San Francisco Fed · District 12

Bank fees in California

Name: California Bank and Credit Union Fees Compared
Creator: Fee Insight

Overdraft and NSF medians are $5 and $8.50 below the national median.

institutions with published feesof 355 headquartered in California: 206
medians fall within the national middle 50%: 13 of 14

Data refreshed Nov 2, 2026

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Local fee benchmarks

Los Angeles's debit card replacement median is $5; California's is $10.

Debit Card Replacement median by market, institutions with a branch thereCalifornia $10, 135 institutions

California's 8 largest markets by institutions with a branch there; marker size follows that count. Every California city on the map

Overdraft (OD)NSF / Returned Item Monthly Maintenance Non-Network ATM Stop Payment Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)Paper Statement Debit Card Replacement

Los Angeles
30 institutions
$5
California
135 institutions
$10
San Francisco Fed district
306 institutions
$10
U.S.
2,744 institutions
$10

Who each median counts

Los Angeles: With a branch in Los Angeles, wherever headquartered
California: Headquartered in California
San Francisco Fed district: Headquartered in the San Francisco Fed district
U.S.: Every institution in the index

Los Angeles

Fee data available for 57 of 98 institutions

Compare Los Angeles fees

Sources: Branches from the FDIC Summary of Deposits (banks) and NCUA (credit unions). One value per institution: its highest overdraft fee, the middle of its schedule for other fees. A median needs at least 5 institutions.

California's banks and credit unions

206 of the 355 institutions headquartered in California have published fees here, and 206 of them have fees that count toward the medians on this page. Figures here count those headquartered institutions, except branches and deposits, which count every institution serving the state.

Banks versus credit unions

Credit unions have lower medians on 11 of 14 fees, among institutions headquartered in California.

lower at credit unions: 11
lower at banks: 2
about the same: 1

14 fees with both a bank and a credit union median in California.

Lower at credit unions

Lower at banks

About the same

Fee

Overdraft (OD)

Credit unions $10 lower in California.

$30

Banks

median of 21

$20

Credit unions

median of 104

Two fees with lower bank medians

Debit Card Replacement

Banks

median of 22

$10

Credit unions

median of 113

Deposited Item Return

$10

Banks

median of 17

$20

Credit unions

median of 80

Every fee, banks against credit unions

Bank and credit union medians in California; the lower median is shaded.
Fee	Banks	Credit unions	Difference
Overdraft (OD)	$30	$20	$10
NSF / Returned Item	$27.50	$20	$7.50
Monthly Maintenance	$11	$6	$5
Non-Network ATM	$2.50	$2	$0.50
Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)	$30	$25	$5
Wire Transfer (Int'l Out)	$45	$45	Same
Stop Payment	$25	$20	$5
Cashier's Check	$10	$5	$5
Debit Card Replacement	$5	$10	$5
Deposited Item Return	$10	$20	$10
OD Protection Transfer	$10	$2	$8
Wire Transfer (Domestic In)	$15	$10	$5
Paper Statement	$3.25	$3	$0.25
Minimum Balance	$10	$5	$5

Fee medians by peer group

Institutions under $300M in assets in California

Monthly Maintenance runs $1.28 below the California median.

Overdraft (OD)
Group median:
$25
of 51 institutions publishing
State median:
$25
of 125 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
NSF / Returned Item
Group median:
$25
of 65 institutions publishing
State median:
$21.50
of 148 institutions publishing
Difference: $3.50 above
Monthly Maintenance
Group median:
$5.95
of 43 institutions publishing
State median:
$7.23
of 120 institutions publishing
Difference: $1.28 below
Non-Network ATM
Group median:
$2
of 40 institutions publishing
State median:
$2
of 108 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)
Group median:
$25
of 59 institutions publishing
State median:
$25
of 141 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%

Difference: the group median against the California median, up arrow above, down arrow below. Colour shows direction only: above or below the median is not good or bad.

Show all 14

Wire Transfer (Int'l Out)
Group median:
$40
of 39 institutions publishing
State median:
$45
of 92 institutions publishing
Difference: $5 below
Stop Payment
Group median:
$22.50
of 77 institutions publishing
State median:
$22.50
of 166 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Cashier's Check
Group median:
$5
of 56 institutions publishing
State median:
$5
of 147 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Debit Card Replacement
Group median:
$10
of 58 institutions publishing
State median:
$10
of 135 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Deposited Item Return
Group median:
$25
of 50 institutions publishing
State median:
$20
of 97 institutions publishing
Difference: $5 above
OD Protection Transfer
Group median:
$3
of 37 institutions publishing
State median:
$3
of 80 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Wire Transfer (Domestic In)
Group median:
$10
of 27 institutions publishing
State median:
$10
of 73 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Paper Statement
Group median:
$3
of 25 institutions publishing
State median:
$3
of 59 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Minimum Balance
Group median:
$5
of 13 institutions publishing
State median:
$5
of 35 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%

How groups are counted

Each institution counts once: its highest overdraft fee, the middle of its schedule for other fees.
Size bands come from FDIC and NCUA total assets, bank regulator from the FDIC registry and credit union charter from NCUA.
The California median counts every institution headquartered in the state that publishes the fee.

Source: Institutions headquartered in California with verified fees, Bank Fee Index; size, regulator and charter from FDIC and NCUA records. A group median needs at least 8 institutions. Data as of Nov 2, 2026.

Who serves California

The five largest banks hold 66% of bank deposits in California. 355 banks and credit unions are headquartered here; 5,452 bank branches and 1,612 credit union branches serve the state, wherever headquartered.

