Bank of America's customer base is measured in tens of millions, but the number shifts depending on what you count

Bank of America does not publish a single "number of customers" figure the way a retailer might report store visits. The bank reports different metrics to different audiences: deposit accounts, checking accounts, wealth management clients, and total relationships across all divisions. As of the most recent public filings, Bank of America serves roughly 66 million customer relationships across its consumer and business divisions in the United States, though that number includes overlaps—a person with both a checking account and a credit card counts as multiple relationships, not one customer.

The actual size of the customer base depends on what you are measuring. A customer relationship in banking means any account or service tied to a person or business. Someone with a checking account, savings account, and credit card with Bank of America is three relationships. The bank's most recent annual report lists approximately 66 million U.S. customer relationships, but this includes retail banking, business banking, and wealth management combined. The retail division alone—the part that serves individual consumers—accounts for the majority of that number.

Key Takeaways

  • Bank of America reports approximately 66 million customer relationships in the United States, a figure that counts each account or service separately rather than unique individuals.
  • The customer count includes retail banking (consumer checking and savings), business banking, and wealth management, so a single person with multiple accounts is counted multiple times.
  • The bank's deposit base—the total money customers keep in accounts—is a more stable measure than customer count, because it reflects the actual financial weight of the customer base.
  • Bank of America's customer numbers have remained relatively flat over the past decade, with growth coming more from increased account balances than from new customers.

Why the bank counts relationships instead of people

Banks report customer relationships rather than unique individuals because relationships are what generate revenue. A checking account, a savings account, and a credit card are three separate products, each with its own fee structure, interest rate, and risk profile. From the bank's perspective, these are three distinct business relationships even if they belong to the same person. This method also makes it easier to compare Bank of America's size to other large banks, which use the same reporting standard.

The relationship count also reflects how the bank's internal divisions operate. The Consumer Banking division manages checking and savings accounts. The Credit Card division manages credit products. The Wealth Management division manages investment accounts and advisory services. Each division tracks its own customer base, and the bank adds these numbers together for public reporting. A customer who moves money between divisions—say, opening a brokerage account after years of having only a checking account—shows up as growth in the overall count, even though the bank did not gain a new person.

How Bank of America's customer base compares to other major banks

Bank of America is the second-largest bank in the United States by assets, behind JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase reports approximately 80 million customer relationships, making it larger by this measure. Wells Fargo reports around 70 million relationships. Citigroup reports roughly 200 million relationships globally, but that includes international customers and is not directly comparable to the U.S.-only figures the other banks emphasize.

The size difference reflects both the banks' geographic reach and their business mix. JPMorgan Chase has a larger investment banking and wealth management division, which tends to serve higher-net-worth customers with multiple accounts. Bank of America has a larger consumer base in certain regions and a strong credit card business. Neither bank is growing its customer count rapidly—most growth in the banking industry comes from existing customers opening additional accounts or moving larger balances, not from attracting entirely new customers.

What the customer count actually tells you about the bank

The 66 million figure is less useful for understanding Bank of America's financial health than the deposit base or total assets. A bank with 66 million relationships but small average account balances is very different from a bank with the same number of relationships but large balances. Bank of America's average deposit per customer relationship is in the range of $50,000 to $100,000, though this varies widely—some customers have millions in deposits, while others have a few thousand.

The customer count is more useful for understanding the bank's operational scale. 66 million relationships means 66 million accounts to maintain, 66 million sets of statements to generate, 66 million customer service interactions to handle. It reflects the complexity of the bank's infrastructure and the number of people it employs to manage that infrastructure. For investors and regulators, the deposit base and total assets matter more. For understanding how many people rely on Bank of America for financial services, the relationship count is a reasonable starting point, with the caveat that it counts accounts, not people.

How the customer base has changed over time

Bank of America's customer relationship count has been relatively stable over the past decade, hovering between 60 and 70 million. The bank did not experience the dramatic growth or contraction that some competitors faced during the 2008 financial crisis and recovery. After the crisis, Bank of America absorbed customers from failed banks and from competitors that shrank, which temporarily boosted the count. Since then, the number has remained fairly flat, with growth coming primarily from existing customers adding accounts rather than new customers joining.

The stability of the customer count masks significant changes in the composition of the customer base. Younger customers are less likely to maintain traditional checking accounts and more likely to use digital-only banking or fintech services. Bank of America has responded by investing in its mobile app and digital banking platform, but this has not translated into a surge in new customer relationships. Instead, the bank has focused on deepening relationships with existing customers—encouraging them to consolidate more of their financial life with Bank of America rather than spreading accounts across multiple institutions.

The difference between customer count and active users

Bank of America does not separately report how many of its 66 million customer relationships are actively used. Some accounts are dormant—opened years ago and rarely touched. Others are actively used multiple times per week. The bank reports monthly active users for its digital platforms, but this is a different metric than customer relationships. A customer might have a relationship with the bank but access it only quarterly, while another customer might log into the mobile app daily.

For practical purposes, the relationship count overstates the number of people actively engaged with Bank of America at any given time. A more accurate picture of the bank's operational footprint would focus on monthly active users or accounts with regular transaction activity. The bank does not break this out in its public filings, so the 66 million figure remains the standard measure used in industry comparisons and news reporting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Bank of America count me as one customer or multiple customers if I have a checking account, savings account, and credit card?

Bank of America counts you as three customer relationships—one for each account or product. This is how all banks report their customer numbers to investors and regulators. From your perspective, you are one person, but from the bank's internal accounting, you are three separate relationships.

Is the 66 million customer number the same as the number of people who bank with Bank of America?

No. The 66 million is the number of accounts and services, not the number of unique people. Some people have multiple accounts, and some accounts are held jointly by two or more people. The actual number of individual people is lower, though Bank of America does not publish that figure separately.

Has Bank of America's customer base grown or shrunk in recent years?

The customer relationship count has remained relatively flat over the past decade, staying between 60 and 70 million. Growth has come primarily from existing customers opening additional accounts, not from significant numbers of new customers joining the bank.

Why does Bank of America report customer relationships instead of the number of unique customers?

Banks use the relationship metric because it reflects their actual business structure. Each account or service is a separate product with its own revenue stream, so counting relationships is more meaningful for financial reporting than counting unique people. This method also makes it easier to compare Bank of America to other large banks.