1. Core: Explains to client, both over the phone and in person, the different types of loans and credit options available, as well as the terms of those services, including cost and all financial and government disclosures required
2. Core: Meets with applicants to obtain loan application information and answers questions regarding the process
3. Core: Obtains and compiles loan applicants’ credit histories, corporate financial statements, and other financial information
4. Core: Follows uniform and equitable systems for the loan application process, as outlined in the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)
5. Core: Uphold ethical standards of conduct, antidiscrimination, and confidentiality, including understanding how to mitigate unconscious biases and what questions are not allowable
6. Core: Obtain a National Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) number if quoting rates and mortgage loans with sponsorship from the bank

1. Core: Works with clients to identify their financial loan goals and develop actionable financial plans to reach those goals
2. Core: Assesses clients’ financial status by gathering and analyzing credit histories and financial statements, including their ability to identify and manage risk
3. Core: Counsels clients on personal and family financial problems related to the loan, such as excessive spending or borrowing of funds. This includes understanding how to decline loans and advising clients ethically and compassionately
4. Core: Matches individuals’ needs and eligibility with available financial aid programs to provide informed recommendations
5. Core: Handles customer complaints and refers them to appropriate departments to be resolved
6. Core: Follows guidelines and regulations when having financial conversations with clients
7. Core: Understands how credit scores work and advises clients on actions to increase scores

1. Core: Analyzes applicants’ financial status, credit, and property evaluations to determine the feasibility of granting loans
2. Core: Works with loan committees and underwriters to approve loans within specified limits and refer loan applications outside those limits to management for approval
3. Core: Submits applications to credit analysts for verification and recommendation
4. Core: Assists in selecting financial award candidates using electronic databases to certify loan eligibility
5. Core: Confers with underwriters to resolve mortgage application problems
6. Core: Collects data and financial information to be verified through appropriate organization channels outlined by business procedures

1. Core: Reviews loan applications to ensure they are complete and accurate according to policy
2. Core: Authorizes financial actions
3. Core: Reviews and updates credit and loan files in support of appropriate departments
4. Core: Maintains and reviews account records, updating and recategorizing them according to status changes
5. Optional: Reviews accounts to determine write-offs for collection agencies in support of appropriate departments
6. Optional: Reviews billing for accuracy in conjunction with appropriate departments
7. Optional: Prepares financial documents, reports, and budgets
8. Optional: Performs notary tasks, if certified

1. Core: Promotes bank products to individuals, including past clients, small businesses, and Certified Public Accountants based on customers’ needs
2. Core: Analyzes potential loan markets and develops referral networks to locate prospects for loans
3. Core: Understands the market conditions and trends reports compiled by the economic team or other staf
4. Core: Follow industry trends and economic conditions to understand which investments to advise
5. Core: Stays abreast of new types of loans and other financial services and products to meet better customers’ needs, including government programs and other funds available as government assistance

1. Core: Demonstrates understanding of the difference between organizational and federal guidelines
2. Core: Establishes organizational guidelines and policies
3. Optional: Supervises loan personnel
4. Optional: Sets credit policies, credit lines, procedures, and standards with senior managers

1. Core: Establishes payment priorities according to credit terms and interest rates to reduce clients’ overall costs
2. Core: Calculates the amount of debt and funds available to plan methods of payoff and estimate the time for debt liquidation
3. Optional: Inputs payment schedule into computer system

Sample learning objectives Explain the mission and purpose of the company or organization. Explain the ownership structure of the company and the various markets or constituencies the company or organization serves. Explain the company or organization’s human resources policies, including those related to punctuality, payment of wages, employee benefits, ethics, antidiscrimination, chain of command, dispute resolution, and performance evaluation. Demonstrate the ability to give and receive constructive criticism regarding job goals and performance. Demonstrate the ability to locate important information on the company or organization's website and/or intranet sight. Explain the various components of the business or organization and describe how they interact and communicate with each other.

Sample learning objectives Maintain customer correspondence and records through customer management systems (CMS) or other data management systems. Demonstrate ability to follow business protocols for saving, filing, and storing documents and records. Explain the policies and safeguards that must be put in place to protect critical, sensitive, or proprietary information and the potential consequences for violating those policies and safeguards. Demonstrate the ability to engage in active listening, lead a conversation, and contribute to business conversations. Describe the potential sources of discrimination in business communication and effective strategies for using language and communication techniques that result in inclusiveness and improved diversity. Describe the appropriate way to communicate with individuals at different levels in the chain of command, including making operational recommendations, asking for clarification of information, expressing concerns, alerting supervisors to potential problems, and recognizing excellence among colleagues. Demonstrate the ability to give and receive constructive criticism regarding job goals and performance.

