Broadband Financing by Banks in Rural Areas and Indian Country

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is sponsoring a webinar on rural broadband financing on August 27, 2020. Intended for bankers and rural community development practitioners, this webinar will answer such questions as why and how banks finance rural broadband and how banks form partnerships with public agencies. The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) plays a role in financing rural broadband. The new CRA rule affecting OCC-supervised banks broadens consideration given under the CRA to bank financing of rural broadband by including broadband in the definition of “essential infrastructure.” Join this webinar to learn how First International Bank & Trust in Watford City, N.D., the U.S. Department Agriculture Rural Utilities Service, and the Reservation Telephone Cooperative in the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, N.D., formed a partnership to finance broadband infrastructure on the reservation and adjoining McKenzie County. Register here. If you have any questions, please contact Community Affairs Officer Timothy Herwig.