This paper investigates how banks adjust their business model amid rising global economic uncertainty. Specifically, we analyze the effect of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on banks' non-interest income activities, using a large panel dataset of 3913 banks operating in 9 countries over the period 2009–2018. We find no statistically significant effect of EPU on banks’ net non-interest income (NNII). Further analysis shows that the lack of impact on NNII is due to a reduction in gross non-interest income which was offset by a decrease in gross non-interest expenses. Our results also suggest that the likelihood of banks to diversify income amid high EPU is conditional on the negative interest rate environment.