Income & Expense
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
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 interpret
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 | Label | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 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
Frequently asked
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 asset sales — essentially all revenue that is not interest earned on assets.
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)
See Noninterest Income across 4,335 US banks
BankRegReports ranks every FDIC-insured institution by Noninterest Income, refreshed quarterly within 48 hours of FFIEC release.