OCC Rule Clarifying National Banks’ Authority to Charge Non-Interest Fees Takes Effect
A new federal banking rule clarifying national banks’ authority to impose non-interest charges and fees took effect June 30, 2026, with specific implications for credit-card and debit-card activity nationwide.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said its interim final rule amends the agency’s regulation on national-bank non-interest charges and fees. The rule states that national banks may assess, collect, impose, levy, receive, reserve or otherwise obtain those charges.
The action applies to all national banks, including community banks. It is intended to clarify the legal authority those institutions use when structuring and collecting fees that are not interest charges.
What the rule covers
The rule expressly includes interchange fees connected to credit-card and debit-card operations. Interchange fees are charges associated with payment-card transactions, making the rule relevant not only to banks but also to merchants, payment networks and consumers who use cards.
The OCC’s clarification also covers situations in which fees are set by, or developed with, third parties. That provision addresses arrangements in which a national bank’s fee structure involves another company or outside participant rather than being determined solely by the bank itself.
In practical terms, the rule establishes that a national bank’s authority to obtain a covered non-interest charge does not depend on the bank independently setting every part of the fee. The agency described the action as a clarification of existing authority, rather than as a schedule establishing particular dollar amounts.
Why it matters
Non-interest fees are part of how banks structure products and services. Because the rule covers card-related activity and other non-interest charges, its scope reaches a broad set of banking arrangements rather than a single consumer product.
For consumers, the rule is relevant to the way banks may assess or organize charges connected to card operations. For merchants and payment networks, it addresses the authority of national banks to participate in fee arrangements involving payment-card transactions. Community banks are covered alongside larger national banks.
The rule does not automatically raise consumer fees, and it does not require every national bank to impose a new interchange charge or another specific fee. The OCC’s announcement also does not quantify how many banks will change their fees or how consumers’ prices could be affected.
Whether an individual bank changes a particular fee remains a separate question from the rule’s legal clarification. The action confirms the authority described in the regulation but does not identify fee changes by specific banks.
Interim rule and public comments
The measure is an interim final rule, not a court ruling. The OCC set a public-comment period lasting 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
That process gives banks, businesses, consumers and other interested parties an opportunity to address the agency’s clarification. The rule nevertheless became effective June 30, 2026, while the comment process proceeded under the schedule announced by the OCC.
The next known step is the public-comment process. The OCC’s announcement sets the deadline by reference to 30 days after Federal Register publication, rather than identifying a separate calendar date in the notice described here.
The central change is therefore immediate: national banks, including community banks, have an OCC rule expressly recognizing their ability to assess and collect covered non-interest charges, including interchange fees tied to credit- and debit-card activity and fees set or developed with third parties.
Sources
- National Bank Non-Interest Charges and Fees: Interim Final Rule, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
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