Higher revenue at more than two-thirds of banks and lower litigation costs pushed net income to a level that exceeded the previous mark set in 2013 by $2.6 billion, the agency said in its report on industrywide performance.

Loan balances rose by $185 billion during the quarter, including a $25 billion increase in residential mortgages and $49 billion in commercial and industrial lending. Meanwhile, trading income fell 14.1 percent, the FDIC said.

Net charge-offs declined for a 20th consecutive quarter, falling 11 percent from a year earlier to the lowest level since the third quarter of 2006, before the credit crisis.

FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said in a statement that the agency continues to be concerned about the industry's vulnerability to interest-rate risk, noting that net interest margins are "under pressure" as maturing high-yield assets are replaced with investments with lower yields.