Sample learning objectives Uses basic mathematics, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals, fractions, and percentages to solve business problems. Convert decimals to fractions and fractions to decimals; add and subtract like and unlike fractions. Reconcile and analyze business banking records, financial statements, and profit/loss documents. Calculate costs, including discount rates, interest rates, tax rates, and volume discounts. Solve and graph linear equations and inequalities. Use graphing techniques and software to present data visually, provide comparisons, and show change over time. Determine the equation of a line, calculate slope, and determine the domain and range of a function. Calculate mean, median, mode, and range. Calculate statistical significance, standard deviation, and expected values given probability and percentiles. Compute and record depreciation; report depreciation on a balance sheet. Interpret index numbers, calculate deferred payment price versus cash price, calculate annual interest rates, and determine percentage increases and decreases. Calculate present and future values and determine factors that affect break-even and mark-up pricing.

Sample learning objectives Define a business and differentiate between for-profit and nonprofit businesses, small businesses and large businesses, privately owned, equity-owned, and publicly traded businesses. Describe the various parties and constituencies that businesses serve and how businesses monitor their favorability and effectiveness with each of those groups. Explain the basic laws of economics, such as supply and demand, and describe how economics influences business decisions about growth, production, and profitability. Explain the role of marketing in business growth and development and describe the primary channels used for business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing. Describe the factors needed for a healthy economy and explain how interest rates, inflation and employment rates impact local, regional, national and global economies. Describe the role of banks, including the Federal Reserve, in business and general economics. Discuss the types of legal agreements important to business growth and success and explain the purpose and significance of tort law, contract law, intellectual property law, and employment law. Explain the importance of business ethics in sustaining a company or organization, serving customers or constituents well, and creating a positive and productive work environment. Explain the different types of business ownership structures and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each. Describe effective management structures and processes. Explain the role of marketing in business development and growth, as well as the various marketing strategies employed by successful companies and organizations. Explain basic accounting principles and practices and discuss the relevance of profit-and-loss and financial statements.

Sample learning objectives Explain the principles of markets and the impacts of government regulations on market expansion, contraction, and productivity. Explain the considerations people, businesses, and countries make when making decisions about prices, purchases, taxation, trade, and regulations. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of trade, including opportunity cost and comparative advantage. Explain how the principles of supply, elasticity, and demand impact the cost and pricing of goods. Describe the impact of government policies on supply, demand, inflation, and employment. Explain how public sector “markets” differ from private sector “markets.” Describe the various costs that economists and business leaders consider, how they are measured, and their short-run and long-run impacts on micro- and macro-economics. Describe the types of monopolies that can or do exist in various business sectors and the government regulations and agencies that work to prevent them.

Sample learning objectives Describe the agents, instruments, and finance institutions in the modern economy. Explain the time value of money and apply the concept to making sound financial decisions based on short-term and long-term goals. Describe the investment products and strategies used to establish and grow business and/or personal wealth. Explain the concepts of risk and return as they apply to managing a financial portfolio. Explain the purpose and function of capital, the cost of capital, and the mechanisms used by individuals and organizations to raise capital and pay investors. Demonstrate the ability to use Excel to design a spreadsheet, calculate costs and returns, and model financial investments and outcomes. Discuss elements of psychological finance that influence individual and organizational financial decisions. Accurately read a financial statement to evaluate cash flow, financial risk, and long-term sustainability. Explain how the time value of money differs between various types of mortgages and pension plans. Calculate financial ratios accurately and use ratios properly to evaluate a company or organization’s liquidity, profitability, leverage, and asset management.

Sample learning objectives Describe the organizational structure of a bank, the main expenses encumbered by banks, and the main sources of income/revenue. Differentiate between community banks, commercial banks, commercial lenders, mortgage lenders, investment banks, and international banks. Explain how banks use fees and loans to generate income. Describe the performance measures customers, auditors, insurers, and regulators use to evaluate bank health and performance. Describe the systems used by banks to manage cash and cash payments, checks and check payments, and electronic transfers and cite the federal and state laws related to payments and electronic transfers.

