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Community banks and credit unions

Community banks and credit unions play critical roles in ensuring a fair, transparent, and competitive marketplace for consumer financial products and services.

They generally base their businesses on building personal, long-term customer relationships. They can be a lifeline to hard-working families paying for education, unexpected medical bills, and homes.

Different consumers require different financial products and services to meet their needs. The CFPB is committed to working with community banks and credit unions to ensure that American families have access to & understand a variety of products, services, and financial relationships, both now and in the future.

From the beginning, we committed ourselves to this collaboration. Before we opened our doors on July 21, 2011, we had met with representatives from small depository institutions from all 50 states.

  • to ensure that the Bureau incorporates the perspectives of small depository institutions into our policy-making process;
  • to communicate relevant policy initiatives to community banks and credit unions; and
  • to work with community banks and credit unions to identify potential areas for regulatory simplification.

The CFPB assesses the potential impact of its rules on small depository institutions and rural consumers. This is both a matter of law and a reflection of our commitment to work with the financial institutions that serve American consumers. Before proposing a regulatory change, the CFPB will draw on the expertise of small entities with deep knowledge of small businesses. With the help of small depositories, the CFPB hopes to establish a level playing field, enable customers to understand the true costs of financial products, and help ensure that honest lenders can readily understand what the rules are.

Many community banks are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and many credit unions are insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) up to $250,000. Learn more about FDIC insurance  and NCUA insurance . You can learn more about credit unions at MyCreditUnion.gov .