Fee income helps banks offset higher interest rates.

The article reports that the development of fee-generating products by the banks in Northeast Ohio in 2006 helps the financial institutions offset the higher interest rates. Due to the introduction of a pair of new fee-based checking accounts, fee income at Akron's FirstMerit Corp. was up 2.5 percent during the first half of 2006. Moreover, the Performance Checking account developed by Huntington Bancshares Inc. provides free overdraft protection and foreign ATM usage.