Dive Brief:
- Bank of America is raising its companywide U.S. minimum hourly wage to $21 from $20, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender said in a press release Wednesday. The move is meant as the next step in the bank’s plan to boost its minimum wage to $25 by 2025.
- The pay raise comes a day after BMO Harris Bank — the American arm of the Bank of Montreal — said it is boosting the minimum wage for its full- and part-time U.S. branch and call center employees by 20%, to $18 an hour from $15, effective Oct. 17.
- BMO's move parrots a raise PNC Bank announced in August — boosting its minimum wage from $15 to $18 effective Nov. 22 — and institutes it more than a month before the Pittsburgh-based bank.
Dive Insight:
If Bank of America reaches its $25-per-hour target on time, it will have bumped up its minimum wage by nearly $14, an hour since 2010, the bank said.
Wednesday's raise, effective date undisclosed, marks Bank of America's first minimum compensation boost since the first quarter of 2020, when it raised its bottom hourly wage to $20 a year ahead of schedule. The bank previously raised its minimum hourly wage to $17 in 2019 and to $15 in 2017.
“Our company’s focus on Responsible Growth requires that we provide a great place to work,” said Sheri Bronstein, Bank of America's chief human resources officer, in Wednesday's press release. “Today, we are taking another step forward ... demonstrating our commitment to sharing our success with teammates, and inspiring others to do the same.”
Similarly sized U.S. banks have done likewise over the past couple of years. Wells Fargo, in March 2020, said it would boost hourly wages to $20 in the highest-cost markets. JPMorgan Chase announced in 2019 it would raise hourly pay, depending on market, to between $16.50 and $20 per hour. And Citi bumped its minimum hourly wages to $15 in August 2019.
A $21-per-hour wage would put Bank of America’s minimum annualized salary at $43,680.
Ernie Johannson, BMO Financial Group's head of North American personal and business banking, said employees' financial health is part of their total well-being.
"We recognize the tremendous contributions and customer support our front-line financial heroes provide every single day," Johannson said in the bank's press release. "This higher hourly base pay with an already competitive incentive bonus program ensures that BMO's team remains the best in banking with top talent that can make financial progress alongside our customers and our business."
