At the time, the bank was offering 4.4 percent on money market accounts, while the average fund was yielding 6 percent. Bank of America began offering customers with more than one relationship up to a quarter of a point below the average. Deposits grew at a 15 percent annual rate in the first quarter, compared with low single-digit gains in prior quarters. Some consultants believe banks should embrace an Internet-based system called account aggregation. The technology allows a financial institution to consolidate an individual's bank and brokerage accounts on one Web site.
Aggregation allows banks to guide customers toward the best rates on their savings.
Banks reluctant to offer customers higher rates may be forgetting their experiences in the credit card industry a few years ago, said Ms. Roth of Credit Suisse First Boston. But then the industry lost business to upstarts like MBNA and First USA, which aggressively marketed cards with lower rates. The inertia factor is high, but with time it gets whittled down.