The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle (Seattle Bank) is a privately owned and managed wholesale financial institution. Our customers are commercial banks, savings institutions, credit unions, insurance companies and housing finance agencies headquartered in the states of Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and the territories of American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle provides our customers with funding, community lending and other banking services to enable them to meet their communities credit needs, expanding housing and economic development opportunities in the region.

Brief History of the Federal Home Loan Bank System

The Seattle Bank is one of 12 Federal Home Loan Banks in the nation. The Federal Home Loan Bank System was created by Congress in 1932 to ensure the availability of funds for housing. Today, the Federal Home Loan Banks serve a network of more than 6,000 community financial institutions nationwide. These lenders own stock in their regional Federal Home Loan Bank and earn quarterly dividends on their investment. The Federal Housing Finance Board, an independent government agency located in Washington, D.C., is the oversight agency of the Federal Home Loan Banks.

Providing Funding For Stronger Communities

Funding is the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattles primary service. With our Aaa rating, we can raise funds in the capital markets at interest rates only slightly higher than Treasury obligations. We pass the rate advantage on to our customers through low-cost loans, or advances. Advances are available at fixed and variable rates, in maturities from overnight to 30 years. As a source of low-cost, reliable and easily accessible funds, the Seattle Bank supports the competitive performance of financial institutions, better enabling them to meet the diverse credit needs of their communities.

In addition to funding, the Seattle Bank offers financial services to help lenders manage their cash investments and back-office operations. We also provide library, research and consulting services, offering financial institution managers information and analysis to help enhance their organizations performance.

Supporting Affordable Housing and Economic Development

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle is one of the regions leading providers of funds for affordable housing, with targeted programs that support the development of rental and owner-occupied housing for lower-income families and individuals. In addition, the Seattle Banks financial institution customers use reduced-rate advances to strengthen their communities through economic development projects providing jobs or other benefits to lower-income households. The Seattle Banks Community Lending Services have spawned hundreds of partnerships among lenders, nonprofit organizations and governments, and resulted in the creation or rehabilitation of affordable homes and decent jobs for thousands of households in the region.