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 National banks may engage in activities that are part of, or incidental to, the business of banking, or are otherwise authorized for a national bank. The business of banking is an evolving concept and the permissible activities of national banks similarly evolve over time.
Accordingly, this list is not exclusive; the OCC may permit national banks to conduct additional activities in the future. Any activity described in this summary as permissible for a national bank is also permissible for an operating subsidiary of a national bank. The reverse is also true: any activity described as permissible for an operating subsidiary is also permissible for the bank to engage in directly.
General Banking Activities
Branching
- Drop Boxes. Placement of United Parcel Service drop boxes at nonbranch offices of a bank does not make those offices branches within the meaning of 12 USC 36 because the boxes are owned by an independent third party, have no bank identification, and may be used by the general public for nonbanking transactions. OCC Interpretive Letter No. 980 (December 24, 2003).
- Historic Preservation. The OCC conditioned the approval of the establishment of a branch of a national bank on the bank’s execution of a Memorandum of Agreement with the State, the State Historic Preservation Officer, and the OCC. The Agreement is to facilitate the bank’s efforts in preserving the historic significance of the proposed branch building. Conditional Approval No. 601 (July 23, 2003).
- Interstate Branching. Laws recently enacted in some states that prohibit or restrict branching by out-of-state industrial loan companies into the enacting state have the effect of defeating those states’ laws permitting interstate de novo branching into those states by banks generally. The result is that under the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994, federal regulators cannot approve the establishment of de novo branches in such states by any out-of-state bank. Interpretive Letter No. 1068 (July 28, 2006).
- Loan Approval and Misdirected Payments at LOP. Loan approval and the occasional receipt of misdirected loan payments from customers may take place at an LPO without causing it to become a branch. OCC Interpretive Letter 902 (November 16, 2000).
- LPO/DPO/ATM Facilities Not Subject to State Branch Restrictions. National bank LPO/DPO/ATM facilities are not “branches” subject to 12 USC 36 and state law incorporated therein. In isolation or in combination, LPOs (loan production offices), DPOs (deposit production offices), and ATMs are not branches and so are not subject to state law restrictions on branching. None of these facilities perform any of the three core functions of banking, i.e., receiving deposits, paying checks, and lending money. First National Bank of McCook v. Fulkerson, 98-D-1024 (USDC CO - March 10, 2000).
- Remote Check Scanning Terminal. A remote check-scanning terminal at a customer's location, which permits the customer to deposit checks electronically, is not a branch. OCC Interpretive Letter No. 1036 (August 10, 2005).
- Retention of Branches of Converted Federal Savings Bank. Federal savings bank may convert to a national bank, the resulting national bank may retain all the branches of the savings bank in states where the national bank did not have branches, and the national bank may merge into an affiliated national bank and retain all the branches resulting from the previous transaction. Corporate Decision No. 2000-05 (March 28, 2000).
- Riegle-Neal Act Interstate Merger. Affirming the court below, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that the OCCˇs determination that the merger of a Missouri bank with a Kansas bank complied with Riegle-Neal's "minimum age" provisions for the merging banks and was entitled to deference. Riegle-Neal allows states to prohibit mergers between in-state and out-of-state banks, which have been in existence for less than five years. Missouri adopted such a law. However, the court agreed with the OCC that the Missouri law did not apply because the surviving bankˇs main office was in Kansas. OCC filed an amicus brief. TeamBank, N.A. v. McClure, 279 F.3d 614 (8th Circuit 2002).
- Underserved Communities. A national bank may establish branches for the sole purpose of serving an underserved community, and, may acquire a noncontrolling investment a company that specializes in providing these services. Conditional Approval No. 612 (November 21, 2003).
- Use of Trade Names. Based on representations as to steps that would be taken to avoid customer confusion, bank's operation of branches at Wal-Mart stores under a trade name was found to be consistent with Interagency Statement on Branch Names. OCC Interpretive Letter No. 977 (October 24, 2003).
Download Activities Permissible for a National Bank, Cumulative
PDF format, 944KB, 113Pages.
Comptroller of the Currency
Administrator of National Banks
US Department of the Treasury
CONTENTS
ACTIVITIES................................................1
General Banking Activities.............................1
Branching.................................1
Capital.........................................2
Consulting and Financial Advice......................6
Corporate Governance and Structure.....................9
Correspondent Services........................17
Finder Activities........................................18
Leasing.........................................................20
Lending............................................23
Other Activities.......................................31
Payment Services.......................37
Fiduciary Activities.............................38
Insurance and Annuities Activities.......................39
Insurance Underwriting and Reinsurance...................................40
Reinsurance....................................42
Title Insurance.......................................43
Securities Activities.....................44
Derivatives...............................49
Other..........................................55
Tying.................................................56
Technology and Electronic Activities....................56
Digital Certification.............................................56
Electronic Bill Payments.............................................56
Dispensing Prepaid Alternate Media from ATMs.............................56
Electronic Bill Presentment.......................................57
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Services..............................................57
Electronic Toll Collection.......................................57
Merchant Processing of Credit Cards via Internet.......................................57
Stored Value.......................................57
Electronic Commerce.....................................58
Electronic Correspondent Services...........................60
Electronic Storage and Safekeeping..............................60
Internet Access Service.............................................61
Internet and PC Banking..............................................61
Software Development, Production, and Licensing..............................63
COMPLIANCE.........................................................64
Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering............................................64
Consumer.....................................................65
INVESTMENTS..................................................................71
Community Development.......................................90
Other Investments..........................................................90
PREEMPTION.........................................................................92
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