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TCF Financial Corp. said Thursday that its third-quarter earnings declined 14% from the same period last year, to $31.7 million, due largely to a sharp drop in fees earned on deposit accounts.

Earnings per diluted share fell 23%, to 20 cents, missing consensus analysts' estimates by a penny, according to Thomson Reuters.

Through the first nine months of 2011, the $19 billion-asset company said that net income was down 21%, to $91.2 million.

In a news release, TCF said that net interest income increased 11.8% year over year, to $124 million, primarily due to lower funding costs and a nearly 12% drop in its provision for loan losses.

However, noninterest income dropped by nearly 15%, primarily as a result of an August 2010 regulatory change that sharply reduced collections from overdrafts. Going forward, the company said it expects fee-based revenues to decline by as much as $15 million this quarter as a result of new caps on interchange fees that took effect Oct. 1.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William Cooper said that TCF is working diligently to make up for lost revenues from recent legislative and regulatory changes. Last quarter the company announced partnership with a power sports equipment manufacturer and just last week it struck a deal to acquire an indirect automobile lender that has clients in 30 states.

"We expect both of these actions will help to grow the loan and lease portfolio, improve its diversification by both geography and asset class and help TCF grow its revenue base," Cooper said.