About the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco

We partner with our members to promote homeownership, affordable housing, and economic development.

FHLBank San Francisco is a cooperatively-owned wholesale bank. We are a reliable partner for member financial institutions of all sizes – supplying ready access to competitively-priced liquidity, expert financial services, and resources for targeted community and economic development – in all phases of the economic cycle.

Together with our members and their partners, we are promoting homeownership, expanding access to quality affordable housing, and boosting economic development.

FHLBank San Francisco members are commercial banks, credit unions, industrial loan companies, savings institutions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions headquartered in Arizona, California, and Nevada.

For most financial institutions, especially small community lenders, directly borrowing from the global capital markets is not an option. Because we are part of the Federal Home Loan Bank System – a network of 11 regional FHLBanks distributed across the country – we can raise funds in the global capital markets at favorable rates and terms. This enables us to provide our members with prompt, reliable access to low-cost loans (we call them “advances”) and financial risk management tools that help them meet the evolving housing finance and economic development credit needs of their customers and communities.

Congress established the Federal Home Loan Bank System in

FHLBank San Francisco is a cooperatively-owned wholesale bank. We are a reliable partner for member financial institutions of all sizes – supplying ready access to competitively-priced liquidity, expert financial services, and resources for targeted community and economic development – in all phases of the economic cycle.

Together with our members and their partners, we are promoting homeownership, expanding access to quality affordable housing, and boosting economic development.

FHLBank San Francisco members are commercial banks, credit unions, industrial loan companies, savings institutions, insurance companies, and community development financial institutions headquartered in Arizona, California, and Nevada.

For most financial institutions, especially small community lenders, directly borrowing from the global capital markets is not an option. Because we are part of the Federal Home Loan Bank System – a network of 11 regional FHLBanks distributed across the country – we can raise funds in the global capital markets at favorable rates and terms. This enables us to provide our members with prompt, reliable access to low-cost loans (we call them “advances”) and financial risk management tools that help them meet the evolving housing finance and economic development credit needs of their customers and communities.

Congress established the Federal Home Loan Bank System in 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression, to improve the nation’s housing finance system by facilitating the flow of credit for mortgages throughout the country. Today, roughly 6,500 of America’s local lenders are members of a Federal Home Loan Bank.

Today, FHLBank San Francisco members use our financial products and services to lower funding costs, reduce interest rate risk, manage liquidity, and offer a wider range of credit products to their customers, including home mortgage, commercial real estate, and small business loans.

FHLBank San Francisco members also benefit from access to our Community Programs: our grant and discounted credit programs are designed to support affordable housing and economic development activities that make a difference to the cities, towns, and neighborhoods where they do business.

Each year, we set aside 10% of the Bank’s earnings to fund our Affordable Housing Program (AHP). A portion of AHP funding is allocated to the WISH first-time homebuyer downpayment assistance program. Since the AHP was created in 1990, FHLBank San Francisco has awarded over $1.29 billion in AHP dollars to support the construction, rehabilitation, or purchase of over 150,000 homes affordable to lower-income households. 

We marked reaching the $1 billion milestone with a video celebrating our members, their community partners, and some of the individuals and families who have a place to call home because of our AHP.

FHLBank System

The regional structure of the FHLBank System enables each Bank to focus on distinct regional needs. FHLBanks are located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Des Moines, Indianapolis, New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Topeka. 

Each Federal Home Loan Bank operates as an independent corporation, governed by a Board of Directors elected by members. We are privately capitalized through stock purchased by our member institutions and through retained earnings. FHLBanks receive no taxpayer assistance to operate.

The FHLBanks raise funds in the capital markets by issuing debt instruments, for which we are all jointly and severally liable, through the FHLBanks Office of Finance. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, an independent federal agency in the executive branch of the U.S. government, regulates the FHLBanks.

See the tangible results of our efforts to make the communities we serve more vibrant, equitable, and resilient in our 2022 Impact Report.
Together with our members and other partners, we're making our communities more vibrant, equitable, and resilient.