8 bottom-line boosters

Some credit unions have experienced a 25% to 40% drop in nonsufficient fund (NSF) and overdraft fee income during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to participants in a CUNA Finance Council chat session.

That’s due largely to fee waivers designed to assist members experiencing financial difficulties due to COVID-19. While most chat participants say they’ve resumed charging fees, others continue to offer fee waivers.

In addition, rising deposits have caused NSF fee income to drop, participants say.

Chat participants say they’re combating falling fee income by:

CUNA Finance Council

1. Restructuring fees around member engagement programs that include benefits such as high-interest checking and fraud protection. 
2. Charging fees for paper statements.
3. Encouraging electronic transactions with fee waivers for conducting a certain number of transactions electronically each month.
4. Renegotiating contracts with vendors, including card processors, to earn bonuses and discounts.
5. Offering Paycheck Protection Program loans.
6. Exploring loan participations.
7. Selling 30-year mortgages to the secondary market while retaining 15-year mortgages.
8. Offering digital wallets.

Members who use digital wallets love them, says one chat participant. “The key is prompting members to use credit union plastic as the first card in the wallet.”