| 
While federal economic aid payments and efforts to assist customers affected by the pandemic led to lower fee income at some banks, mortgage activity helped offset some of these losses in the second quarter.
HarborOne Bank was among the banks with higher noninterest income, a key source of revenue in a low interest rate environment.
HarborOne saw noninterest income increase to $38.6 million in the second quarter compared to $18.9 million in the first quarter. The bank said in its second quarter earnings statement that low mortgage rates spurred record breaking mortgage activity, leading to higher than normal mortgage originations and other mortgage banking income at HarborOne Mortgage.
Rockland Trust also saw higher noninterest income in the second quarter, with $28.2 million in the second quarter, an increase of 6.6 percent over the first quarter. Mortgage banking income increased by $4.1 million compared to the first quarter, an increase the bank attributed in its earnings statement to a combination of the secondary market stabilizing and strong demand for activity.
The bank did see other noninterest income go down, including fees in deposit accounts. Rockland Trust reported that deposit account fees decreased by $2.1 million, or 43.1 percent, compared to the first quarter, and attributed the decline to government economic aid payments that resulted in significant reductions in overdraft fees for customers.
Lowell-based Enterprise Bank, Westfield Bank and Brookline Bancorp all saw noninterest income decline in the second quarter, due in part to lower fees in deposit accounts, including those for nonsufficient funds and overdrafts.
Boston Private Bank did see a 5 percent increase in noninterest income, but gains were affected by lower wealth management and trust fees, which declined as a result of lower equity market values at the end of the first quarter of 2020.
