Boston Fed · District 1

Bank fees in Massachusetts

Name: Massachusetts 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 211 headquartered in Massachusetts: 147
medians fall within the national middle 50%: 13 of 14

Data refreshed Nov 4, 2026

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Local fee benchmarks

Boston's NSF / returned item median is $8; Massachusetts's is $29.

NSF / Returned Item median by market, institutions with a branch thereMassachusetts $29, 95 institutions

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

Boston
10 institutions
$8
Massachusetts
95 institutions
$29
Boston Fed district
192 institutions
$29.25
U.S.
2,857 institutions
$30

Who each median counts

Boston: With a branch in Boston, wherever headquartered
Massachusetts: Headquartered in Massachusetts
Boston Fed district: Headquartered in the Boston Fed district
U.S.: Every institution in the index

Boston

Fee data available for 25 of 44 institutions

Compare Boston 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.

Massachusetts's banks and credit unions

147 of the 211 institutions headquartered in Massachusetts have published fees here, and 145 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 7 of 13 fees, among institutions headquartered in Massachusetts.

lower at credit unions: 7
lower at banks: 3
about the same: 3

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

Lower at credit unions

Lower at banks

About the same

Fee

Overdraft (OD)

Credit unions $2 lower in Massachusetts.

$32

Banks

median of 35

$30

Credit unions

median of 46

Three fees with lower bank medians

Wire Transfer (Int'l Out)

$45

Banks

median of 33

$50

Credit unions

median of 42

Debit Card Replacement

$10

Banks

median of 41

$12

Credit unions

median of 63

Deposited Item Return

$6.84

Banks

median of 32

$10

Credit unions

median of 51

Every fee, banks against credit unions

Bank and credit union medians in Massachusetts; the lower median is shaded.
Fee	Banks	Credit unions	Difference
Overdraft (OD)	$32	$30	$2
NSF / Returned Item	$30	$28	$2
Monthly Maintenance	$10	$5	$5
Non-Network ATM	$1.75	$1	$0.75
Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)	$25	$25	Same
Wire Transfer (Int'l Out)	$45	$50	$5
Stop Payment	$30	$25	$5
Cashier's Check	$5	$5	Same
Debit Card Replacement	$10	$12	$2
Deposited Item Return	$6.84	$10	$3.16
Wire Transfer (Domestic In)	$15	$10	$5
OD Protection Transfer	$5	$5	Same
Paper Statement	$4.25	$2	$2.25

Fee medians by peer group

Institutions under $300M in assets in Massachusetts

Monthly Maintenance runs $3.75 below the Massachusetts median.

Overdraft (OD)
Group median:
$30
of 27 institutions publishing
State median:
$30
of 81 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
NSF / Returned Item
Group median:
$28.50
of 44 institutions publishing
State median:
$29
of 95 institutions publishing
Difference: $0.50 below
Monthly Maintenance
Group median:
$3
of 21 institutions publishing
State median:
$6.75
of 70 institutions publishing
Difference: $3.75 below
Non-Network ATM
Group median:
$1
of 21 institutions publishing
State median:
$1.50
of 58 institutions publishing
Difference: $0.50 below
Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)
Group median:
$25
of 46 institutions publishing
State median:
$25
of 109 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%

Difference: the group median against the Massachusetts 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:
$50
of 27 institutions publishing
State median:
$45
of 75 institutions publishing
Difference: $5 above
Stop Payment
Group median:
$25
of 51 institutions publishing
State median:
$25
of 127 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Cashier's Check
Group median:
$5
of 29 institutions publishing
State median:
$5
of 88 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Debit Card Replacement
Group median:
$15
of 41 institutions publishing
State median:
$10
of 104 institutions publishing
Difference: $5 above
Deposited Item Return
Group median:
$8.12
of 36 institutions publishing
State median:
$7.11
of 83 institutions publishing
Difference: $1.01 above
Wire Transfer (Domestic In)
Group median:
$10
of 31 institutions publishing
State median:
$10
of 76 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
OD Protection Transfer
Group median:
$5
of 28 institutions publishing
State median:
$5
of 62 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Paper Statement
Group median:
$2
of 13 institutions publishing
State median:
$2
of 29 institutions publishing
Difference: Within 1%
Minimum Balance
Group median:
Too few to compare
of 3 institutions publishing
State median:
$5
of 12 institutions publishing
Difference: Not compared

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

Source: Institutions headquartered in Massachusetts 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 4, 2026.

