Bank of America Savings Review: Is It Worth It?

What Is Bank of America?

What Is Bank of America Savings and Who Is It For?

Bank of America’s savings product is called Bank of America Advantage Savings.

Bank of America savings isn’t going to earn you any money. It’s a very low-interest-rate product and unable to compete with many of the other high-interest savings account services on the market. If this product isn’t really for those looking to earn money off of their savings, whom is it for?

If you already have accounts at Bank of America and want to maintain a savings account for whatever reason, you are the ideal person to open a Bank of America savings account. There’s something to be said for ease of access and convenience when all of your accounts are connected and in one location. This goes double if you particularly like Bank of America.

The Bank of America savings account requires a $100 deposit to open. A $500 daily balance must be maintained to avoid fees.

If the balance drops below $500 during the day but goes back to $500 by the end of the day, the account will not be charged a fee. Students under 24 years of age and enrolled in high school, college, a university, or a vocational program may qualify for a fee waiver.

There are two other ways to avoid the maintenance fee:

• Link your Bank of America Advantage Savings account to your Bank of America Advantage Relationship Banking® account.
• Become a Bank of America Preferred Rewards client.

The Bank of America savings product has a tiered structure. The more money in the account, the more interest those funds will earn — at least that is what Bank of America says. After you view the tiered structure, rates change based on the Preferred Rewards client tier rather than savings balance. Here’s a summary of the tiers:

• Standard: 0.03%
• Gold: 0.04%
• Platinum: 0.05%
• Platinum Honors: 0.06%

As you can see, it doesn’t really matter which tier you are in as your money isn’t really going to notice the difference.

The Bank of America savings account includes the following services:

• Mobile check deposits
• Automatic transfers
• Custom alerts
• Overdraft protection
• FDIC insurance

Bank of America does offer several other savings products, including CDs, IRAs, and savings accounts for kids. If you’re thinking perhaps that Bank of America CDs offer better interest rates, you’d be right, but they are still far below what you can get on savings accounts at other banks.

How Does Bank of America Compare?

Here are the current top yielding savings accounts right now:

Are There Any Fees?

Yes — there are quite a few fees. These include the following:

• $8/month maintenance fee if you don’t meet the minimum balance requirement.
• You are allowed six transfers and withdrawals per statement. Going past this amount will result in a $10 fee for each additional transfer and withdrawal. If you maintain a $20,000 daily balance or are enrolled in the Preferred Rewards program, the fee is waived.
• Non-Bank of America ATM usage incurs a $2.50 fee within the U.S. plus any fees charged by the ATM operator. The fee is $5 outside of the U.S. plus ATM operator fees.
• Card replacements are $5.00 per card.
• Statement copies are $5.00 each.
• The non-Bank of America teller withdrawal fee is $5 per transaction or 3% of the dollar amount, up to a $10 maximum.

How Do I Open an Account?

Is My Money Safe?

Yes — like all U.S.-regulated banks, Bank of America is FDIC-insured.

Is It Worth It?