CDFIs are mission-driven financial institutions that deliver affordable credit, capital, development services, and financial services to residents and businesses in economically distressed communities.
CDFIs emerged to provide financial services in rural areas and urban and suburban neighborhoods underserved by traditional financial institutions. By leveraging over $8 in private capital for every $1 in federal support, CDFIs are filling the deep credit gap encountered in many communities.
CDFIs support borrowers to create jobs, start and grow businesses, build and improve housing and community facilities, and create economic opportunity.
CDFIs fill a vital niche in the nation’s financial system by serving communities and market sectors that conventional lenders cannot, with the goal of bringing customers into the mainstream economy as bank customers, homeowners, and entrepreneurs.