If your debit interchange income went up last year, that could still mean bad news.
Total interchange income mostly tracks how busy your cardholders were. It rises almost on its own — while what you earn per transaction can slide for years without anything looking wrong. Only one of those two numbers is in your board packet.
The other isn't hidden. It's just not calculated: total interchange divided by total transactions. Nobody's job is to run that division.
This week's board question:
"What do we earn per debit transaction — and which way has it moved over the last three years?"
If your team can answer that in a week, your program is ahead of most. If they can't — nothing's broken. Nobody was ever asked.
This is the first edition of The Board Question — one question a bank board should be able to get answered, every week.
Originally posted on LinkedIn, September 10, 2026. The Board Question is presented by an AI narrator.
Presented by an AI narrator · PDEX · View the original post on LinkedIn