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Official Website

of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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    About DoBS

    The mission of Pennsylvania’s Department of Banking and Securities is to regulate financial services and work to ensure consumers and businesses are well-informed about the marketplace.

    DoBS: Who We Are

    DoBS: Who We Are

    We work to promote the safety and soundness of financial institutions and compliance with statutory requirements that provide protections to Pennsylvania residents. We work with a wide array of financial services institutions and professionals including banks, credit unions, trust companies, investment firms and professionals, mortgage lenders and brokers, and other consumer lenders.

    Here are some of the ways the Department of Banking and Securities balances its dedication to financial institution safety and soundness with our concern for Pennsylvania consumers and investors:

    • As of June 30, 2023, we...
      • Chartered and supervised 156 financial institutions including 41 credit unions, 61 banks, 41 banks with trust powers, and 13 independent trust companies to ensure that Pennsylvanians’ hard-earned deposits are safe and available when they need them.
      • Licensed and regulated 30,233 non-depository financial service providers including 20,314 mortgage loan originators; 2,625 installment sellers; 2,623 mortgage lenders; 1,372 sales finance companies; 633 check cashers; 1,079 mortgage brokers; 380 mortgage servicing companies; 103 debt management services; and 19 mortgage discount companies. The remaining 1,085 license categories include money transmitters, collector-repossessors, pawnbrokers, debt settlement services, credit services loan broker registrants and consumer discount companies. We also enforce compliance with state and federal laws for non-bank lenders so that  consumer and business borrowers will have confidence in the fairness of their transactions.
      • Registered a total of 275,441 filings including 245,000 broker-dealer agents; 24,576 investment adviser representatives; 3,935 investment advisers and notice filers; and 1,930 broker-dealers.         
    • We provide free help to anyone with a question, concern or complaint about Pennsylvania financial  institutions or products.  Pennsylvania consumers can call 1 (800) PA-BANKS (800-722-2657; out of state: 717-787-2665). You can also fill out an online complaint form and one of our consumer services specialists will respond within 24 hours.

    The Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities is accredited by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators and the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors, and is a member of the North American Securities Administrators Association, the National Association of Consumer Credit Administrators and the Money Transmitter Regulators Association.

    Our work is funded entirely by the assessments and fees paid by Pennsylvania’s regulated and licensed financial community.  No taxpayer dollars are used to support our work.