1. Home
  2. Consumers & Communities
  3. Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)

Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. I can't locate the bank I'm searching for. What am I doing wrong?
  2. I've entered the bank's official name in the search window, but I'm not getting the information I'm looking for. Is there something special I need to do?
  3. I still can't find the bank by entering its name in the search window. What should I do now?
  4. The bank I'm searching for seems to be listed more than once, and I'm not sure which is the right one. How can I be certain?
  5. I've found the right bank name, but the city listed is not the city I'm looking for. How are cities listed in the database?
  6. I've found the right bank, but no rating is given for some years. Is some information missing?

1. I can't locate the bank I'm searching for. What am I doing wrong?

The depository institution you're looking for may not be examined for CRA performance by the Federal Reserve. For CRA information on additional institutions, go to the FDIC site, the OCC site or the OTS site.

2. I've entered the bank's official name in the search window, but I'm not getting the information I'm looking for. Is there something special I need to do?

  • For best results, start your search by entering only the most significant part of the bank's name, for example, "Citizens"
  • You may need to try a different form of the bank's name. Banks are listed by abbreviated names--based on the Federal Reserve's National Information Center (NIC) RSSD ID--and you may need to try several name variations before you find the one you're looking for.
  • You may use the information search feature of the Federal Reserve's National Information Center (NIC) to obtain a bank's RSSD. The RSSD ID may then be placed in the "Bank Name or ID" field to access ratings and performance evaluations for banks regulated by the Federal Reserve.
  • For names with obvious abbreviations, use the abbreviation; for example, try AMER before AMERICAN and BK (or B&TC, for Bank and Trust Co.) before BANK. (However, the word STATE is not usually abbreviated.)
  • Enter all abbreviations in sequence. For example, if the bank you are looking for is named First State Bank, enter STATE before BK.

3. I still can't find the bank by entering its name in the search window. What should I do now?

Try the other approach: Instead of searching on the bank name, select criteria to narrow your search to a particular state and then look for the bank on the list that appears.

4. The bank I'm searching for seems to be listed more than once, and I'm not sure which is the right one. How can I be certain?

A single bank may be listed under more than one name because bank names (and the way a single name is entered in the database) may change over time. Bank ID numbers stay the same, however. The bank you're looking for may in fact be listed under more than one name. By matching ID numbers, you can determine which banks with slightly different names (or slightly different abbreviated names) are in reality the same bank.

5. I've found the right bank name, but the city listed is not the city I'm looking for. How are cities listed in the database?

The listed city is the location of the head office of the bank; branches may be located in other cities.

6. I've found the right bank, but no rating is given for some years. Is some information missing?

Probably not. Not all banks are evaluated every year.

Back to Top
Last Update: March 24, 2015