Consumer banking giant Bank of America plans to set the minimum wage for all positions at the company to $25 an hour by 2025, the bank said Tuesday.
It’s the latest wage increase that BofA and other banks have done over the last several years, following pressure from outside groups to address wealth inequality in this country.
It will also be the highest minimum wage paid by a big bank, and will likely put pressure on other banks to do the same.
"We had two things to think about. One is to maintain a great standard of living for our teammates and share success with the teammates. We'll hire 15, 18, 20,000 people this year. We are going to $25 by 2025 as a starting wage in our company. Secondly, we got 95% of our vendors to $15 an hour and get the rest through with that. The power of the company and earnings and great work they do and it provides a great career opportunity or people coming in," said CEO Brian Moynihan.
He says it will cost hundreds of millions of dollars per year but the policy will increase loyalty and pay shareholders back in the long term.
Bank of America already pays its employees at least $20 per hour.
President Joe Biden supports lifting the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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