Bank of America takes in deposits, lends that money back out to individuals and businesses, and pockets the difference between the interest it pays depositors and the interest it collects from borrowers — plus fees from wealth management and investment banking — as the second-largest bank in the U.S.
How Bank of America makes money
Bank of America takes in deposits from roughly 69 million consumer and small-business accounts, then lends much of that money back out — to households, businesses, and governments — while also managing money for wealthy clients and executing trades and deals for large institutions.
Net interest margin plus fee income together fund dividends and buybacks. Source: 10-K FY2025, p.2 (business segment overview), p.36 (segment overview).
Where the revenue comes from
| Segment | Revenue | Share | Net income | Net margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Banking | $43,673M | 38.6% | $12,245M | 28.0% |
| GWIM (wealth management) | $24,883M | 22.0% | $4,670M | 18.8% |
| Global Banking | $24,108M | 21.3% | $7,793M | 32.3% |
| Global Markets (trading) | $24,096M | 21.3% | $6,111M | 25.4% |
| All Other (corporate/adjustments) | -$3,663M | -3.2% | -$310M | — |
| Total | $113,097M | 100% | $30,509M | 27.0% |
Source: 10-K FY2025, p.37 (Consumer Banking), p.39 (GWIM), p.41 (Global Banking), p.43 (Global Markets).
Geographically (FY2025): the U.S. is 86.4% ($97,687M), with Europe/Middle East/Africa at 6.7%, Asia at 5.3%, and Latin America/Caribbean at 1.6%.
Source: 10-K FY2025, p.101 (geographic revenue).
Customers and competitors
Bank of America serves roughly 69 million consumer and small-business customers (through about 3,600 financial centers and 15,000 ATMs), manages $4.8 trillion in assets for wealthy individuals through GWIM, and serves large corporations, institutions, and governments through Global Banking and Global Markets. No single-customer concentration risk is disclosed.
- JPMorgan Chase — the largest U.S. bank by assets and the traditional top rival, with a larger and more diversified business than Bank of America's.
- Wells Fargo — its retail-banking-centered structure overlaps most directly with Bank of America's Consumer Banking segment.
- Citigroup — stronger international network, but has been shrinking its consumer banking business, giving it a different strategic center of gravity.
Source: 10-K FY2025, p.2.
The metric that matters most in this sector
Net interest margin (NIM) — the spread between what the bank pays depositors and what it earns from borrowers — is the most fundamental gauge of whether the core lending business is working. It reflects both the interest-rate environment and how well the bank manages its assets and liabilities.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NIM | 1.66% | 1.96% | 2.08% | 1.95% | 2.01% |
The efficiency ratio (costs as a share of revenue) also improved steadily, from 67.0% in 2021 to 61.7% in 2025 — a sign of consistent cost discipline running alongside the margin recovery.
Source: 10-K FY2021, FY2023, and FY2025, MD&A Net Interest Income sections; 10-K FY2025, Table 1, p.27.
Leadership and ownership
CEO Brian T. Moynihan has led Bank of America since January 2010 (16 years), adding the Chairman role in October 2014. He is not a founder — Bank of America is a 100-plus-year-old institution formed through numerous mergers. Combined ownership across all 25 directors and executives is about 0.27%, very low. The largest shareholders are Vanguard (9.1%), Berkshire Hathaway (7.9%), and BlackRock (6.9%).
Source: DEF 14A 2026, p.1, p.35-37.
Capital returns
Bank of America yields about 2.05% at the current price. It paid $1.08/share in dividends in 2025, the fifth consecutive year of increases (up from $0.78/share in 2021), a payout ratio around 28% of net income; the board raised the quarterly dividend to $0.28 in February 2026.
Source: 10-K FY2025, p.24, p.49.
How this company could fail
- Interest rate and macro volatility — Federal Reserve policy, tariff-driven market swings, and inflation directly affect net interest income and the value of the bond portfolio.
- Credit and real-estate default risk — a recession could sharply increase delinquencies and defaults, especially in commercial real estate (particularly office properties), forcing much higher loan-loss provisions.
- Cybersecurity and systems risk — AI is making cyberattacks more sophisticated, and a major system outage or data breach would hit customer trust and results immediately.
Source: 10-K FY2025, Item 1A Risk Factors, p.8-9, p.11-12, p.14-15.
Five-year financials
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 89,113 | 94,950 | 98,581 | 105,856 | 113,097 |
| YoY growth | — | +6.6% | +3.8% | +7.4% | +6.8% |
| Pretax income | 33,976 | 30,969 (-8.9%) | 28,342 (-8.5%) | 33,223 (+17.2%) | 37,695 (+13.5%) |
| Net income | 31,978 | 27,528 | 26,515 | 26,973 | 30,509 |
| Operating cash flow | 10,871 | (6,590) | 28,529 | 26,131 (-8.4%) | 46,937 (+79.6%) |
| Long-term debt | 280,117 | 275,982 | 302,204 | 283,279 | 317,816 |
Source: 10-K FY2025 Table 1, p.27; 10-K FY2023 Table 1, p.26; 10-K FY2021 Table 1, p.28; each year's cash flow statement.
What we still don't know
- How volatile the Global Markets (trading) segment has been in recent quarters isn't visible from annual data alone — recent earnings calls would need to be checked.
- Exactly how much commercial real estate (especially office) loan stress remains requires digging into the Note 4 credit-quality detail beyond what's summarized here.
- How a 2026 Federal Reserve rate-cut path would affect net interest margin going forward requires watching upcoming quarterly results.
Frequently asked questions
How does Bank of America make money?
Bank of America takes deposits from customers and lends that money back out to individuals and businesses, earning the spread between what it pays depositors and what it collects from borrowers (net interest income) — plus fees from wealth management (Merrill/Private Bank), investment banking, and trading (Global Markets).
Is Bank of America's revenue concentrated in the U.S.?
Yes, heavily — 86.4% of FY2025 revenue came from the U.S., with the rest spread across Europe/Middle East/Africa (6.7%), Asia (5.3%), and Latin America/Caribbean (1.6%). That limits currency risk but ties results tightly to the U.S. economy and interest-rate cycle.
What is Bank of America's market cap?
As of this article's data, Bank of America's market cap was about $437.8B, on FY2025 revenue of $113.1B.