What is economic development?
Economic development activities are generally those that promote commerce, trade and employment. Under the CRA, such activities may include: Lending to small businesses or farms that have less than $1 million in gross annual revenues Lending to small businesses or farms through government sponsored programs or entities including Community Development Financial Institutions, the Small Business…
What is financial literacy education?
Teaching or developing financial education curricula for LMI individuals to promote understanding of the banking and financial system. May also include providing other financial services education to promote community development or affordable housing such as, credit counseling, homeownership counseling, financial planning, foreclosure counseling, school savings programs, personal budgeting, small business financing, or tax preparation.
What types of financial products and services are CRA qualifying?
Financial products and services tailored to LMI individuals including initiatives focused on the unbanked or underbanked. These may include providing low-cost alternatives for financial services such as electronic benefits transfer, international remittance services, and checking and savings accounts.
What is a healthy community initiative?
Programs defined by the Federal Reserve as supporting healthier communities in areas that may not have access to healthy initiatives as a norm. Programs include providing access to healthy food or medical care, community aesthetic programs, environmental quality, building financial capacity, early childhood development, education, employment, entrepreneurship, personal/public safety, physical activity, public transportation, senior needs,…
What counts as a qualified investment?
Qualified investments under the CRA range from highly complex government-sponsored programs to simple community donations given to nonprofit organizations. Following are some examples of common financial investments that qualify for positive consideration during bank CRA examinations. Investments made to community development organizations and entities such as Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Community Development Entities (CDEs),…
What is an in-kind donation?
An in-kind donation is the transfer of a gift of goods or services (or some other non-cash asset that has value) to another person or organization. Similar to cash donations, in-kind donations made to a 501(c)(3) organization are tax-deductible. However, with in-kind donations, the donor must determine the cash value of the goods or services….
What type of activities revitalize or stabilize?
There are a variety of activities that are considered to revitalize and stabilize communities as outlined under the requirements of CRA. These are generally broken into three main types of activities. Attracting New or Retaining Existing Business These types of activity is focused on low- or moderate-income geographies. Examples of qualifying activity includes loans for…
What is technical assistance?
Examples of technical assistance activities that are related to the provision of financial services and that might be provided to community development organizations include serving on the board of directors serving on a loan review committee developing loan application and underwriting standards developing loan-processing systems developing secondary market vehicles or programs assisting in marketing financial…
What are examples of CRA-related complaints to include in the CRA Public File?
As you manage and update your CRA Public File, the CRA states that banks should include: All written comments received from the public for the current year and each of the prior two calendar years that specifically relate to the bank’s or savings association’s performance in helping to meet community credit needs, and any response…
Why is CRA important to nonprofits?
Banks need strong partnerships with organizations that can help them meet the needs of the community and fulfill their CRA goals. Community-based nonprofit organizations provide opportunities for banks to volunteer, lend and donate funds and other resources to the individuals and areas that need it most. Because nonprofits need a variety of support to serve…