§ 228.12 Definitions. Cross Reference
Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 7188 , Feb. 1, 2024.
For purposes of this part, the following definitions apply: *Affiliate* means any company that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another company. The term “control” has the meaning given to that term in 12 U.S.C. 1841(a)(2), as implemented by the Board in 12 CFR part 225, and a company is under common control with another company if both companies are directly or indirectly controlled by the same company.
*Affordable housing* means activities described in § 228.13(b).
*Area median income* means: ( 1 ) The median family income for the MSA (as defined in this section), if an individual, family, household, or census tract is located in an MSA that has not been subdivided into metropolitan divisions, or for the metropolitan division, if an individual, family, household, or census tract is located in an MSA that has been subdivided into metropolitan divisions; or
( 2 ) The statewide nonmetropolitan median family income, if an individual, family, household, or census tract is located in a nonmetropolitan area.
*Assets* means a bank's total assets as reported in Schedule RC of the Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income as filed under 12 U.S.C. 161, 324, 1464, or 1817, as applicable (Call Report), or Schedule RAL of the Report of Assets and Liabilities of U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks as filed under 12 U.S.C. 1817(a), 3102(b), or 3105(c)(2), as applicable.
*Bank* means a State member bank as that term is defined in section 3(d)(2) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(d)(2)), except as provided in § 228.11(c)(3), and includes an uninsured State branch (other than a limited branch) of a foreign bank described in § 228.11(c)(2).
*Branch* means a staffed banking facility, whether shared or unshared, that the Board approved or authorized as a branch and that is open to, and accepts deposits from, the general public.
*Census tract* means a census tract delineated by the U.S. Census Bureau.
*Closed-end home mortgage loan* has the same meaning given to the term “closed-end mortgage loan” in 12 CFR 1003.2, excluding loan transactions set forth in 12 CFR 1003.3(c)(1) through (10) and (13) and multifamily loans as defined in this section.
*Combination of loan dollars and loan count* means, when applied to a particular ratio, the average of: ( 1 ) The ratio calculated using loans measured in dollar volume; and
( 2 ) The ratio calculated using loans measured in number of loans.
*Community development* means activities described in § 228.13(b) through (l). Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) means an entity that satisfies the definition in section 103(5)(A) of the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702(5)) and is certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund as meeting the requirements set forth in 12 CFR 1805.201(b).
*Community development investment* means a lawful investment, including a legally binding commitment to invest, that is reported on Schedule RC-L of the Call Report or on Schedule L of the Report of Assets and Liabilities of U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banks, as applicable; deposit; membership share; grant; or monetary or in-kind donation that supports community development, as described in § 228.13.
*Community development loan* means a loan, including a legally binding commitment to extend credit, such as a standby letter of credit, that supports community development, as described in § 228.13. A community development loan does not include any home mortgage loan considered under the Retail Lending Test in § 228.22, with the exception of one-to-four family home mortgage loans for rental housing with affordable rents in nonmetropolitan areas under § 228.13(b)(3).
*Community development services* means the performance of volunteer services by a bank's or its affiliate's board members or employees, performed on behalf of the bank, where those services: ( 1 ) Support community development, as described in § 228.13; and
( 2 ) Are related to the provision of financial services, which include credit, deposit, and other personal and business financial services, or services that reflect a board member's or an employee's expertise at the bank or affiliate, such as human resources, information technology, and legal services.
*Consumer loan* means a loan to one or more individuals for household, family, or other personal expenditures and that is one of the following types of loans: ( 1 ) *Automobile loan,* as reported in Schedule RC-C of the Call Report;
( 2 ) *Credit card loan,* as reported as “credit card” in Schedule RC-C of the Call Report;
( 3 ) *Other revolving credit plan,* as reported in Schedule RC-C of the Call Report; and
( 4 ) *Other consumer loan,* as reported in Schedule RC-C of the Call Report.
*County* means any county, county equivalent, or statistically equivalent entity as used by the U.S. Census Bureau pursuant to title 13 of the U.S. Code.
*Deposit location* means: ( 1 ) For banks that collect, maintain, and report deposits data as provided in § 228.42, the address on file with the bank for purposes of the Customer Identification Program required by 31 CFR 1020.220 or another documented address at which the depositor resides or is located.
