Fee income

Two trends — competition from challenger banks and the emergence of real-time payments — threaten to eat away at the fees banks collect on overdrafts and bounced checks.

This may be “the first wave” of managers being held accountable for the phony accounts scandal; high prices discouraging cross-border acquisitions.

CFO John Gerspach said he's not worried about legislation in Mexico to ban retail banking fees becoming law based on recent comments by the nation's president.

Speaking at an investor conference Wednesday, John Turner said that sellers’ asking prices are too high and that Regions would prefer to buy a nonbank that could help boost 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.