[1st-mile-nm] New rules from OCC: Banks can now get CRA credit for funding digital inclusion

[Richard Lowenberg]

New rules from OCC: Banks can now get CRA credit for funding digital 
inclusion

by Bill Callahan | May 20, 2020 | COVID-19, Digital Inclusion News, 
Policy Positions

https://www.digitalinclusion.org/blog/2020/05/20/new-rules-from-occ-banks-can-now-get-cra-credit-for-funding-digital-inclusion/

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal agency 
that oversees national banks and savings associations, has just added 
support for community digital inclusion programs to its official list of 
“qualified activities” that could help a regulated bank meet its 
obligations under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

In new rules issued today, OCC adopted three examples proposed by NDIA 
in its CRA Illustrative List, a detailed collection of “illustrative 
examples” of activities that could contribute to a finding that the bank 
is meeting its CRA obligations.

The three new examples of CRA-qualified activity proposed by NDIA, and 
now included in the OCC’s CRA Illustrative List, are:

“Grant to a nonprofit community program which assists LMI individuals to 
find and enroll in free or low-cost home broadband internet services for 
which they are eligible”

“Grant in support of a nonprofit program which refurbishes used 
computers in order to provide them to LMI individuals at no cost or at a 
very low cost”

“Financial support of a nonprofit community program that provides 
digital literacy training to residents of an LMI neighborhood, in order 
to increase their ability to use online banking services”.

(snip)


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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute     505-603-5200
Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
rl at 1st-mile.org     www.1st-mile.org
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