News

U.S. FIs get less income from ATM fees as consumer spending falls

January 28, 2009

Chicago Tribune:Banks have more to worry about than bad loans cutting into their interest income. Now they have to worry about consumers pulling back on their use of ATMs, as well as a drop in the number of checks they write, including those that incur overdraft fees. For some financial institutions, that means they are experiencing dwindling levels of "non-interest income," which includes ATM, overdraft and other customer service fees. Fifth Third Bancorp saw its deposit service charges fall in the fourth quarter of 2008. The bank is blaming the drop on lower transaction volumes and increased debit-card usage. "The economy is very weak, not just in credit, but where consumer spending is important, such as deposit service charges," said Fifth Third chief Kevin Kabat.

Click to continue