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The Biggest Bank You Never Heard Of

Plenty of banks dot the street corners of America. Many times, it's hard to keep up with all the new and changing names. But if it's your bank — or one of the largest banks with a strong presence in your community — you've undoubtedly heard of it.

Not so with FHLBank Pittsburgh, probably the biggest bank you never heard of.

Unlike our 333 financial institution members, we don't have any branch offices, we don't make loans for things like mortgages or car payments directly to consumers, and we hardly ever advertise in the popular media. That may sound odd given the fact that we have more than $105 billion in assets, making us one of the biggest financial institutions in our three-state district of Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The reason you may not know us? We're a wholesale bank, a "banker's bank" that exists to supply a steady stream of low-cost funding to our member/owners, who also are shareholders in our private cooperative institution. Although we were created by Congress in 1932 to help spur homeownership, not a dime of taxpayer money is used in fulfilling our very public mission — to provide liquidity to the banks, savings and loans and credit unions you do know just around the corner, through every economic cycle. Our primary source of funds is the sale of debt securities to institutional investors in the capital markets.

Here's just some of what FHLBank Pittsburgh does in your community:

• We provide low-cost funding to your hometown lender for mortgages, business startups and expansion.
• We extend financing — sometimes at our own cost of funds — so our local financial members can improve your town's infrastructure — streets, parks, medical clinics and the like.
• We make grants through our local members — for affordable housing for families and individuals including homeless, children, frail elderly and the physically and mentally impaired.
• We give your hometown banks the backroom services they need to conduct their operations efficiently — many times on a break-even basis to us.
• We sponsor a series of community-based initiatives that make a difference in the lives of your neighbors — training local community leaders, increasing the financial literacy of young people and blitz-building affordable houses for those in need of clean, safe shelter.

Here are some other key facts about FHLBank Pittsburgh:

• We have approximately $105 billion in assets.
• Approximately 232 employees work at our Downtown Pittsburgh headquarters.
• Our marketing and money desk people engage in consultative relationships with our members — understanding their institutions and finding solutions to their unique financial needs.
• We're one of twelve Banks within the Federal Home Loan Bank System, ensuring that hometown banks all across America are financially equipped not just to survive, but to prosper.

We're the Biggest Bank You Never Heard Of. And we're pleased to keep it that way.

Visit one of our local financial institution members. You'll see and feel the difference that we make.