Today the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) opened the fiscal year (FY) 2015 application round for the Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA Program). Application materials are now available on the BEA Program page of the CDFI Fund’s website in anticipation of the May 5, 2015 publication of the FY 2015 Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) in the Federal Register. The FY 2015 NOFA makes up to $18 million available in awards to eligible Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-insured banks.
Through the BEA Program, the CDFI Fund provides monetary awards to FDIC-insured depository institutions that successfully demonstrate an increase in their investments in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) or in their own lending, investing, or service activities in distressed communities. Distressed communities are defined as those where at least 30 percent of residents have incomes that are less than the national poverty level and where the unemployment rate is at least 1.5 times the national unemployment rate.
BEA Program Overview
The BEA Program provides formula-based grants to applicants for increasing Qualified Activities from a Baseline Period to a later Assessment Period. There are three categories of Qualified Activities:
- CDFI Related Activities: Equity Investments, Grants, Equity-Like Loans, Loans, Deposits, and/or Technical Assistance provided to certified CDFIs.
- Distressed Community Financing Activities: Direct lending or investment in the form of Affordable Home Loans, Affordable Housing Development Loans or Investments, Home Improvement Loans, Education Loans, Small Business Loans or Investments, Small Dollar Consumer Loans, or Commercial Real Estate Development Loans or Investments provided to residents or businesses located in distressed communities.
- Service Activities: Financial products and services, such as Checking Accounts, Savings Accounts, Check Cashing, Financial Counseling, Individual Development Accounts, or Youth Savings Accounts provided to residents of distressed communities.
Full definitions of the Qualified Activities may be found in the BEA Program Regulations (Interim Rule), including the definition of Small Dollar Consumer Loans, which is a new Qualified Activity this year in the Distressed Community Financing Activities category. In addition, Youth Savings Accounts will be considered a Targeted Financial Service in the Service Activities category. Organizations providing these savings accounts encourage healthy financial habits in young Americans living in low-income communities. A description of Youth Savings Account can be located in the glossary of the Supplemental Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions document. Lastly, applicants are also now required to indicate how they intend to use their BEA Program award in their applications this round.
Deadlines
Please reference the NOFA and application instructions for detailed information regarding the following application deadlines:
- Part I of the application must be submitted through Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 15, 2015.
- Part II of the application must be submitted through myCDFIFund by 5:00 p.m. EDT on June 17, 2015.
Application Materials
In addition to being available through Grants.gov, the FY 2015 NOFA and application materials are available on the CDFI Fund’s website, www.cdfifund.gov/bea.
Webinars
The CDFI Fund will be conducting two webinars to discuss the FY 2015 BEA Program funding round. These webinars will also include question and answer sessions. Full information can be found in the FY 2015 BEA Program Application Webinar Table.
For those unable to participate in the webinars, the presentation materials will be posted on the CDFI Fund’s website subsequent to the webinar dates.
Questions
For more information on the BEA Program, please visit the BEA webpage of the CDFI Fund’s website: www.cdfifund.gov/bea. For questions regarding the BEA Program, please contact the CDFI Fund Help Desk at (202) 653-0421 or via email cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov. The CDFI Fund will not answer questions about the FY 2015 round after 5:00 p.m. on EDT June 11, 2015.