Chicago Fed · District 7

Bank fees in Iowa

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

The NSF median is $1 below the national median; overdraft is about the same.

institutions with published feesof 291 headquartered in Iowa: 112
medians fall within the national middle 50%: 12 of 14

Data refreshed Nov 2, 2026

Get the free Iowa report

Local fee benchmarks

Des Moines's non-network ATM median is $2; Iowa's is $1.

Non-Network ATM median by market, institutions with a branch thereIowa $1, 33 institutions

Iowa's 8 largest markets by institutions with a branch there; marker size follows that count. Every Iowa 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

Des Moines
15 institutions
$2
Iowa
33 institutions
$1
Chicago Fed district
209 institutions
$1.50
U.S.
1,651 institutions
$1.50

Who each median counts

Des Moines: With a branch in Des Moines, wherever headquartered
Iowa: Headquartered in Iowa
Chicago Fed district: Headquartered in the Chicago Fed district
U.S.: Every institution in the index

Des Moines

Fee data available for 26 of 35 institutions

Compare Des Moines 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.

Iowa's banks and credit unions

112 of the 291 institutions headquartered in Iowa have published fees here, and 112 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 13 fees, among institutions headquartered in Iowa.

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

13 fees with both a bank and a credit union median in Iowa.

Lower at credit unions

Lower at banks

About the same

Fee

Overdraft (OD)

Credit unions $1 lower in Iowa.

$30

Banks

median of 48

$29

Credit unions

median of 25

One fee with a lower bank median

Deposited Item Return

Banks

median of 31

$10

Credit unions

median of 14

Every fee, banks against credit unions

Bank and credit union medians in Iowa; the lower median is shaded.
Fee	Banks	Credit unions	Difference
Overdraft (OD)	$30	$29	$1
NSF / Returned Item	$30	$27.38	$2.62
Monthly Maintenance	$7.50	$5	$2.50
Non-Network ATM	$1.50	$1	$0.50
Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)	$25	$20	$5
Wire Transfer (Int'l Out)	$50	$45	$5
Stop Payment	$29	$25	$4
Cashier's Check	$5	$5	Same
Debit Card Replacement	$15	$10	$5
Wire Transfer (Domestic In)	$11.25	$10	$1.25
Deposited Item Return	$5	$10	$5
OD Protection Transfer	$5	$4	$1
Paper Statement	$3	$2	$1

Fee medians by peer group

Institutions under $300M in assets in Iowa

Wire Transfer runs $3.75 below the Iowa median.

Overdraft (OD)
Group median:
$30
of 40 institutions publishing
State median:
$30
of 73 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
NSF / Returned Item
Group median:
$28
of 44 institutions publishing
State median:
$29
of 76 institutions publishing
Difference: $1 below
Monthly Maintenance
Group median:
$5
of 34 institutions publishing
State median:
$5.87
of 59 institutions publishing
Difference: $0.87 below
Non-Network ATM
Group median:
$1
of 19 institutions publishing
State median:
$1
of 33 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)
Group median:
$20
of 41 institutions publishing
State median:
$23.75
of 76 institutions publishing
Difference: $3.75 below

Difference: the group median against the Iowa 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:
$45
of 30 institutions publishing
State median:
$50
of 57 institutions publishing
Difference: $5 below
Stop Payment
Group median:
$25
of 51 institutions publishing
State median:
$28
of 90 institutions publishing
Difference: $3 below
Cashier's Check
Group median:
$5
of 41 institutions publishing
State median:
$5
of 74 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Debit Card Replacement
Group median:
$10
of 43 institutions publishing
State median:
$11
of 78 institutions publishing
Difference: $1 below
Wire Transfer (Domestic In)
Group median:
$10
of 32 institutions publishing
State median:
$10
of 58 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Deposited Item Return
Group median:
$7
of 28 institutions publishing
State median:
$7
of 45 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
OD Protection Transfer
Group median:
$5
of 23 institutions publishing
State median:
$5
of 43 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Paper Statement
Group median:
$3.25
of 18 institutions publishing
State median:
$3
of 40 institutions publishing
Difference: $0.25 above
Minimum Balance
Group median:
$6.50
of 12 institutions publishing
State median:
$5
of 17 institutions publishing
Difference: $1.50 above

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 Iowa median counts every institution headquartered in the state that publishes the fee.

