Profits in Bank of America’s consumer banking business jumped by 52% year-over-year, loans rose by about 1.9% and credit and debit card spending increased by 6%.
The Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes helped bolster the bank industry’s bottom line. While higher rates usually means higher interest rates on deposits, the Fed’s slow pace of interest rate hikes allowed big banks to charge borrowers more without having to significantly raise payouts to depositors.
Bank of America’s positive report follows the release of J.P. Morgan Chase’s (NYSE: JPM) results on Tuesday. J.P. Morgan revealed weaker-than-expected earnings, but the company stocks still managed to eke out a slight gain.
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