NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Several banks posted improved second-quarter earnings Tuesday despite a slack economy as Americans continued to rack up credit card fees and apply for home loans.

Wells Fargo & Co. reported second-quarter earnings of $1.42 billion, or 82 cents a share, up from $1.22 billion, or 70 cents a share, a year earlier, excluding charges. Including charges, the bank earned 8 cents a share a year earlier. Analysts polled by earnings tracker First Call expected a profit of 82 cents a share.

The San Francisco-based bank said applications for consumer loans, including home mortgages and home equity loans, grew 21 percent from the year-earlier second quarter.

U.S. interest rates are around 40-year lows, pulling borrowers into Wells Fargo's leading mortgage lending operation and stoking growth in other consumer loans. The cheap rates also reduce banks' own borrowing costs. Wells Fargo also took $1.1 billion in investment writedowns in the year-ago quarter, boosting this year's second-quarter results by comparison.

Wells Fargo (WFC: Research, Estimates) shares were up slightly Tuesday morning.

KeyCorp (KEY: Research, Estimates) said its second-quarter net income increased to $246 million, or 57 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $160 million, or 38 cents, a year earlier. Analysts on average anticipated a profit of 57 cents a share.

The year-earlier loss reflects charges and costs associated with exiting certain businesses and services.

Loan growth remains sluggish, but KeyCorp made money after trimming costs and moving bad loans off its books. Turbulent stock markets scared investors, prompting them to put money back into bank accounts.

Revenue increased to $1.2 billion from $1.1 billion a year earlier.

Shares of Cleveland-based KeyCorp were down slightly Tuesday.

Bank One said it earned $803 million, or 68 cents a share, excluding items, up from $706 million, or 60 cents, a year earlier. Analysts polled by First Call anticipated a profit of 68 cents a share.

Including a one-time $40 million tax benefit, Bank One earned $843 million, or 71 cents a share.

The bank cited increased balances and charge volumes on its credit cards as well as improved consumer loan business.

Bank One also announced a $2 billion stock buyback plan Tuesday that replaces two previous buybacks announced in September 2001 and May 1999. The timing of purchases will depend on market conditions.

Shares of Chicago-based Bank One (ONE: Research, Estimates) were up slightly Tuesday.

State Street Corp. reported second-quarter profit of $178 million, or 54 cents a share, up from $167 million, or 50 cents a share, a year earlier. That's ahead of the 52 cent Wall Street consensus forecast, according to First Call.

Revenue increased to $1 billion from $988 million.

State Street, which provides record-keeping services for mutual fund companies and manages money for clients, said total assets under custody rose to $6.2 trillion from $6.1 trillion a year ago. Assets under management increased to $770 billion from $727 billion.

Servicing fees rose 3 percent in the quarter to $440 million from $426 million, while fees from investment management services provided by its State Street Global Advisors unit were $141 million, up 5 percent from $135 million a year ago.

Shares of Boston-based State Street (STT: Research, Estimates) headed up slightly Tuesday.

The company also cited strong loan performance as well as expense control as helping shore up the bottom line.  

-- from staff and wire reports