(someone) earns interest on (money)

"Interest" is a percentage that someone earns by lending money.

When you put your money in a bank, you're essentially lending the bank money. For some kinds of bank accounts, the bank promises to pay you interest on that money. For example, your savings account might pay 1% per year.

We say that you've "earned interest on" your money when you make money this way.

This phrase appears in these lessons: