Bank of America to Raise U.S. Minimum Hourly Wage to $25 by 2025 -- Update

By Colin Kellaher and Ben Eisen 

Bank of America Corp. on Tuesday said it plans to raise its hourly minimum wage to $25 by 2025, putting it on track to surpass its big-bank peers during a time of worker shortages across the country.

The Charlotte, N.C., banking giant also said it is requiring all of its U.S. vendors to pay employees who are dedicated to the bank at least $15 an hour.

The second-largest U.S. lender joins companies including Amazon.com Inc. and McDonald's Corp. in saying it will raise pay to attract workers as the economy reopens more fully. Average hourly earnings for private-sector employees rose by 21 cents to $30.17 last month, according to a recent Labor Department report.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest U.S. lender, in January raised its minimum hourly base pay to between $16 and $20, depending on the local cost of living. Wells Fargo & Co. last year raised its pay to between $15 and $20 an hour, also depending on geography. And Citigroup Inc. raised its base pay to $15 an hour in 2019, though a spokeswoman said its average for hourly U.S. workers is $23.89.

In March 2020, Bank of America raised its minimum hourly wage to $20, a year ahead of plan, after boosting it to $17 an hour in 2019. The bank said it has more than doubled its minimum hourly pay since 2010.

President Biden campaigned on a pledge to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, but a February push by Democrats to include the increase in the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package was unsuccessful.

Mr. Biden in late April signed an executive order requiring that federal contractors pay a $15-an-hour minimum wage.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail] and Ben Eisen at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 18, 2021 12:49 ET (16:49 GMT)

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