Fees and operating expenses of a bank: definition and how to read them

Fees are what the bank charges for its services: account keeping, means of payment, card services, foreign exchange, documentary credits, guarantees. Net fees deduct those the bank itself pays to others.

Operating expenses are what running the bank costs: staff costs, general operating expenses and depreciation.

Net fees are income that does not depend directly on interest rates. Set against operating expenses, they say what share of the structure the bank funds through its services alone. They are read together: the higher the coverage, the larger the share of costs covered by fees.

In French, they are called commissions nettes and frais généraux.

Two ratios, computed in the same way for every bank:

1. the share of fees in net banking income: net fees over net banking income, which says what share of income comes from services;
2. the coverage of operating expenses: net fees over operating expenses, which says what share of running costs services pay for.

Example: the bank where fees weigh most in net banking income is UIB, in the first half of 2026. It has 76.9 million dinars of net fees against 273.8 million dinars of net banking income: a share of 28.1%. Its fees cover 51.9% of its operating expenses.

Fee income does not depend directly on the level of rates. It can make net banking income less sensitive to a policy-rate change.

Operating expenses are all of the bank's running costs. Their pace, set against that of net banking income, makes the cost-to-income ratio.

A high share of fees does not say whether the services are profitable once their own costs are deducted. The accounts do not, on their own, say what each service costs.

Rising costs do not on their own mean lower efficiency. They can come with a growing network or an IT investment.

They do not say the nature of the services. A fee on a documentary credit and an account-keeping fee weigh the same in the total; the notes to the financial statements give the breakdown.

Definitions net banking income, cost-to-income ratio

Set against net banking income, net fees range from 14.0% to 28.1% depending on the bank; across the 10 banks, they make up 17.9%. Set against operating expenses, they cover from 23.9% to 51.9%.

The table places them next to two neighbouring measures, those of the margin and of efficiency. A high share of net banking income with low coverage means a high cost-to-income ratio, since the share over the coverage gives that ratio. A low share with high coverage means a low ratio.

Choose a bank, then combine the changes: the result shows at once.

If net fees fell by 15%, all else being equal, operating profit would drop by 4% to 11% where it is thick. This income does not depend directly on rates, unlike the interest margin. It can thus cushion a change in the margin.

1. The cost-to-income ratio: it says what operating expenses take from net banking income as a whole.
2. The net interest margin: it says the share of income that fees come to complete.
3. Net banking income: it says what fees weigh among the sources of income.

Bank financial statements follow the Tunisian accounting standards NCT 21 to 25. The income statement carries every line:

1. PR2, «fees received», and CH2, «fees paid», within net banking income;
2. CH6, «staff costs», CH7, «general operating expenses», and CH8, «depreciation», below net banking income.

The notes detail the nature of fees received.

An accounting point: fees paid (CH2) include in particular charges paid to payment networks, such as card withdrawal charges. A bank that develops card services can see its fees received grow, and part of its fees paid along with them.

First trap: part of the fees on loans can be booked as interest, depending on its nature. The share of fees is reduced without any difference in activity. To avoid it, read the share of fees with the interest margin.

Second trap: depreciation is not always counted in operating expenses. To avoid it, compare banks on the same scope, depreciation included, as the table does.

Third trap: a half-year can carry one-off charges, or charges spread unevenly across the year. To avoid it, compare a half-year with the same half-year of the previous year.

Banks are ranked from the highest value to the lowest, amounts in TND million:

Figures at 30 June 2026, taken from the interim individual financial statements.

Next update: 2026 annual accounts, to be filed by 30 April 2027. Upcoming

Definitions net banking income

Out of scope: BTE (preferred dividend shares) and Wifak International Bank (an Islamic bank).

Net fees weigh from 14.0% to 28.1% of net banking income depending on the bank, and cover from 23.9% to 51.9% of operating expenses.

A rank says an income model, not profitability. The bank where fees weigh most may have a heavier structure than another: the coverage column says so.

The calculation takes a few minutes, from the financial statements filed with the CMF alone. Fees received and paid, net banking income and operating expenses are all read in the income statement for the half-year.

Deduct fees paid from fees received, then set the result against net banking income on the one hand, and against operating expenses on the other.

One example, first half of 2026: UIB reports net fees of 76.9 million dinars against 273.8 million dinars of net banking income: a share of 28.1%. The same calculation, run across the 10 banks, produces the ranking columns above: the gaps they show come from published figures, not from any restatement of ours.

The exercise: take a bank's income statement, subtract CH2 from PR2, divide by net banking income, then by the sum of CH6, CH7 and CH8, and compare with the table. You get the figure in the table, rounding aside: both calculations start from the same financial statements. If a gap remains, first check the column of each item.

The same figure, on the same bank and the same period, can differ from one publication to another. It is not that one of them is wrong: the conventions differ, and they are not always published.

The first difference lies in gross or net. Fees received alone give a higher share than net fees. The second lies in operating expenses. With or without depreciation, coverage can move by several points. The third lies in the scope. Separate and consolidated accounts give neither the same fees nor the same costs.

This series uses net fees, fees received less fees paid, and operating expenses with depreciation included, as they appear in the separate income statement. A reader using other conventions will find other figures; ours are written down in the Method.

Which bank earns the largest share of its net banking income from fees? UIB: fees make up 28.1% of it in the first half of 2026. From one listed bank to another, this share ranges from 14.0% to 28.1%.

What are a bank's net fees? They are the fees it charges for its services, less those it pays to others.

What do operating expenses include? Staff costs, general operating expenses and depreciation.

Why read fees with operating expenses? Because coverage says what share of costs fees pay for.

Is a high share of fees always an advantage? It can make income less sensitive to rates; it says nothing about what the services that produce it cost.

Where are these amounts read? In the income statement of the financial statements filed with the Conseil du marché financier (CMF): fees received and paid, staff costs, general expenses and depreciation.

Read also: the cost-to-income ratio, the net interest margin, a bank's net banking income, the Readings note, the method of the series.

Sources: interim individual financial statements at 30 June 2026 published with the Conseil du marché financier (CMF), notes included.