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community development financial institution provides credit and financial services to the underprivileged strata of the market. The institution is regulated under the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Community development financial institution or CDFI is mainly established to help the low-income population and market by providing development services. The community is a financing entity that is dedicated to serve the target market and ensures for the development of the community.
CDFIs are actually specialized financial institutions working in the underdeveloped market. The traditional financial institutions generally don’t provide credit to such businesses.
The major financial services and products offered by the CDFIs are:
Financing for needed community facilities
- Mortgage financing for first-time home-buyers
- Commercial loans to start and expand small businesses
- Financial services required by low-income households and local businesses
- Loans to rehabilitate rental housing
In addition to the above mentioned services, the CDFIs also provide guidance to the businesses so that the credit is used in the most effective way. These institutions also offer credit counseling to consumers and technical assistance to small businesses. CDFIs include credit unions, community development banks, venture capital funds, loan funds, and micro-enterprise loan funds.
It has been seen that there are thousands of financial institutions in the USA that offer services to the underserved market or people but are not CDFIs. In order to become a certified CDFI, the institutions need to maintain some requirements set by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund certifies a number of CDFIs for the benefit of the market and population.
Some of the major CDFIs of the USA are:
- ShoreBank (Chicago)
- Albina Community Bank (Oregon)
- Boston Community Capital (Massachusetts)
- Alternatives Federal Credit Union (New York)
- Central Bank of Kansas City (Missouri)
- Carver Federal Savings Bank (New York)
- City First Bank of D.C. (Washington)
- Dryades Savings Bank (Louisiana)
- Community First Fund (Pennsylvania)
- Enterprise Corporation of the Delta (Mississippi)
- Liberty Bank & Trust (Louisiana)
- Hope Community Credit Union (Mississippi)
- Louisville Community Development Bank (Kentucky)
- Southern Bancorp in Arkadelphia (Arkansas)
- Neighborhood National Bank (California)
- University National Bank (Minnesota)
- GLE OneLondon in (United Kingdom)