Bank of America will raise its minimum wage to $20 an hour by 2021, the company announced Tuesday.
The increase will occur over a two-year span, with the Charlotte, N.C.-based company’s hourly wage increasing to $17 next month, then continuing to rise until it hits $20, Bank of America said.
“If you get a job at Bank of America, you’ll make $41,000” a year, CEO Brian Moynihan told MSNBC in an interview. “Up and down the ladder.”
Bank of America’s profit has surged to $28.1 billion since Moynihan was chosen to succeed CEO Ken Lewis in 2010, and “we have to share that success with our teammates,” Moynihan said. The bank accepted a $45 billion bailout during the financial crisis after Lewis’s purchase of beleaguered investment bank Merrill Lynch and subprime lender Countrywide Financial.
News of Bank of America’s wage hike comes one day before Moynihan is set to appear before the House Financial Services Committee alongside six other banking chiefs for a hearing marking 10 years since the financial crisis. Joining him on the panel are the chief executives of Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, State Street Corp., Bank of New York Mellon, and Goldman Sachs.
With Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., at the helm of the committee and Democrats in control of the House, the panel is expected to face tough questions on issues including executive compensation, fair lending, profits, and financing for gun manufacturers.
Bank of America last raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour two years ago, though the company said the average rate for hourly employees in the United States is “significantly” higher.”
The latest increase reflects the belief “that to best serve our customers and clients, we need the best teams,” said Sheri Bronstein, Bank of America’s chief human resources officer.
