Community bank

A community bank is a depository institution that is typically locally owned and operated. Community banks tend to focus on the needs of the businesses and families where the bank holds branches and offices. Lending decisions are made by people who understand the local needs of families, businesses, and farmers. Employees often reside within the communities they serve.

In the United States, community banks are not clearly defined. Most agencies base this term on aggregate assets size with varying definitions such as less than $1 billion (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) up to less than $10 billion (Federal Reserve Board and Government Accountability Office).{{cite web | access-date = 3 November 2011}} Beyond size (as measured by assets), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) imposes a number of additional requirements on institutions classified as community banks.{{cite web | access-date = 6 June 2021}} From 1985 to 2004 community banks comprised roughly 94% of all commercial banks in the United States, but the proportion of total national deposits held by community banks declined from about 25.89% of all U.S. deposits in 1985 to 13.55% of the U.S. deposits in 2003. | access-date = April 30, 2012}}{{cite web |access-date = April 30, 2012 |archive-date = July 16, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120716021225/http://fdic.gov/bank/analytical/banking/2006jan/article2/index.html#2 | article-number= 106077 | access-date = June 8, 2021| url-access = subscription | access-date = June 8, 2021| hdl = 10986/18128 | hdl-access = free | url-access = subscription