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Bank, credit union, CDFI, MDI: what’s the difference?

On Find a Bank, some institutions carry a label next to their ratings: certified CDFI, minority depository institution, low-income credit union. Here is what each one means, starting with the two basic kinds of places that hold your money.

Bank

A bank takes deposits and makes loans, and it comes in every size, from large national banks to small community banks. At the end of June 2026 there were 4,238 FDIC-insured institutions in the US, and 3,818 of them were community banks [1].

Credit union

A credit union offers similar everyday accounts and is set up as a cooperative. Credit unions are owned and controlled by their members, and all of them are not-for-profit organizations [2]. If you are eligible to join, opening an account makes you a member. Unlike banks, credit unions return surplus income to their members in the form of dividends [2].

Each credit union has a “field of membership”: the common bond its members share. Many serve anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in a particular area, and most let members’ families join [2]. Before you open an account, check that you can join.

At the end of June 2026 there were 4,214 federally insured credit unions in the US, with 146.1 million members [3].

CDFI

A Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) is a financial institution certified by the US Department of the Treasury. The CDFI Fund describes certification as the Treasury’s “recognition of specialized financial institutions serving low-income communities” [4].

CDFIs come in several forms. In January 2026 there were 1,383 certified CDFIs: 573 loan funds, 446 credit unions, 193 banks or thrifts, 159 depository institution holding companies and 12 venture capital funds, across all 50 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico and Guam [5]. Find a Bank lists banks and credit unions, the kinds of CDFI where you can open a savings or checking account.

MDI

A Minority Depository Institution (MDI) is a bank or credit union that meets its regulator’s test for minority ownership, membership or leadership. The exact test depends on the regulator, and both use the same four groups: Black American, Asian American, Hispanic American and Native American [6][7].

  • For banks, the FDIC counts an institution as an MDI when 51 percent or more of its voting stock is owned by minority individuals, or when a majority of its board is minority and the community it serves is predominantly minority [6].
  • For credit unions, the NCUA’s test is that more than 50 percent of its current members, more than 50 percent of the community in its field of membership and more than 50 percent of its board come from those four groups [7].

Low-income credit union

Some federally insured credit unions also carry a low-income designation. It generally means more than half of their members have a family income, or individual earnings, at or below 80 percent of the relevant median for the metropolitan area where they live or the national metropolitan area, whichever is greater [8]. About half of all federally insured credit unions have the designation [8].

They can overlap

These labels are not exclusive. A credit union can be a CDFI, an MDI and a low-income credit union all at once. Of the 119 institutions on Find a Bank on 22 October 2026, 26 are certified CDFIs, 25 are MDIs and 45 are low-income credit unions. Fourteen are both a CDFI and an MDI, and ten carry all three labels [9].

How your deposits are protected

The label does not change how deposit insurance works. At an FDIC-insured bank, deposits are covered up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, for each account ownership category [10]. At a federally insured credit union, the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which the NCUA administers, covers up to $250,000 per member-owner, per credit union, for each account ownership category, and is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States [11]. Before you open an account, you can confirm that a bank is FDIC-insured with the FDIC’s BankFind Suite and that a credit union is federally insured with the NCUA’s Credit Union Locator [10][11].

What this means for you

If you want your money to stay close to communities that mainstream finance often overlooks, these labels are a useful place to start. What this means is that the cards on Find a Bank can do part of the homework for you; the rest is checking rates, fees and who can join with the institution itself.

See the institutions on Find a Bank

Sources

  1. ABA Banking Journal, reporting the FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile for the second quarter of 2026 (August 2026). https://bankingjournal.aba.com/2026/08/quarterly-banking-profile-banking-net-income-90-1b-in-q2-2026/
  2. MyCreditUnion.gov (NCUA), What is a Credit Union? https://mycreditunion.gov/about/what-credit-union
  3. NCUA, Quarterly Credit Union Data Summary, 2026 Q2. https://ncua.gov/files/publications/analysis/quarterly-data-summary-2026-Q2.pdf
  4. CDFI Fund, US Department of the Treasury, CDFI/CDE Certification. https://cdfifund.gov/programs-training/certification
  5. CDFI Coalition, CDFI Fund Appropriations Fact Sheet (February 2026), figures as of January 2026. https://cdfi.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/CDFI-Fund-Appropriations-Fact-Sheet-February-2026.pdf
  6. FDIC, Definition of a Minority Depository Institution (Statement of Policy). https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/resources/minority/mdi-definition.html
  7. NCUA, What is a Minority Depository Institution Credit Union? https://ncua.gov/support-services/credit-union-resources-expansion/minority-depository-institutions/mdi-fact-sheet
  8. NCUA, Low-Income Credit Union Designation. https://ncua.gov/support-services/credit-union-resources-expansion/field-membership-expansion/low-income-credit-union-designation
  9. Bank for Good, Find a Bank, counted on 22 October 2026. The labels are based on public information as of 30 June 2026: the CDFI Fund’s list of certified institutions, and FDIC and NCUA records of minority depository institutions and low-income designated credit unions. https://bankforgood.org/search/
  10. FDIC, Understanding Deposit Insurance. https://www.fdic.gov/resources/deposit-insurance/understanding-deposit-insurance
  11. NCUA, Share Insurance Coverage. https://ncua.gov/consumers/share-insurance-coverage

Bank for Good is an educational platform. We are not a financial advisory organization, we do not provide financial, investment or legal advice, and we do not intend to. The information and ratings we share come from publicly available sources, including Bank.Green’s published evaluations and public lending data. Before opening or moving an account, please do your own research and confirm the details directly with the institution.