To participate in the study, the FDIC selected an initial group of 30 participating banks of varied sizes and diverse locations and settings.

During the study, the FDIC will consider incorporating other interested institutions who meet certain minimum eligibility requirements, including:

• A composite "1" or "2" rating on its most recent Safety and Soundness examination, and a Management rating of "1" or "2";
• Satisfactory policies and procedures in all areas, including lending, audits, aggregate risk, internal controls, liquidity, interest rate risk, compliance and Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML);
• A composite "1" or "2" rating on its most recent Compliance examination; and
• At least a "Satisfactory" rating on its most recent Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) evaluation.

In addition, the institution must not currently be subject to a formal or informal enforcement action or be the subject of an investigation or inquiry.

Volunteers interested in participating in the study will be asked to provide the following (or similar) information:

• Whether it already offers small-dollar loans and, if so, the terms of such loans;
• Whether it proposes to initiate a small-dollar loan program;
• The proposed structure of the program;
• The current or proposed size of the program;
• How it proposes to market the program;
• How it envisions the small-dollar loan application process;
• What it proposes as underwriting criteria; and
• Proposed interest rates and fees.

In addition to considering the features of applicants' programs, the FDIC will consider many factors, including diversity of institution type, size, and geographic dispersion when selecting the pool of participants.

Small Dollar Loan Pilot Project Application - Word (Word Help)
Please email smalldollarpilot@fdic.gov if your institution is interested in participating.

U.S. OMB control number 3064-0157, expiring October 31, 2010. A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.