All > Business > Finance > Personal Finance > Mortgage
For banks and thrifts, a branch office is an office approved as a branch by a supervisory agency. For credit unions, a branch office is any office where member accounts are established or loans are made, whether or not the office has been approved as a branch by a federal or state agency. A branch office does not include offices of affiliates or loan brokers, offices of the institution where loan applications are merely taken, or ATMs and other electronic terminals.
For mortgage companies and other nondepository institutions, a branch office is an office where the institution takes applications from the public for home purchase or home improvement loans or refinancings. Those institutions also are considered to have a branch office in any MSA where, in the preceding year, they received applications for, originated, or purchased five or more home purchase or home improvement loans or refinancings (whether or not they had a physical office there).
- Browse Related Terms: Agency Code, Branch Office, Capitalization, Depository Institution, Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), Federal Home Loan Bank Act of 1932, Federal Home Loan Bank Board (“FHLBank Board”), Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks), Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC), FHA Approved Lenders, Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA), Nondepository Institution, Respondent or Reporter ID (RID), Thrift