Bank of America, National Association24.2% · $452.5B across 686 branches
Wells Fargo Bank, National Association16.3% · $304.4B across 769 branches
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association15.9% · $297.7B across 857 branches
U.S. Bank National Association6.2% · $115.1B across 563 branches
Citibank, National Association3.6% · $67.9B across 271 branches
Every other bank33.8% · $632.8B

45% of the 116 banks hold $100M to $1B in assets

FDIC asset-size groups

31% of the 239 credit unions hold $10M to $100M in assets

NCUA asset-size groups

Source: Institutions headquartered in California, tracked by Fee Insight. Total assets from FDIC and NCUA data, grouped the way each regulator reports them: the FDIC asset-size groups for banks and the NCUA groups for credit unions. Bank deposits from the FDIC Summary of Deposits, 2026, for branches in California; credit union branches from NCUA. Leading banks count banks with 10 or more branches in the state.

Fee income

California bank service charges rose 19.4% from Q2 2025 to Q2 2026. Credit union fee income is a wider measure than bank service charges, so the two charts stay separate and are never added together.

Banks: service charges on deposit accounts

$145.9MQ2 2026

+19.4% from Q2 2025

Credit unions: all fee income

$218.0MQ2 2026

+6.0% from Q2 2025

Source: Institutions headquartered in the state. Banks: service charges on deposit accounts, FDIC call reports. Credit unions: all fee income, NCUA call reports. Credit union year-to-date income is split into quarters; a quarter shows once most institutions have filed.

Free report

Get the free California fee report

The California medians against the U.S., sent to you and updated as schedules are verified.

California versus the San Francisco district

Higher in California: monthly maintenance +⁠$0.24. Lower in California: NSF / returned item −⁠$3.50, stop payment −⁠$2.50. The other 11 fees are about the same.

NSF / Returned Item
California $21.50 (148 inst.) · District $25 (339 inst.)
−$3.50
Stop Payment
California $22.50 (166 inst.) · District $25 (393 inst.)
−$2.50
Monthly Maintenance
California $7.23 (120 inst.) · District $6.99 (248 inst.)
+$0.24
Overdraft (OD)
California $25 (125 inst.) · District $25 (287 inst.)
Same
Non-Network ATM
California $2 (108 inst.) · District $2 (196 inst.)
Same

California median against the San Francisco district median, by fee
Fee	California	District	Gap
NSF / Returned Item	$21.50148 inst.	$25339 inst.	−$3.50
Stop Payment	$22.50166 inst.	$25393 inst.	−$2.50
Monthly Maintenance	$7.23120 inst.	$6.99248 inst.	+$0.24
Overdraft (OD)	$25125 inst.	$25287 inst.	Same
Non-Network ATM	$2108 inst.	$2196 inst.	Same

What the Fed sees in the district

“Economic activity in the Twelfth District was broadly steady during the mid-August through September reporting period.”

Beige Book, San Francisco district, October 2026 Hamilton sets it beside an institution's own fees

Open the San Francisco district report

Source: Both medians count institutions by headquarters; the district takes in California and the rest of the Federal Reserve's San Francisco district. Medians from each institution's own published schedule, one value per institution; a median needs at least 5. A gap under 1% reads as about the same. Federal Reserve Beige Book, San Francisco district.

California versus the U.S.

3 of 14 California medians sit above the U.S. median. California medians count institutions headquartered in California; U.S. medians count every institution in the index.

Overdraft (OD)

$25

Median of 125 California institutions. U.S. $30.

California institutionsNational middle range

Explore 34 additional California fee categories in Hamilton.

Method: Findings rank only fees with at least 10 California institutions. Fees with fewer appear in the list, unranked. The national middle range runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile of U.S. institutions.

National context

California unemployment was 5.1% in September 2026, against 4.2% for the U.S.

California

Unemployment rate, against the U.S.

CaliforniaU.S.

Sep 2021 to Sep 2026

Median household income in California: $99K (2024).

United States

Bank services prices, change over 12 months

Sep 2021 to Sep 2026

+1.0% in the 12 months to Sep 2026, nationally.

Source: BLS unemployment and the BLS CPI for checking accounts and other bank services; Census ACS 2024 median household income. The CPI is national; it has no state figure.

More California data: fee complaints to the CFPB

Fee complaints to the CFPB, 2025

Per $1 billion of deposits.

California0.011
San Francisco district1.5
U.S.1.1

Source: CFPB Consumer Complaint Database, fee-related issues. Only institutions matched to their CFPB company record count, and a rate needs 10 of them.

Where does your institution sit?

Hamilton, the Fee Insight workspace, sets an institution's own fees beside institutions its size in California.

See Hamilton plans Or ask for a demo

From 206 California banks and credit unions' own published fee schedules, one value per institution; a median needs at least 5 institutions. Data as of Nov 2, 2026. Methodology

Fee

Banks

Credit unions

Difference

Overdraft (OD)

$30

$20

$10

NSF / Returned Item

$27.50

$20

$7.50

Monthly Maintenance

$11

Non-Network ATM

$2.50

$0.50

Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)

$30

$25

Wire Transfer (Int'l Out)

$45

Same

Stop Payment

$25

$20

Cashier's Check

$10

Debit Card Replacement

$10

Deposited Item Return

$10

$20

$10

OD Protection Transfer

$10

Wire Transfer (Domestic In)

$15

$10

Paper Statement

$3.25

$0.25

Minimum Balance

$10

Fee

California

District

Lower in California Higher in California

Gap

NSF / Returned Item

$21.50148 inst.

$25339 inst.

−$3.50

Stop Payment

$22.50166 inst.

$25393 inst.

−$2.50

Monthly Maintenance

$7.23120 inst.

$6.99248 inst.

+$0.24

Overdraft (OD)

$25125 inst.

$25287 inst.

Same

Non-Network ATM

$2108 inst.

$2196 inst.

Same