Hypothetical:
If you had a program that collected CRA/HMDA data, scrubbed it for compliance to regulations, on line geocoding, did CRA and Fair Lending analysis and annual CRA/HMDA submissions,as well as write a Management Summary Report of the analysis:

Would you also need, want, require, a mapping function if it were easy to do.

How imporant is mapping to you?

A picture is worth a thousand words.

I will be working on this when I get back. It can make market penetration analysis much easier when making presentations. This depends on the size of the tracts though and whether any icons on the map represent actual locations of customers or just that they are in that tract.

Don,

Very, very, very. I use the mapping feature of our Bank's program almost as much as its other functions.

Arrrggghhh! And you just reminded me what I'll be doing in upcoming weeks. Thanks a lot!

MarkB

Yes, mapping is very important! Not only to show the Board/senior management, but to get a good feel for how things cluster or may be inhibited by physical factors. I am having trouble with (the current product) mapping right now and it's very frustrating! A lot of people are visual learners, and the maps are invaluable in those cases. Maps are a Must!

For making Board presentations or trying to get the marketing dept. or lines of business see where they are "missing" people for CRA or fair lending, I need the maps. I do my analysis from reports, but the maps are beneficial for others to get the impact. The ability to import loans as dots on the map, overlay census data, and show color OR patterns (for noncolor printers) are key.

I find it very beneficial. Mapping the location of our loans for the past two years helped justify expanding our designated assessment area for CRA purposes earlier this year. The Board was able to see just how many loans we were making in several census tracts just outside our previous AA.

For our small three county designated area we have mapped our credits and denials since the early 90's. The last three years I have used the excel info and transfered into bar graphs and compare three years at a time. Management liked this graphic comparison best.

Maps are an important part of CRA analysis at my bank also. We generally have our loan data mapped at least once or twice a year. We don't create our own maps however. We have a vendor that does them for us.

Albeit a small sample, it is 7 out of 7 believing it is needed. Perhaps there will be more votes next week as more posters return from vacation.

What vendor do you use and how much does it cost?

Ross.
Without trying to make this sound too much like an ad, I won't mention the name here. The cost is $495.00 and the program has all the 2000 census tract boundaries and a ton of 2000 demographics. Its also very very easy to use.

The responses to date reinforces our decision to add the mapping program to our CRA/Fair Lending analysis program. We will also make it available as a stand alone program.

For additional information or on line demonstrations please e-mail or call.

Don,

Maps may be the most read and understood pieces of our analysis package. The regulators are always interested, and they tend to make our point with management and loan officers much more readily than the number tables. Maps are very important!

(that's 8 for 8!)

We use Banker’s Compliance Group located in Irvine, CA. They can provide a variety of excellent CRA related services. If you have ever been to a CBA or ABA compliance conference you have probably seen their booth. If you were interested in finding out the cost I would recommend contacting them at (949) 553-0909 or (888) 599-1193.