Fee income

The best performers in our annual ranking of banks with $10 billion to $50 billion of assets benefited from a big lending push. But like their peers, the top 10 as a group saw their profitability slip last year compared with 2019.

The Pittsburgh company offset relatively flat revenue and lending in the second quarter with strong service charges, wealth management fees and a $1.1 million reserve release.

The Rhode Island bank endured a sharp decline in fee income from home loans, which had spiked earlier in the pandemic. But CEO Bruce Van Saun says the company is well positioned as the refinancing boom fades and the home purchase market becomes more important.

The bank is planning to make product changes and roll out new digital tools that will allow customers to avoid the charges, according to CEO Kevin Blair.

BNY Mellon and State Street have been granting millions of dollars in discounts to ensure investors in money market mutual funds stay in the black. Recent moves by the Fed are expected to relieve the pressure.

Mortgages and wealth management generated fees that gave top midtiers an edge, as the pandemic halted most lending outside of the Paycheck Protection Program.

A strong showing by the North Carolina bank’s insurance arm helped to overcome lower interest rates and sluggish lending in the second quarter.

PNC, Regions and TD are among the banks that have taken steps to reduce their reliance on charges that disproportionately hit consumers living paycheck to paycheck. The changes come at a time when the Biden administration is expected to take a tougher stance on overdrafts.

Executives at Citizens Financial and Regions Financial said they plan to make policy changes that will reduce their reliance on the controversial but already dwindling charges.

Ally and Huntington are the latest banks to take steps that will reduce revenue from customers who spend money they don’t have. The moves come at a time when technological, regulatory and social forces are converging to encourage change.