Source: Institutions headquartered in Iowa 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 Iowa

The five largest banks hold 22% of bank deposits in Iowa. 291 banks and credit unions are headquartered here; 1,410 bank branches and 319 credit union branches serve the state, wherever headquartered.

U.S. Bank National Association6.0% · $7.9B across 55 branches
Wells Fargo Bank, National Association6.0% · $7.9B across 39 branches
Bankers Trust Company4.6% · $6.1B across 16 branches
Hills Bank and Trust Company2.7% · $3.5B across 20 branches
Nicolet National Bank2.5% · $3.3B across 36 branches
Every other bank78.2% · $103.0B

74% of the 225 banks hold $100M to $1B in assets

FDIC asset-size groups

33% of the 66 credit unions hold $10M to $100M in assets

NCUA asset-size groups

Source: Institutions headquartered in Iowa, 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 Iowa; credit union branches from NCUA. Leading banks count banks with 10 or more branches in the state.

Fee income

Iowa bank service charges fell 2.2% 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

$28.9MQ2 2026

−2.2% from Q2 2025

Credit unions: all fee income

$35.3MQ2 2026

+0.6% 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 Iowa fee report

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

Iowa versus the Chicago district

Higher in Iowa: debit card replacement +⁠$1. Lower in Iowa: deposited item return −⁠$3, wire transfer −⁠$1.25, stop payment −⁠$1 and 4 more. The other 6 fees are about the same.

Deposited Item Return
Iowa $7 (45 inst.) · District $10 (239 inst.)
−$3
Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)
Iowa $23.75 (76 inst.) · District $25 (383 inst.)
−$1.25
Stop Payment
Iowa $28 (90 inst.) · District $29 (464 inst.)
−$1
Debit Card Replacement
Iowa $11 (78 inst.) · District $10 (391 inst.)
+$1
Minimum Balance
Iowa $5 (17 inst.) · District $6 (80 inst.)
−$1

Iowa median against the Chicago district median, by fee
Fee	Iowa	District	Gap
Deposited Item Return	$745 inst.	$10239 inst.	−$3
Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)	$23.7576 inst.	$25383 inst.	−$1.25
Stop Payment	$2890 inst.	$29464 inst.	−$1
Debit Card Replacement	$1178 inst.	$10391 inst.	+$1
Minimum Balance	$517 inst.	$680 inst.	−$1

What the Fed sees in the district

“Economic activity in the Seventh District was flat on balance in late August and September, and contacts expected a slight pace of increase in the coming year.”

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

Open the Chicago district report

Source: Both medians count institutions by headquarters; the district takes in Iowa and the rest of the Federal Reserve's Chicago 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, Chicago district.

Iowa versus the U.S.

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

Overdraft (OD)

$30

Median of 73 Iowa institutions. U.S. $30.

Iowa institutionsNational middle range

Explore 31 additional Iowa fee categories in Hamilton.

Method: Findings rank only fees with at least 10 Iowa 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

Iowa unemployment was 3.2% in September 2026, against 4.2% for the U.S.

Iowa

Unemployment rate, against the U.S.

IowaU.S.

Sep 2021 to Sep 2026

Median household income in Iowa: $75K (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.

Where does your institution sit?

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

See Hamilton plans Or ask for a demo

From 112 Iowa 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

$29

NSF / Returned Item

$30

$27.38

$2.62

Monthly Maintenance

$7.50

$2.50

Non-Network ATM

$1.50

$0.50

Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)

$25

$20

Wire Transfer (Int'l Out)

$50

$45

Stop Payment

$29

$25

Cashier's Check

Same

Debit Card Replacement

$15

$10

Wire Transfer (Domestic In)

$11.25

$10

$1.25

Deposited Item Return

$10

OD Protection Transfer

Paper Statement

Fee

Iowa

District

Lower in Iowa Higher in Iowa

Gap

Deposited Item Return

$745 inst.

$10239 inst.

−$3

Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)

$23.7576 inst.

$25383 inst.

−$1.25

Stop Payment

$2890 inst.

$29464 inst.

−$1

Debit Card Replacement

$1178 inst.

$10391 inst.

+$1

Minimum Balance

$517 inst.

$680 inst.

−$1