Community development bank

Community development bank (CDB) or Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) is a development bank or credit union that focus on serving people who have been locked out of the traditional financial systems such as the unbanked or underbanked in deprived local communities. They emphasize the long term development of communities and provide loans such as micro-finance or venture capital.[1]

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (December 2010)

In the United States these became popular after 1994 when the US Congress created community development banks and allowed them to get funding at very low rates from the US treasury.