The CFPB's overdraft report released Tuesday contained someunflattering statistics related to credit union overdraft income.

According to the report, while bank and thrift service chargeson deposit accounts have declined since 2008, credit union feeincome has increased by 15%.

Because credit union fee income as reported to the NCUA includesseveral sources, the report said, defining how much comes fromoverdrafts and not-sufficient-funds charges is difficult.

The CFPB sourced Strunk & Associates as saying NSF andoverdraft fees contributed 11.6% of credit union 2012 operatingrevenues, compared with 6.9% of bank and thrift revenue during thesame period.

However, Strunk also told the CFPB that NSF and overdraft feesaccounted for 51% of credit union fee income in 2012, compared with78% for community banks and thrifts. Large banks report a smallpercentage of income from NSFs and overdrafts, the report said,because they serve more large commercial accounts than do smallcommunity-based institutions.

Credit unions did get some good news in the report whencomparing the amount they charge for NSFs and overdrafts. Althoughcredit unions were categorized along with small banks, the reportsaid small institutions charge median NSF and overdraft fees of$30, compared with $34 by the 33 largest institutions.

The report was critical of opt-in overdraft protection programs, saying that consumers whoare heavy overdraft users and opted in to comply with a 2010regulation paid $450 more during the first six months under the newrules, compared with those who did not. Opt-in users alsoexperienced more frequent instances of involuntary accountclosures, which the report said makes it more difficult for theconsumer to open an account in the future.

The CFPB stressed in the report that the information does notimply that banks and credit unions should be precluded fromoffering overdraft coverage, and in fact, the study found someprogress in consumer protections.

“Nonetheless, our findings with respect to the number ofconsumers who are incurring heavy overdraft fees or accountclosures and the wide variations across institutions indicate thatcertain practices and procedures merit further analysis todetermine whether they are causing the kind of consumer harm thatthe federal consumer protections laws are designed to prevent,” theCFPB said.

In a press call, CFPB Director Richard Cordray said the bureaurecognizes that regulators have addressed overdraft and NSFpractices in the institutions they supervise.

However, the CFPB's review intends to “help develop moreconsistent federal oversight of these issues across financialinstitutions,” Cordray said.

Cordray added that the report is just a first step in examiningoverdraft practices, and said the CFPB would continue to collectmore data on the topic, and would act transparently should it takeaction.