Retail fees of depository institutions, 1994-99

The fees that depository institutions charge customers for the use of checking and savings accounts, automated teller machines, and other retail services have received substantial attention over the past decade. When the Congress in 1989 established assessment rules that were likely to raise the premiums

that depository institutions paid for deposit insurance, a particular concern was that institutions might markedly increase retail fees or eliminate some services to offset their higher premiums. As a result of this concern, the Congress directed the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to report annually on changes in the availability of retail banking services and in the level of the associated fees. The first survey on retail fees and services commissioned by the Board under the new law was conducted in 1989, and the results were reported in 1990; the most recent report, covering 1999, was released in July 2000.

The reports presented estimates each year of the proportion of all depository institutions that were offering various services, the proportion that were charging a fee for these services, the average level of the fees, and the changes in these estimates from the previous year. This article reports a selection of the estimates for each of the years from 1994 through 1999.1