Fee income

The federal regulator cited recent “cost savings” and promising projections for costs and revenue next year in announcing the reduction in assessments.

Nearly all banks need more fee income, and many have extra cash for investing in growth. Some have started buying up wealth management firms, while others have decided to pare back and specialize.

Mexico's next president wants to prohibit banks from charging ATM and other fees. That could be bad news for Citigroup and other banks with large retail networks in the country.

The lawsuit comes as the $188 milion-asset institution faces backlash from a high-profile national news story that portrayed its business practices negatively.

ATBancorp had an unusual footprint that included a small bank and a number of fee-based businesses. But it had to slim down before it could find a buyer.

The pressure is on for banks to lean more heavily on capital markets, wealth management and other nonmortgage sources of fee income. That could get tougher in upcoming quarters.

Though consumer lending and C&I lending improved at the Cincinnati company, its corporate and mortgage banking revenues fell in the third quarter. Last year Fifth Third also posted a one-time gain of $1B associated with its sale of shares in Vantiv, complicating the comparison.

The Dallas company reported a 41% increase in 3Q earnings despite lackluster performances in lending, deposits and fee income.

A high-profile media story is painting the industry in a negative light and should be cause for some CUs to re-examine their profit model.

Double-digit gains in interest and noninterest income more than offset higher deposit, compensation costs.