Fee income

A 10% cut next year, which will be identical to the fee reduction this year, is projected to save the industry about $85 million.

The combination of low unemployment, rising wages and falling interest rates means more households are taking out loans for big-ticket items like speedboats and mobile homes.

Count Citizens Financial’s Bruce Van Saun among those who think interest rate cuts could halt by mid-2020. The key, he says, is to focus on delivering services customers are willing to pay fees for and to skillfully reprice deposits until then.

Because such a high number of new cardholders were paying fees for premium cards, Amex is earning subscription-like recurring revenue.

The Minneapolis company attributed the uptick to new tech tools, additional loan officers and other process improvements — not to mention the refi boom fueled by lower rates. It’s a formula other banks are expected to copy.

The Minneapolis bank says recent investments in its retail operation contributed to strong improvement in home lending and mortgage banking fees.

Even with fee revenue already down, Oregon-based Providence FCU has cut its overdraft fees by half. Some analysts say the move could pay off if the economy goes south.

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Annual fees aren’t scaring customers away from American Express Co.’s credit cards. Roughly 70% of cardholders the lender added in the second quarter have premium, fee-paying cards, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Campbell told investors at a conference Tuesday in New York.

Charging customers $40 for a $10 overdraft “makes no mathematical sense,” Chime CEO Chris Britt says in a critique of traditional banks.