Wells ⁠Fargo's profit rose in the fourth quarter as it earned more from interest payments.

The fourth-largest U.S. lender's net income was $5.36 billion, ‍or $1.62 per share, in ‍the three months ended December 31, it said on Wednesday. ⁠That compares with $5.08 billion, or $1.43 per share, a year earlier.

Regulators removed a $1.95 ​trillion asset cap in June, lifting a penalty linked to Wells Fargo's fake-accounts scandal allowing ‍the bank to grow and pushing total ⁠assets past the $2 trillion mark last year for the first time.

U.S. banks have benefited from the repricing of fixed-rate assets ⁠and securities portfolios ​over time ⁠into higher-yielding assets.

Wells Fargo's net interest income — the difference ‍between what it earns on loans and pays out ‌on deposits — rose 4% to $12.33 billion in the quarter from a year ⁠earlier.

The ​bank had ‍expected interest income to be between $12.4 billion and $12.5 billion in the ‍quarter.