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Net interest income (NII) is the difference between the interest a bank earns on its loans and investments and the interest it pays on depositors’ accounts and borrowings. In simple terms, it represents the profit a bank makes from lending. During economic downturns and recessions, demand for loans typically declines, leading to lower interest earnings for banks. This was evident after the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, and again during and after the euro area recession of 2012, when leading European banks experienced significant decreases in NII. The COVID-19-induced contraction in 2020 had a more limited impact. Although there was a modest decline in NII between 2020 and 2021 at three of the four observed banks, the overall effect was less severe than in previous crises. In 2024, reported the highest net interest income among the banks studied, followed by HSBC.