Bank of America raises U.S. minimum wage to $24 an hour

Bank of America is closing in on its objective of paying its U.S. workers a minimum of $25 an hour by 2025, increasing its base wage to within a buck of that goal starting in October.

The step represents an increase from a $23 hourly rate set last September, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank said Tuesday. The $1 hourly boost, which will apply to all full- and part-time hourly jobs in the U.S., brings a full-time annualized salary to roughly $50,000.

BofA declined to say how many workers would get the pay hike, telling CBS MoneyWatch that it would be in the "thousands."

The poverty threshold for a family of four in 2023 was $30,900, according to data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau.

BofA, the nation's second-largest bank, embarked on increasing its hourly base seven years ago, lifting compensation for its lowest-paid workers to $15. The company's minimum wage has more than doubled since 2010, when it stood at $11.30 per hour.

The company's annual hikes have the bank paying its lowest-paid workers more than three times the federal minimum wage , which has not budged from $7.25 an hour for the last 15 years.

Labor advocates launched the "Fight for $15" campaign in 2012 to put pressure on employers to raise their pay. More than 30 U.S. states now require employers to offer minimum wage in excess of the federal base, Department of Labor data shows.