Bank of America bumps its minimum wage again on the way to $25 an hour

Bank of America is bumping its minimum hourly wage to $21, taking another step toward a goal of paying $25 by 2025.

The move, announced Wednesday, nudges pay up from $20, a level the firm had enacted last year ahead of schedule. A $21 wage translates to a full-time annualized salary of $43,680. It extends a series of hikes lifting the firm’s base pay from $15 in 2017.

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“Responsible growth requires that we provide a great place to work,” Sheri Bronstein, who oversees human resources at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender, said in a statement. “We make broad-ranging investments to attract and develop talented teammates who serve our clients and local communities every day, and who can build long, successful careers with our company.”

Retailers, restaurants and ride-hailing services are among businesses that have been raising pay, trying to lure or hold onto employees as the economy bounces back from a pandemic slump. Many employers are trying to staff up simultaneously, with customers returning to shop, bank and attend in-person events.

In May, Bank of America required its U.S. vendors to pay their workers dedicated to the bank at least $15 per hour.

If Bank of America hits its target for 2025, its minimum hourly wage will have climbed by almost $14, or more than 120%, since 2010, according to the firm.