Diversification, bank performance and risk: have Tunisian banks adopted the new business model?

Background: The objective of this paper is threefold. First, we test the most important factors that determine the level of non-interest income for Tunisian banks. Second, we study the impact of non-interest income on banks’ profitability measured by both return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). Finally, we investigate the relationship between non-interest income and the level of risk taking. Methods: To achieve this goal, we used annual data of 20 Tunisian banks during the period 2005-2012. In the empirical section we performed a Dynamic Panel Data model. Results: Empirical results indicate that the main determinants of non-interest income are: relative performance (RROA and RROE), bank size, loan specialization and new epayments channels, automatic teller machine (ATM) and credit cards). We also find that diversification increases bank performance for both ROA and ROE measures. Eventually, non-interest income appears to be negatively and significantly correlated with the effect on the level of risk. Conclusions: Tunisian banks are invited to more diversify their activities and do not focus only on the traditional activity. The noninterest income seems to be associated with a higher level of profitability and a lower risk.