Capital One and Wells Fargo Rated ‘Outstanding’ in CRA Compliance

Capital One and Wells Fargo are among 10 financial institutions rated “outstanding” in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) latest list of Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance evaluations.

Another 16 financial institutions were rated “satisfactory,” the regulator said in a Monday (March 3) press release. None of the financial institutions whose CRA performance evaluations became public in February were rated “needs to improve” or “substantial noncompliance.”

“Under the CRA, the OCC assesses an institution’s record of meeting the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with the safe and sound operation of such institution,” the release said.

The 10 banks rated “outstanding” include McLean, Virginia-based Capital One, National Association; Collinsville, Illinois-based Collinsville Building and Loan Association; Toledo, Illinois-based First Neighbor Bank, National Association; Dunkirk, New York-based Lake Shore Savings Bank; Lyons, Kansas-based Lyons Federal Bank; Bronx, New York-based Ponce Bank; Coalgate, Oklahoma-based Shamrock Bank, National Association; Granger, Texas-based The Granger National Bank; Enid, Oklahoma-based The Security National Bank of Enid; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Wells Fargo Bank, National Association.

Capital One was rated outstanding in each of the three major factors that support the rating: the lending test, the investment test and the service test, according to the public disclosure of its CRA performance evaluation.

The evaluation highlighted that Capital One offered flexible secured consumer credit card products that provided access to credit to individuals who did not meet the bank’s traditional underwriting guidelines, formalized its volunteer services under a pro bono volunteer program that matches bank employees’ skills with needs identified by nonprofit organizations, and made an adequate percentage of its loans in its assessment areas.

Wells Fargo, too, was rated outstanding in each of the three major factors, per the public disclosure of the bank’s CRA performance evaluation.

The evaluation said Wells Fargo used flexible lending programs to enhance its lending performance in multiple assessment areas, offered innovative or complex CD investment initiatives, and provided innovative retail service programs.

The OCC determines the CRA ratings based on performance tests and standards outlined in the CRA rule and based on information about the institution and the community it serves, according to a questions and answers page about the program.

The CRA rules were enacted in 1977 to combat discriminatory lending practices in minority neighborhoods, PYMNTS reported in October 2023.

The OCC list includes national banks, federal savings associations and insured federal branches of foreign banks that have received CRA ratings, according to the release. The Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) enforce the CRA among other types of banks, PYMNTS reported in February.

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