( 2 ) For banks that do not collect, maintain, and report deposits data as provided in § 228.42, the county of the bank facility to which the deposits are assigned in the FDIC's Summary of Deposits.
*Depository institution* means any institution subject to the CRA, as described in § 228.11 and 12 CFR 25.11 and 345.11.
*Deposits* has the following meanings: ( 1 ) For banks that collect, maintain, and report deposits data as provided in § 228.42, *deposits* means deposits in domestic offices of individuals, partnerships, and corporations, and of commercial banks and other depository institutions in the United States as defined in Schedule RC-E of the Call Report; deposits does not include U.S. Government deposits, State and local government deposits, domestically held deposits of foreign governments or official institutions, or domestically held deposits of foreign banks or other foreign financial institutions; and
( 2 ) For banks that do not collect, maintain, and report deposits data as provided in § 228.42, *deposits* means a bank's deposits as reported in the FDIC's Summary of Deposits as required under 12 CFR 304.3(c).
*Digital delivery system* means a channel through which banks offer retail banking services electronically, such as online banking or mobile banking.
*Distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income census tract* means a census tract publicly designated as such by the Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), based on the criteria in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this definition, compiled in a list, and published annually by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC). ( 1 ) A nonmetropolitan middle-income census tract is designated as distressed if it is in a county that meets one or more of the following criteria: ( i ) An unemployment rate of at least 1.5 times the national average;
( ii ) A poverty rate of 20 percent or more; or
( iii ) A population loss of 10 percent or more between the previous and most recent decennial census or a net population loss of five percent or more over the five-year period preceding the most recent census.
( 2 ) A nonmetropolitan middle-income census tract is designated as underserved if it meets the criteria for population size, density, and dispersion that indicate the area's population is sufficiently small, thin, and distant from a population center that the census tract is likely to have difficulty financing the fixed costs of meeting essential community needs. The criteria for these designations are based on the Urban Influence Codes established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service numbered “7,” “10,” “11,” or “12.”
*Evaluation period* means the period, generally in calendar years, during which a bank conducted the activities that the Board evaluates in a CRA examination, in accordance with the Board's guidelines and procedures.
*Facility-based assessment area* means a geographic area delineated pursuant to § 228.16.
*High Opportunity Area* means an area identified by the Federal Housing Finance Agency for purposes of the Duty to Serve Underserved Markets regulation in 12 CFR part 1282, subpart C.
*Home mortgage loan* means a closed-end home mortgage loan or an open-end home mortgage loan as these terms are defined in this section.
*Income level* includes: ( 1 ) *Low-income,* which means: ( i ) For individuals, families, or households, income that is less than 50 percent of the area median income; or
( ii ) For a census tract, a median family income that is less than 50 percent of the area median income.
( 2 ) *Moderate-income,* which means: ( i ) For individuals, families, or households, income that is at least 50 percent and less than 80 percent of the area median income; or
( ii ) For a census tract, a median family income that is at least 50 percent and less than 80 percent of the area median income.
( 3 ) *Middle-income,* which means: ( i ) For individuals, families, or households, income that is at least 80 percent and less than 120 percent of the area median income; or
( ii ) For a census tract, a median family income that is at least 80 percent and less than 120 percent of the area median income.
( 4 ) *Upper-income,* which means: ( i ) For individuals, families, or households, income that is 120 percent or more of the area median income; or
( ii ) For a census tract, a median family income that is 120 percent or more of the area median income.
*Intermediate bank* means a bank, excluding a bank designated as a limited purpose bank pursuant to § 228.26, that had assets of at least $600 million as of December 31 in both of the prior two calendar years and less than $2 billion as of December 31 in either of the prior two calendar years. The Board adjusts and publishes the figures in this definition annually, based on the year-to-year change in the average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, not seasonally adjusted, for each 12-month period ending in November, with rounding to the nearest million.
*Large bank* means a bank, excluding a bank designated as a limited purpose bank pursuant to § 228.26, that had assets of at least $2 billion as of December 31 in both of the prior two calendar years. The Board adjusts and publishes the figure in this definition annually, based on the year-to-year change in the average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, not seasonally adjusted, for each 12-month period ending in November, with rounding to the nearest million.
*Large depository institution* means any depository institution, excluding depository institutions designated as limited purpose banks or savings associations pursuant to 12 CFR 25.26(a) and depository institutions designated as limited purpose banks pursuant to § 228.26(a) or 12 CFR 345.26(a), that meets the asset size threshold of a large bank.
*Limited purpose bank* means a bank that is not in the business of extending closed-end home mortgage loans, small business loans, small farm loans, or automobile loans evaluated under § 228.22 to retail customers, except on an incidental and accommodation basis, and for which a designation as a limited purpose bank is in effect, pursuant to § 228.26.
*Loan location.* A loan is located as follows: ( 1 ) A consumer loan is located in the census tract where the borrower resides at the time that the borrower submits the loan application;
( 2 ) A home mortgage loan or a multifamily loan is located in the census tract where the property securing the loan is located; and
( 3 ) A small business loan or small farm loan is located in the census tract where the main business facility or farm is located or where the borrower will otherwise apply the loan proceeds, as indicated by the borrower.
*Low-cost education loan* means any private education loan, as defined in section 140(a)(7) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)(8)) (including a loan under a State or local education loan program), originated by the bank for a student at an “institution of higher education,” as generally defined in sections 101 and 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 and 1002), implemented in 34 CFR part 600, with interest rates and fees no greater than those of comparable education loans offered directly by the U.S. Department of Education. Such rates and fees are specified in section 455 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e).
*Low-income credit union (LICU* ) has the same meaning given to that term in 12 CFR 701.34.
*Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)* means a Federal tax credit for housing persons of low income pursuant to section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 42).
*Major product line* means a product line that the Board evaluates in a particular Retail Lending Test Area, pursuant to § 228.22(d)(2) and paragraphs II.b.1 and II.b.2 of appendix A to this part.
*Majority automobile lender* means a bank for which more than 50 percent of its home mortgage loans, multifamily loans, small business loans, small farm loans, and automobile loans were automobile loans, as determined pursuant to paragraph II.b.3 of appendix A to this part.
*Metropolitan area* means any MSA.
*Metropolitan division* has the same meaning as that term is defined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
*Military bank* means a bank whose business predominantly consists of serving the needs of military personnel who serve or have served in the U.S. Armed Forces (including the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Space Force) or their dependents. A bank whose business predominantly consists of serving the needs of military personnel or their dependents means a bank whose most important customer group is military personnel or their dependents.
*Minority depository institution (MDI) means:* ( 1 ) For purposes of activities conducted pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 2907(a), “minority depository institution” as defined in 12 U.S.C. 2907(b)(1); and
( 2 ) For all other purposes: ( i ) “Minority depository institution” as defined in 12 U.S.C. 2907(b)(1);
( ii ) “Minority depository institution” as defined in section 308 of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) (12 U.S.C. 1463 note); or
( iii ) A depository institution considered to be a minority depository institution by the appropriate Federal banking agency. For purposes of this paragraph (2)(iii), “appropriate Federal banking agency” has the meaning given to it in 12 U.S.C. 1813(q).
*Mission-driven nonprofit organization* means an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)) and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code that benefits or serves primarily low- or moderate-income individuals or communities, small businesses, or small farms.
*MSA* means a metropolitan statistical area delineated by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 3504(e)(3) and (10), 31 U.S.C. 1104(d), and Executive Order 10253 (June 11, 1951).
*Multifamily loan* means an extension of credit that is secured by a lien on a “multifamily dwelling” as defined in 12 CFR 1003.2.
*Multistate MSA* means an MSA that crosses a State boundary.
*Nationwide area* means the entire United States and its territories.
*Native Land Area means:* ( 1 ) All land within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States, as described in 18 U.S.C. 1151(a);
( 2 ) All dependent Indian communities within the borders of the United States whether within the original or subsequently acquired territory thereof, and whether within or without the limits of a State, as described in 18 U.S.C. 1151(b);
( 3 ) All Indian allotments, the Indian titles to which have not been extinguished, including rights-of-way running through the same, as defined in 18 U.S.C. 1151(c);
( 4 ) Any land held in trust by the United States for tribes or Native Americans or tribally-held restricted fee land;
( 5 ) Reservations established by a State government for a tribe or tribes recognized by the State;
( 6 ) Any Native village, as defined in 43 U.S.C. 1602(c), in Alaska;
( 7 ) Lands that have the status of Hawaiian Home Lands as defined in section 204 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920 (42 Stat. 108), as amended;
( 8 ) Areas defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as Alaska Native Village Statistical Areas, Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Areas, Tribal-Designated Statistical Areas, or American Indian Joint-Use Areas; and
( 9 ) Land areas of State-recognized Indian tribes and heritage groups that are defined and recognized by individual States and included in the U.S. Census Bureau's annual Boundary and Annexation Survey.
*New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC)* means a Federal tax credit pursuant to section 45D of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 45D).
*Nonmetropolitan area* means any area that is not located in an MSA.
*Open-end home mortgage loan* has the same meaning as given to the term “open-end line of credit” in 12 CFR 1003.2, excluding loan transactions set forth in 12 CFR 1003.3(c)(1) through (10) and (13) and multifamily loans as defined in this section.
*Operations subsidiary* means an organization designed to serve, in effect, as a separately incorporated department of the bank, performing, at locations at which the bank is authorized to engage in business, functions that the bank is empowered to perform directly.
*Other delivery system* means a channel, other than branches, remote services facilities, or digital delivery systems, through which banks offer retail banking services.
*Outside retail lending area* means the geographic area delineated pursuant to § 228.18.
*Persistent poverty county* means a county that has had poverty rates of 20 percent or more for 30 years, as publicly designated by the Board, FDIC, and OCC, compiled in a list, and published annually by the FFIEC.
*Product line* means a bank's loans in one of the following, separate categories in a particular Retail Lending Test Area: ( 1 ) Closed-end home mortgage loans;
( 2 ) Small business loans;
( 3 ) Small farm loans; and
( 4 ) Automobile loans, if a bank is a majority automobile lender or opts to have its automobile loans evaluated pursuant to § 228.22.
*Remote service facility* means an automated, virtually staffed, or unstaffed banking facility owned or operated by, or operated exclusively for, a bank, such as an automated teller machine (ATM), interactive teller machine, cash dispensing machine, or other remote electronic facility, that is open to the general public and at which deposits are accepted, cash dispersed, or money lent.
*Reported loan* means: ( 1 ) A home mortgage loan or a multifamily loan reported by a bank pursuant to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, as implemented by 12 CFR part 1003; or
( 2 ) A small business loan or a small farm loan reported by a bank pursuant to § 228.42.
*Retail banking products* means credit and deposit products or programs that facilitate a lending or depository relationship between the bank and consumers, small businesses, or small farms.
*Retail banking services* means retail financial services provided by a bank to consumers, small businesses, or small farms and include a bank's systems for delivering retail financial services.
*Retail lending assessment area* means a geographic area delineated pursuant to § 228.17.
*Retail Lending Test Area* means a facility-based assessment area, a retail lending assessment area, or an outside retail lending area.
*Small bank* means a bank, excluding a bank designated as a limited purpose bank pursuant to § 228.26, that had assets of less than $600 million as of December 31 in either of the prior two calendar years. The Board adjusts and publishes the dollar figure in this definition annually based on the year-to-year change in the average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, not seasonally adjusted, for each 12-month period ending in November, with rounding to the nearest million.
*Small business* means a business, other than a farm, that had gross annual revenues for its preceding fiscal year of $5 million or less.
*Small business loan* means, notwithstanding the definition of “small business” in this section, a loan included in “loans to small businesses” as reported in Schedule RC-C of the Call Report.
*Small farm* means a farm that had gross annual revenues for its preceding fiscal year of $5 million or less.
*Small farm loan* means, notwithstanding the definition of “small farm” in this section, a loan included in “loans to small farms” as reported in Schedule RC-C of the Call Report.
*State* means a U.S. State or territory, and includes the District of Columbia.
*Targeted census tract* means: ( 1 ) A low-income census tract or a moderate-income census tract; or
( 2 ) A distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income census tract.
*Tribal government* means the recognized governing body of any Indian or Alaska Native tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, community, component band, or component reservation, individually identified (including parenthetically) in the list most recently published pursuant to section 104 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131).
*Women's depository institution (WDI)* means “women's depository institution” as defined in 12 U.S.C. 2907(b)(2).