Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)

Summary

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is a landmark law enacted in 1977 to address systemic inequities in access to credit. The CRA encourages federally insured banks to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they do business, especially low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities, consistent with safe and sound operations.

In 1978, in response to their statutory directive, the federal banking agencies—the FDIC, the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), (collectively, the Federal banking agencies)—established the first CRA regulations. Since then, the Federal banking agencies have updated these regulations, most significantly in: 

• 1995 to focus on a bank's performance rather than process
• 2005 to raise the small bank asset-size threshold, add an intermediate small bank category, and expand the community development definition

In addition, the agencies have periodically provided guidance on the interpretation and application of the CRA regulations in the form of Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Community Reinvestment (Interagency Questions and Answers). The most recent update to the Q&As was published in 2016.

On October 24, 2023, the FDIC, FRB, and OCC issued a final rule to strengthen and modernize regulations implementing the CRA to better achieve the purposes of the law.

Note: The FDIC continues to assess banks’ CRA performance under the 1995 regulatory framework. 

Community Reinvestment Act and Public Comments

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