Health Savings Accounts Hold Allure For Banks, Others

For companies such as U.S. Bancorp, Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America and UnitedHealth's Exante Bank, this pool of potential deposits offers the prospect of millions of dollars in management and transaction fees.

"I love HSAs," said Phillip Philliou, Exante Financial Services' chief product and strategy officer. "The dollars go in pretax, stay in pretax, and go out pretax. How many products can you think of that do all three?"

For banks, HSAs offer multiple sources of revenue. In addition to fees just to start and maintain an account, banks can earn money helping consumers invest the money in stocks, real estate and bonds. Exante, for instance, recently announced that HSA customers can invest their money in well-known funds such as Vanguard Global Equity and John Hancock Classic Value.