Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Community banks play an important role in the United States economy, as they have throughout our history. Indeed, the roots of commercial banking in the United States can be traced to the development of community banks soon after the founding of the republic.

Insights for Bank Directors Welcome to the Federal Reserve's free online training resource for bank directors.

Importance of Check-Cashing Businesses to the Unbanked: Racial/Ethnic Differences The roughly 9.5 percent of all U.S. families that are without some type of transaction account (unbanked) are disproportionately represented by minorities.

Community Banks: Their Recent Past, Current Performance, and Future Prospects The U.S. banking system has long had a multitude of small institutions. This characteristic has been shaped by a number of factors. The dual banking system—that is, the coexistence (since the end of the Civil War) of both federal and state chartering—has fostered the creation of small banks, and the effect was reinforced by chartering regulations at both the national and state levels that were frequently permissive.

Community Banks and the Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve has a strong interest in understanding issues facing community banks and in helping to make possible their continued participation in the nation's financial and payments systems.

What Drives the Persistent Competitiveness of Small Banks? Several trends in the financial industry could have weakened the competitiveness of small banks in recent years. Despite those challenges, small banks have grown more rapidly than larger banks over the period from 1985 to 2001, and their profitability has been sustained at high levels.

The Role of Community Banks in the U.S. Economy The U.S. banking system is unusual in consisting not only of some very large banks but also a large number of relatively small community banks.

The Transformation of Banking The banking industry has undergone profound changes during the last decade. The most obvious change has been the large number of bank mergers, which have increased both the average size of banks and the area over which they operate.