Brian Moynihan on consumer spending
From Inside Bank of America: Brian Moynihan on Leadership, AI and Global Growth · · Forbes
“The So, if you think about we have Bank of America research, Candace Browning Platt and the team, it's top research firm. And we publish for the institute a lot of this data that we decided to do about six or seven years ago to make it available. This is this is sort of real-time data out of our customer set, not identified to customer A or B, but just general data. But, if you look at that data from May of '26 versus May of '25, it's the it was about $400 million of money moved in the economy. It grew at 5% over the last year.”
On , Brian Moynihan, Chairman & CEO at Bank of America, spoke about consumer spending during Inside Bank of America: Brian Moynihan on Leadership, AI and Global Growth on Forbes.
About Brian Moynihan
Brian Moynihan, chairman and CEO of Bank of America, has been discussing the bank's economic outlook, consumer spending, and investments in artificial intelligence. He stated that the U.S. economy is growing at 2% to 2.1% in 2026, and described consumer spending as resilient, noting that credit and debit card spending grew 5% in the first quarter of 2026 and entertainment spending was up 13% year-over-year in May. Moynihan acknowledged affordability issues related to housing and gas prices, and said he advises mayors to "build more housing" to address supply. He also said the bank's economists predict unemployment will remain around 4.3%. Moynihan addressed concerns about AI's impact on jobs, stating that Bank of America is hiring 4,000 campus recruits, including 2,000 interns and 2,000 permanent hires. He said the bank spent $350 million on AI-related spending in 2026, and that all 200,000 employees have access to AI tools. Moynihan described the bank's approach as ensuring "a human has to stay in the loop." He also discussed the bank's sponsorship of FIFA and its "Sports With Us" program, and announced a $2 million donation to Vet Tix to provide tickets for veterans and first responders. Reflecting on his 17-year tenure as CEO, Moynihan said his leadership approach is to "manage by process" and described his hoped-for legacy as "capitalism done right."