule that says your emergency fund has to live where your checking account does.
A high-yield savings account at an online bank typically takes minutes to open, is FDIC-insured up to $250,000 per depositor, and can be linked to your existing checking account for transfers.
The trade-off is usually no branches and sometimes slower transfers.
A few practical steps: check the current rate on your savings account, not the rate you remember opening it at.
Compare it against the top yields available today.
If the gap is more than a percentage point, run the math on your balance and decide whether the switch is worth an afternoon of setup.
They track the Fed, so they'll fall if the Fed cuts.
But they'll still almost certainly outpace 0.01%, and that's the real comparison. **The takeaway:** Loyalty to a big bank's savings account is one of the most expensive habits in personal finance, and it rarely feels like a decision at all.
A dollar a year on $10,000 isn't a return — it's a rounding error dressed up as a feature.
Final Thoughts
Checking your rate takes five minutes; not checking it costs you every month.