---
title: "Noninterest Income: definition, formula, and thresholds"
description: "Noninterest income is revenue a bank earns outside of interest: service charges, interchange and card fees, wealth and fiduciary fees, mortgage banking, and trading. It diversifies the revenue base away from the rate-sensitive spread."
canonical_url: https://www.bankregreports.com/glossary/noninterest-income/
source: BankRegReports
category: "Income & Expense"
units: "$"
schedule: "Schedule RI"
---

# Noninterest Income

> Noninterest income is revenue a bank earns outside of interest: service charges, interchange and card fees, wealth and fiduciary fees, mortgage banking, and trading. It diversifies the revenue base away from the rate-sensitive spread.

## Formula

```
Noninterest Income = Service Charges + Fiduciary & Wealth Fees + Card/Interchange + Mortgage Banking + Trading + Other Fees
```

Schedule RI itemizes each fee category and sums them to total noninterest income. Combined with net interest income it makes up total revenue; the ratio of noninterest income to total revenue is the fee-income mix.

## Why it matters

Fee income is less sensitive to interest rates than spread income, so a strong noninterest-income stream stabilizes earnings through the rate cycle. But its quality varies. Recurring service and wealth fees are durable, while mortgage-banking and trading gains are cyclical.

## How to read it

Read noninterest income as a share of total revenue and look at its composition. A bank with 30-40% fee income from recurring sources is more resilient than one reliant on volatile mortgage or trading gains; a sudden spike often reflects one-time securities or asset sales.

## Thresholds

| Range | Reading | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Diversified, recurring | Strong | Healthy, durable fee streams cushioning spread income. |
| Moderate | Adequate | Reasonable fee contribution to revenue. |
| Thin / volatile | Watch | Limited or cyclical fee income; earnings lean on the margin. |
| One-time-driven | Concern | Reported fee income flattered by non-recurring gains. |


## Worked example

A bank with $63 million of net interest income and $27 million of noninterest income earns 30% of its $90 million revenue from fees. If most comes from recurring deposit-service and wealth-management charges, that mix is a genuine stabilizer when the margin compresses.

## Questions

### What counts as noninterest income?

Deposit service charges, interchange and card fees, trust and wealth-management fees, mortgage-banking income, trading revenue, and gains on sales of loans and other assets. Essentially all revenue that is not interest earned on assets; realized gains and losses on securities are reported separately (Schedule RI, items 6.a and 6.b).

### Is high noninterest income always good?

Not necessarily. Recurring fees (service charges, wealth management) are durable, but mortgage-banking and trading income are cyclical, and one-time gains can inflate a quarter. The quality of the fee mix matters as much as the amount.

## Sources

- [FFIEC Call Report Schedule RI (Income Statement)](https://www.ffiec.gov/sites/default/files/data/reporting-forms/FFIEC031_FFIEC041_202606_i.pdf) (PDF)

## Related metrics

- [Noninterest Expense](https://www.bankregreports.com/glossary/noninterest-expense/): Noninterest expense (also called overhead) is what it costs to run the bank: salaries and benefits, occupancy and equipment, technology, and FDIC assessments. It is the numerator of the efficiency ratio.
- [Efficiency Ratio](https://www.bankregreports.com/glossary/efficiency-ratio/): A bank's efficiency ratio is its noninterest expense divided by its net interest income plus its noninterest income, expressed as a percentage. It shows how many cents the bank spends to earn each dollar of revenue, so a lower ratio is better.
- [Net Income](https://www.bankregreports.com/glossary/net-income/): Net income is a bank's bottom-line profit for the period: total revenue less interest expense, noninterest expense, the provision for credit losses, and taxes. It is the source of retained earnings and the numerator behind ROA and ROE.
- [Net Interest Income](https://www.bankregreports.com/glossary/net-interest-income/): Net interest income (NII) is the difference between the interest a bank earns on loans and securities and the interest it pays on deposits and borrowings. It is the core profit engine of traditional banking and the numerator behind net interest margin.

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