U.S. Bank Receives `Outstanding' CRA Rating for Its Efforts in Greate

U.S. Bank Receives `Outstanding' CRA Rating for Its Efforts in Greater Cincinnati

    Business Editors

    CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 27, 2005--U.S. Bank National Association has been awarded an "Outstanding" rating, the highest rating possible, by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for its commitment to the letter and spirit of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). By awarding this rating, the OCC acknowledged that U.S. Bank is continuing to meet the credit needs of all its segments of its communities. By comparison, less than ten percent of all financial institutions in the United States received an "Outstanding" CRA rating from the OCC.
    "U.S. Bank is proud to receive the outstanding CRA rating from the OCC for our efforts in the tri-state area," said James Schwab, U.S. Bank Cincinnati market president. "This rating recognizes the incredible commitment that U.S. Bank and our employees have to the Greater Cincinnati Community. We would also like to thank our community partners for their continued support to help achieve the top CRA for our work in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. We certainly could not have done this without them."
    The OCC reports that in Cincinnati, U.S. Bank was "Outstanding" in the lending test, "High Satisfactory" in the investment test ratings and "High Satisfactory" in services to the community. The OCC indicated that the major factors supporting the "Outstanding" rating are:

--	Excellent distribution of loans to low-to-moderate income (LMI) borrowers and excellent lending activity was further enhanced by a good distribution of loans within LMI geographies and a positive level of community development loans. U.S. Bank has participated in three of Cincinnati Development Fund's Loan pools with commitments made of well over $37 million to fund construction and rehabilitation of market-rate and low-income housing in Cincinnati neighborhoods. U.S. Bank is also the only Bank participating in an innovative program designed to assist Cincinnati Public School Employees in buying a house within the CPS district, thus help in recruiting and retaining quality teachers and also in increasing home ownership within the City of Cincinnati. Other U.S. Bank services that have been created through partnerships are the Hamilton County Home Improvement Program (HIP Program), The SBA Community Express Loan Program for Small Businesses and The Mind your Money Financial Literacy program.
--	Good responsiveness to the investment needs of the multi-state metropolitan area based on the volume of qualifying investments originated during the evaluation period. Examples of U.S. Bank contributions and grants made during the OCC review included the expansion of the Convention Center, the Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Contemporary Arts Center, Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, Ohio Valley Goodwill and the renovation of Findlay Market. In addition, U.S. Bank is an investor in the Cincinnati Equity Fund, which has made loans and investments in housing projects located in the downtown and Over-the-Rhine area. U.S. Bank also gave a grant to Cincinnati CAN (Cincinnati Action Now), to help improve police and community relationships along with accelerating employment and business development growth in the Cincinnati community. United Way contributions from U.S. Bancorp Foundation and U.S Bank employees have consistently exceeded $1 million annually.
--	Excellent community development services and a good record of opening offices and closing boosted the bank's Service Test performance to good despite only adequate access to bank facilities and less convenient branch hours in LMI areas. U.S. Bank has created unique ways of making banking more convenient for its customers by operating in places like The Over the Rhine Community and having either a branch location or 24 hour ATM banking in seven of nine areas which received federally funded "Empowerment Zone" grants. U.S. Bank also operates in retirement centers and offers express branches in the Kenwood and Tri-County Mall, as well as at Xavier University Campus and in all Proctor & Gamble locations. In addition, U.S. Bank has 19 in-store banking locations in the Greater Cincinnati area in Thriftway, Meijer, Lo Bill, biggs, Kroger, and Remke, and extended hours and Saturdays are available in the majority of our branches.

    During a nearly year-long examination process, the OCC evaluated U.S. Bank N.A.'s mortgage lending efforts, including home purchases, home improvement and refinance loans, small business, small farm, and consumer lending, as well as community development lending and investments.
    The OCC report noted most of U.S. Bank's community development loans addressed affordable housing needs or projects that helped to stabilize or revitalize LMI areas. Also included in the report was information on U.S. Bank's use of flexible loan programs, several of the bank's nationwide loan programs that support affordable housing as well as small businesses, partnerships with local governments and non-profit organizations and the American Dream home loan program.
    Congress passed the CRA in 1977 to ensure that financial institutions meet the credit needs of all areas that the institution serves, including LMI areas and people. Financial institutions, including banks, are examined in lending, investment and service categories every two years.
    U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), with assets of $195 billion, is the 6th largest financial services holding company in the United States. The company operates 2,370 banking offices and 4,620 ATMs, and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. U.S. Bancorp is home of the Five Star Service Guarantee which assures customers of certain key banking benefits and services or customers will be paid for their inconvenience. U.S. Bancorp is the parent company of U.S. Bank. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at usbank.com.

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CONTACT: U.S. Bank Lisa Clark, 608-877-7517

KEYWORD: OHIO MINNESOTA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING SOURCE: U.S. Bank

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