Interest and Dividend Income. Interest and dividend income decreased $551,000, or 8.1%, to $6.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020 from $6.8 million for the three months ended December 31, 2019. The decrease in interest and dividend income was primarily due to a $428,000 decrease in interest income on loans and a $122,000 decrease in interest income on securities. The decrease in interest income on securities resulted from a 48 basis point, or 18.5%, decrease in the average yield on securities to 2.09% from 2.57%, partially offset by a $9.8 million, or 6.7%, increase in the average balance of securities to $155.2 million from $145.5 million. The decrease in interest on loans resulted from a 52 basis point, or 11.1%, decrease in the average yield on loans to 4.16% from 4.68%, partially offset by a $19.7 million, or 4.0%, increase in the average balance of loans to $515.4 million from $495.7 million.
Interest Expense. Interest expense decreased $1.3 million, or 51.5%, to $1.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020 from $2.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2019. This decrease was due to a 94 basis point, or 54.0%, decrease in the average cost of interest-bearing liabilities to 0.80% from 1.74%, partially offset by a $30.5 million, or 5.4%, increase in the average balance of interest-bearing liabilities to $591.7 million from $561.2 million.
Interest expense on interest-bearing deposits decreased by $1.1 million, or 51.6%, to $1.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020 from $2.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2019. This decrease was due to a decrease in the average cost of interest-bearing deposits to 0.77% for the three months ended December 31, 2020 from 1.70% for the three months ended December 31, 2019, partially offset by a $38.1 million, or 7.3%, increase in the average balance of interest-bearing deposits to $560.1 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020 from $522.0 million for the three months ended December 31, 2019.
Interest expense on borrowings decreased $114,000, or 49.8%, to $115,000 for the three months ended December 31, 2020, from $229,000 for the three months ended December 31, 2019. This decrease was due to a decrease in the average balance of borrowings to $31.6 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020, from $39.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2019, and an 87 basis point decrease in the average cost of such borrowings to 1.46% for the three months ended December 31, 2020 from 2.33% for the three months ended December 31, 2019.
Provision for Loan Losses. We establish provisions for loan losses, which are charged to operations in order to maintain the allowance for loan losses at a level we consider necessary to absorb probable credit losses inherent in our loan portfolio. We recorded a credit for loan losses of $(49,000) for the three months ended December 31, 2020, compared to a credit for loan losses of $(30,000) for the three months ended December 31, 2019. During the three months ended December 31, 2020, net charge-offs of $8,000 were recorded, while during the three months ended December 31, 2019, net charge-offs of $25,000 were recorded.
Noninterest Income. Noninterest income increased $240,000, or 19.6%, to $1.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020 from $1.2 million for the three months ended December 31, 2019. The increase was primarily due to an increase in net gain on sale of loans and an increase in other service charges and fees, partially offset by a decrease in insurance commissions and a decrease in customer service fees. For the three months ended December 31, 2020, the net gain on the sale of loans increased $340,000 to $484,000, and other service charges and fees increased $16,000 to $103,000, while insurance commissions decreased $23,000 to $169,000 and customer service fees decrease $21,000 to $74,000 from the three months ended December 31, 2019. The increase in net gain on sale of loans was primarily due to earning higher agent fees on loans sold to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago in the three months ending December 31, 2020, than in the three months ended December 31, 2019, while the increase in other service charges and fees was due to an increase in the number of fees charged in the three months ended December 31, 2020. The decrease in insurance commissions was due to higher commissions earned in the three months ended December 31, 2019, and the decrease in customer service fees was due to fewer customer services performed and more customer fees waived, partially as a result of COVID-19, in the three months ended December 31, 2020.
Noninterest Expense. Noninterest expense increased $270,000, or 6.3%, to $4.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020 from $4.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2019. The largest components of this increase were compensation and benefits, which increased $272,000, or 10.0%, deposit insurance premium, which increased $46,000, or 100.0%, equipment expense, which increased $35,000, or 9.0%, and advertising, which increased $39,000, or 40.2%. These increases were partially offset by decreases in office occupancy, which decreased $25,000, or 10.3%, and other expenses, which decreased $64,000, or 13.3%. Compensation and benefits increased due to staffing
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