Almost 59 Percent of Large CUs Rely on Fee Income to be Profitable

Credit unions are increasingly relying upon fee income for their profitability.

Almost 59 percent of all credit unions with at least $100 million in profits as of June 30, 2013 would have been unprofitable if it were not for the contribution of fee income.

For half of these credit unions with $100 million or more in assets, fee income represents at least 16.77 percent of total revenues. Total revenues is defined as total interest income plus total noninterest income minus total interest expenses.

For one quarter of these credit unions, fee income as a percent of total revenues is at least 23.66 percent.

The following table lists the twenty-five credit unions with the highest ratio of fee income to total revenues through the first six months of 2013. All twenty-five of these credit unions had fee income to total revenues ratio in excess of 40 percent.



Given the reliance on fee income for their profitability, a November 22 article by SNL noted that credit unions "could face tough choices should fees come under additional scrutiny by regulators or consumers."