The mathematics
of community.
How we calculate the eight ripple effects of your banking choice. What's measured directly from public filings, what's modeled from research — and where every number comes from.
Our Approach
Mylno Lite adapts the local economic multiplier framework — well-established in retail economics — to banking. The core insight: money deposited at a locally-rooted institution recirculates more in your community than money deposited at a mega bank headquartered elsewhere.
We don't claim to measure exact dollar flows for each bank. We use published research to model relative differences between institution types and present the clearest comparison we can with transparent sourcing.
Each metric is tagged as either Measured (from public filings or government data) or Modeled (estimated from published research).
For every $100 deposited at a community-rooted institution, an estimated $45–$68 stays in the local economy through secondary and tertiary spending cycles.
Local Reinvestment Rate
The percentage of a bank's loans originated inside its CRA assessment areas — a direct measure of how much deposited money gets lent back locally. Our primary source is CRA Performance Evaluations published by the OCC, FDIC, and Federal Reserve. Every FDIC-insured bank undergoes a CRA exam every 3–5 years.
For credit unions (CRA-exempt) we estimate based on charter type and field of membership. Community CUs with a single-county FOM typically lend 70–95% locally.
Loans inside assessment area · OCC CRA exam
Loans inside assessment area · OCC CRA exam
Loans inside assessment area · OCC CRA exam
Local Job Support
Estimated local jobs supported per $1M in deposits or lending. CDFI estimates draw on cumulative data from the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN): their member CDFIs have originated $124B in financing, creating or maintaining 3.4M jobs — roughly 27 jobs per $1M lent.
For mega banks we estimate significantly fewer local jobs per deposited dollar based on their lower local reinvestment rates and centralized operations.
Small Business Lending Density
For FDIC-insured banks, small business lending volumes come from CRA filings reported to the FFIEC. Public records. For CDFIs not subject to CRA, we use figures from their most recent annual reports and CDFI Fund reporting.
The structural fact: community banks hold less than 25% of all banking assets but originate more than 50% of all small business loans (ILSR, ICBA).
CRA-Reported Volume
CA-specific small business loan dollars and counts, filed annually with the FFIEC by all CRA-covered institutions.
CDFI Annual Reports
Self-reported origination volumes from the most recent CDFI Fund annual filings and OFN member disclosures.
Wage Quality
Median hourly pay for California-based employees. Drawn from BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics for the banking sector in CA, supplemented by institutional disclosures and CDFI compensation data.
Ownership & Control
This is factual: publicly-traded corporations vs. member-owned cooperatives vs. nonprofits. Source is each institution's charter and governance structure as filed with the OCC, NCUA, or relevant state regulator.
Lending Decisions
Whether loan approvals happen locally or at a distant headquarters. Based on institution structure and public descriptions of their lending process. Community institutions typically have local loan committees; mega banks use centralized algorithmic underwriting.
Community Reinvestment
For CRA-rated banks, this uses the FFIEC CRA rating (Outstanding, Satisfactory, Needs to Improve, Substantial Noncompliance). For CDFIs, reinvestment is their core mission — Treasury certifies them based on their primary mission of community development.
Personal Cost
Monthly maintenance fees and overdraft fees from each institution's published fee schedule. Annualized as: (monthly fee × 12) + estimated overdraft cost. Many credit unions and CDFIs offer genuinely free checking with no minimum balance and no overdraft fees.
Branch & institution data: California branch counts come from the FDIC BankFind API (Q4 2025). Total assets and deposit data from FDIC call reports. CDFI certification status from Treasury's CDFI Fund (117 certified CDFIs in California).
What We Don't Claim
We don't claim that every dollar you deposit at a CDFI creates exactly X jobs or recirculates exactly Y cents. Financial flows are complex and depend on the community, institution mix, and broader economic conditions.
What the research does consistently show: the direction and magnitude of the difference is real. Community-rooted institutions keep substantially more money circulating locally than mega banks. Our scorecard makes that structural difference visible.
Spot an error or have better data? Email a@mylno.com with the subject "Mylno Lite Data Correction".
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