Bank of America, in a continued push to enhance its wages, has announced that it's upping its minimum hourly wage to $24, effective from October, as reported by WBTV. This move is set to benefit both full-time and part-time employees, nudging the annual earnings for a full-time worker to about $50,000.

The Charlotte-based banking giant, staying the course in a series of pay hikes initiated back in 2018, has gradually incremented the baseline pay for its staff, with this latest raise being part of a plan to eventually reach $25 per hour by 2025 and this path has witnessed Bank of America's minimum salary for full-time employees climb nearly $20,000, an increase that appears all the more significant against the backdrop of Truist Financial's $22 minimum wage and Wells Fargo's similar rate set last year, according to CBS News.

"Providing a competitive minimum wage is core to being a great place to work," said Sheri Bronstein, chief human resources officer at Bank of America, in a statement obtained by WBTV. This sentiment aligns with the bank's ambition to attract and retain talent amidst a competitive job market.

The recent wage increase highlights a notable difference from the federal minimum wage, which has remained unchanged at $7.5 an hour for 15 years. Bank of America's lowest-paid workers will now earn more than three times this federal minimum, according to a report by International Business Times. While the exact number of employees benefiting from the raise has not been disclosed, it is expected to impact thousands. This change comes at a time when the median pay for bank tellers is just over $18 per hour and the "Fight for $15" campaign has been advocating for significant raises since 2012, with only some states enforcing wages above the federal minimum.

The wage increase represents a significant improvement in living standards for many families, with the U.S. Census Bureau's latest data setting the poverty threshold for a family of four at $30,900, as noted by CBS News.