The North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks charters, licenses and regulates a variety of financial institutions within the State.  Answers to many of your questions  and concerns may be found in this section.  Please use any of the links to the left for additional assistance.  If you still need assistance, please call our office at (919) 733-3016 and we will be happy to assist you.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: What type of financial institutions does the Office of the Commissioner of Banks regulate?

A: Financial Institutions can be divided into two major categories, Banking Institutions and Non-bank Financial Institutions.  The Banking Institutions that we regulate include all state-chartered commercial banks, savings banks, savings and loan associations and non-depository trust companies.  Click here for a list of our NC State-chartered Banks. 

Any financial institution that has the words national, federal or the letter NA in their name are not regulated by this agency.  They are regulated by one of the Federal agencies which include the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for national banks: (800) 613-6743, or the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) for federal savings bank: (404) 888-0771. 

Any financial institution that is a credit union is not regulated by this agency.  They are regulated by either the State of NC Credit Union Division: (919) 571-4888 or if they have the word federal in their name by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA): (678) 443-3000.   

If you have questions regarding credit cards those should be directed to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency at (800) 613-6743.

Lastly, we have no jurisdiction over branches of banks that are headquartered in another state even though they have branches operating in North Carolina.  You may wish to contact to the Conference of State Bank Supervisors to see who the regulator is for each state. 

Q: How can I find out what happened to a bank that is no longer in operation? 

A: There are several ways that you can research to try and determine what happened to a financial institution.  You may choose to use either the FDIC or the Federal Reserve to search for a closed institution for any type of bank charter.  The only information that you will need to know is the official bank name and the state in which the main office was located.  If you are unable to find information on a State-chartered bank on either of the federal websites, our office has a listing of North Carolina banks chartered by this Office from 1900 to the present.  Currently, we are unable to offer an inactive institution search online, but, if you will call our Office we can do the research for you.   

Financial Insitutions Home Page