ARLINGTON, Va. — NAFCU recently asked Flash survey participants about the importance and various sources of noninterest income as well as problems related to it

When asked how important noninterest income was to their credit union as part of their net income in 2007, over two-thirds of respondents said it was very important, while 28.4% considered it to be somewhat important. Only 2.7% of respondents said that it was not important. Most of the survey participants (81.7%) said that the largest dollar amount of their credit union's fee income last year came from overdraft fees.

Almost all of the respondents' credit unions offer credit cards or debit cards. Though there is a large difference between the ones that own a debit card and the ones that own a credit card. The median number for debit cards is 40.5% while the median number for credit cards is only 18%. About one-third of the respondents experienced credit card data security breaches in the past 12 months, and they stated that in 98% of the cases, merchants were the primary reason for the breaches. Most respondents said that a cap on interchange fees would adversely impact their credit union.

In terms of overdraft protection, 70.6% of the respondents state that they have removed a member from the program for excessive usage. Almost all of the respondents' credit unions (90.1%) have also waived a member's overdraft fees before whether or not the member made the request for it or not. Also, a vast majority of the respondents' credit unions (78.9%) offer a loan as a substitute to the overdraft protection. The survey showed that the median dollar amount that the respondents' credit unions charge for each overdraft occurrence is $25.

The NAFCU Flash Report said that "Overall, the survey results clearly showed that noninterest income has become a significant source of income for credit unions."

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