The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have announced the updated asset-size thresholds for banks under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) for 2026.
The CRA regulations set out how agencies assess whether financial institutions are meeting the credit needs of their communities, including those in low- and moderate-income areas. The assessment is carried out according to each institution’s asset size, with different examination procedures for small and intermediate small banks.
Each year, these thresholds are adjusted based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which tracks inflation. For 2026, a 2.51 percent increase in the CPI-W led to new thresholds for both small banks and intermediate small banks.
“The CRA regulations establish the framework and criteria by which the relevant agencies assess a financial institution’s record of meeting the credit needs of its entire community, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound operations. Financial institutions are evaluated under different CRA examination procedures based upon their asset-size classification. The asset-size thresholds are adjusted annually based on the average change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which is a measure of inflation,” according to the joint statement from the Federal Reserve Board and FDIC.
These updates reflect ongoing efforts by federal regulators to ensure that bank evaluations remain aligned with economic conditions.