Bank of America's flagship savings account is paying a fraction of what competitors offer, and the gap has widened into one of the most expensive loyalty taxes in American banking.
The bank's Advantage Savings account currently yields just 0.01% on standard balances, according to its published rate sheet.
That's one cent for every $100 you park there for a year.
Meanwhile, a wave of online banks and even some traditional rivals are paying north of 4% on the same money.
It's the cost of a car payment, a vacation, or several months of groceries for households that keep real cash reserves on deposit.
At 4%, you'd earn roughly $400 over a year.
That's not a savings account — it's a storage locker with a monthly fee disguised as a missed opportunity.
Bank of America does offer a higher tier, but it comes with conditions.
Preferred Rewards members can earn elevated rates, though the top tiers generally require combined balances of $100,000 or more across the bank.
For the typical household with a few thousand dollars saved, the headline rate is the one that applies.
The biggest names in U.S. banking have long paid depositors far less than what they earn lending that money out or parking it at the Federal Reserve.
The gap between the average savings rate and the best available rates has hovered near record levels for two years running.
During the era of near-zero interest rates, everyone paid almost nothing.
Now the Fed's benchmark rate sits well above where it was in 2021, and online banks have passed that along to customers.
The mega-banks largely haven't, because they don't have to.
Their customers stay for the branches, the app, the ATM network, and the inertia of a checking account that's been open since college.
On a $20,000 emergency fund — a reasonable target for a two-income household — the annual difference between 0.01% and 4% is roughly $800.
That's real money for a family already stretched by grocery bills and rent.
The fix is simpler than most people assume.
You can keep the checking account for bills and direct deposit, then move the savings balance to a high-yield account elsewhere.
Transfers between banks typically take one to two business days, and many online accounts have no minimums or monthly fees.
High-yield savings rates are variable and can drop if the Fed cuts rates, so don't lock in expectations.
Some promotional rates apply only to new customers or require direct deposit.
And keeping too little in your primary bank can sometimes trigger maintenance fees, so check your account terms before moving every last dollar.
Banks have gotten aggressive about steering depositors into certificates of deposit or advisory products when they call to complain about rates.
A CD can make sense if you won't touch the money for a set period, but it isn't a savings account, and early withdrawal penalties can wipe out the gain.
For most households, the practical move is boring: leave enough in checking to cover a month of bills, keep the emergency fund somewhere that actually pays, and revisit the numbers once a year.
Loyalty to a bank logo has never paid anyone a dime.
The uncomfortable truth is that low savings rates aren't a secret — they're a business model.
Big banks are betting you won't check, won't compare, and won't move.
Final Thoughts
For a few hundred dollars a year, that bet is worth proving wrong.