Premier Bank: Net Interest Margin

Net interest margin (NIM) is a bank's net interest income, interest earned minus interest paid, divided by its average earning assets and annualized. It measures the spread a bank earns on its lending and investing, the core of how a bank makes money.

A wide NIM comes from high-yielding loans, such as credit cards or construction lending, or from cheap deposits; find out which before calling it a strength. Large banks run lower margins than community banks because they hold more securities and cash and earn more from fees. NIM falls when deposit costs rise faster than asset yields, which happened across the industry in 2023. Compare NIM with peers of the same size and loan mix.