Who serves Massachusetts

The five largest banks hold 38% of bank deposits in Massachusetts. 211 banks and credit unions are headquartered here; 1,859 bank branches and 482 credit union branches serve the state, wherever headquartered.

Bank of America, National Association15.6% · $100.4B across 146 branches
Citizens Bank, National Association9.2% · $59.3B across 179 branches
Santander Bank, N.A.5.7% · $36.6B across 115 branches
Eastern Bank3.8% · $24.6B across 112 branches
TD Bank, National Association3.3% · $21.1B across 114 branches
Every other bank62.5% · $403.3B

49% of the 89 banks hold $1B to $10B in assets

FDIC asset-size groups

34% of the 122 credit unions hold $10M to $100M in assets

NCUA asset-size groups

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

Fee income

Massachusetts bank service charges rose 27.2% 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

$56.3MQ2 2026

+27.2% from Q2 2025

Credit unions: all fee income

$39.7MQ2 2026

+12.5% 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.

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

Massachusetts versus the Boston district

Higher in Massachusetts: wire transfer +⁠$5, monthly maintenance +⁠$0.75. Lower in Massachusetts: deposited item return −⁠$2.89, paper statement −⁠$1, minimum balance −⁠$0.50. The other 9 fees are about the same.

Wire Transfer (Int'l Out)
Massachusetts $45 (75 inst.) · District $40 (145 inst.)
+$5
Deposited Item Return
Massachusetts $7.11 (83 inst.) · District $10 (155 inst.)
−$2.89
Paper Statement
Massachusetts $2 (29 inst.) · District $3 (68 inst.)
−$1
Monthly Maintenance
Massachusetts $6.75 (70 inst.) · District $6 (134 inst.)
+$0.75
Minimum Balance
Massachusetts $5 (12 inst.) · District $5.50 (27 inst.)
−$0.50

Massachusetts median against the Boston district median, by fee
Fee	Massachusetts	District	Gap
Wire Transfer (Int'l Out)	$4575 inst.	$40145 inst.	+$5
Deposited Item Return	$7.1183 inst.	$10155 inst.	−$2.89
Paper Statement	$229 inst.	$368 inst.	−$1
Monthly Maintenance	$6.7570 inst.	$6134 inst.	+$0.75
Minimum Balance	$512 inst.	$5.5027 inst.	−$0.50

What the Fed sees in the district

“Economic activity expanded slightly, with mixed results across sectors.”

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

Open the Boston district report

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

Massachusetts versus the U.S.

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

Overdraft (OD)

$30

Median of 81 Massachusetts institutions. U.S. $30.

Massachusetts institutionsNational middle range

Explore 30 additional Massachusetts fee categories in Hamilton.

Method: Findings rank only fees with at least 10 Massachusetts 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

Massachusetts unemployment was 4.3% in September 2026, against 4.2% for the U.S.

Massachusetts

Unemployment rate, against the U.S.

MassachusettsU.S.

Sep 2021 to Sep 2026

Median household income in Massachusetts: $104K (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 Massachusetts data: fee complaints to the CFPB

Fee complaints to the CFPB, 2025

Per $1 billion of deposits.

U.S.1.1

4 Massachusetts institutions are matched to CFPB records, under the 10 a rate needs.

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 Massachusetts.

See Hamilton plans Or ask for a demo

From 145 Massachusetts banks and credit unions' own published fee schedules, one value per institution; a median needs at least 5 institutions. Data as of Nov 4, 2026. Methodology

Fee

Banks

Credit unions

Difference

Overdraft (OD)

$32

$30

NSF / Returned Item

$30

$28

Monthly Maintenance

$10

Non-Network ATM

$1.75

$0.75

Wire Transfer (Domestic Out)

$25

Same

Wire Transfer (Int'l Out)

$45

$50

Stop Payment

$30

$25

Cashier's Check

Same

Debit Card Replacement

$10

$12

Deposited Item Return

$6.84

$10

$3.16

Wire Transfer (Domestic In)

$15

$10

OD Protection Transfer

Same

Paper Statement

$4.25

$2.25

Fee

Massachusetts

District

Lower in Massachusetts Higher in Massachusetts

Gap

Wire Transfer (Int'l Out)

$4575 inst.

$40145 inst.

+$5

Deposited Item Return

$7.1183 inst.

$10155 inst.

−$2.89

Paper Statement

$229 inst.

$368 inst.

−$1

Monthly Maintenance

$6.7570 inst.

$6134 inst.

+$0.75

Minimum Balance

$512 inst.

$5.5027 inst.

−$0.50