Sample learning objectives Describe the roles of states and federal agencies in regulating banks and discuss the regulatory functions of key government agencies, including the FDIC, the Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the Securities Exchange Commission, and the Secret Service in enforcing banking laws and regulations, investigating instances of fraud, and prosecuting perpetrators of fraud. Define and explain the implications of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, identify examples of conduct that violate the act, and explain the concept of redlining and the legal ramifications of engaging in this practice. Explain the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's founding and purpose and the types of regulatory actions that the CFPB takes against financial institutions that violate consumer protection law. Explain the significance of important banking and finance laws, including the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933; the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act of 1999; the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002; Title III of the PATRIOT Act; the Fair and Accurate Transactions Act of 2003; the Financial Services and Regulatory Relief Act of 2006; the Dodd–Frank Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act of 2010; the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act; and the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. Explain the factors that contributed to major banking failures in the US and abroad and discuss changes in laws and regulations designed to respond to those failures and prevent future failures. Explain the role of Generally Approved Accounting Practices (GAAP) and the Federal Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in establishing rules for treating assets and liabilities in an organization's financial records and in determining tax liabilities.

Sample learning objectives Explain the purpose of lending and loans in personal wealth management and business development. Describe the principles of lending followed by banks. Describe the types of interest associated with various types of loans and calculate the total cost of borrowing based on various repayment scenarios. Explain the purpose of the loan application and critical information used by bankers and brokers to evaluate the risk of making a loan, the borrower’s likely ability to repay the loan, and the profitability of a loan. Demonstrate the ability to assist a customer in completing a loan application. Discuss the laws and regulations to collecting, safeguarding, and using consumer financial information. Explain the tools and mechanisms banks use to ensure sufficient liquidity to make loans. Explain how banks and lenders rely on diversification to optimize stability and profits. Explain the role banks play in ensuring the stability of the financial system and the safeguards in place to evaluate a bank’s potential impact on the system. Describe the types of loans banks typically make and explain the standards and conditions for each type, as well as differences in risk and returns associated with different types of loans.

Sample learning objectives Describe the purpose of commercial lending and the types of commercial loans available. Discuss the importance of cash flow to sustaining a business and improving loan safety. Demonstrate the ability to evaluate financial statements, calculate financial ratios, and use these ratios to assess a business or organization's financial stability. Explain the importance of evaluating a potential borrower’s business strategy, business cycle, and past performance in analyzing creditworthiness. Explain how commercial lenders establish terms, collateral, pricing, and conditions when making loans. Explain the fundamentals of commercial and industrial (C&I) lending. Describe the considerations made when making construction loans. Explain the principles, risks, and opportunities associated with commercial real estate lending. Explain the strategies business and commercial lenders use to reduce risk and optimize profitability. Explain the components of a credit memo and prepare credit memos for a range of real or fictitious borrowers. Explain how underwriting is done for business and commercial loans. Explain how commercial lending portfolios are managed.

Sample learning objectives Explain the role of mortgage lenders in purchasing and refinancing real property. Explain the important components of a loan application and the types of documentation required to improve and affirm the accuracy of information provided in the application. Describe the different types of professionals with whom mortgage officers typically engage, the role each of those professionals plays, the priorities of their business transactions, and the rules and regulations with which those professionals must comply. Explain the process of prescreening mortgage clients and demonstrate the ability to conduct the prescreening process accurately. Explain how credit ratings are determined, how they impact loan terms, and how consumers can improve their credit scores based on their past credit history and current financial situation. Explain the importance of equal housing opportunity laws and regulations and describe the types of prohibited practices that in the past created inequity in housing and lending options. Determine the types of loans and loan options available to individual clients based on their financial circumstances and borrowing goals, evaluating the cost and benefit of each product to recommend the best options. Explain in plain language what each provision of a mortgage contract means to the borrower and lender. Describe the process of collecting on a loan, the options available to borrowers if a financial hardship occurs, and the process of repossessing assets in the event of loan default or foreclosure.

The content of this course is determined by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and state banking regulators, and may change over time. The objectives listed below summarize the main components of current NMLS courses. Sample learning objectives Federal mortgage laws, including RESPA, ECOA, TILA, and the SAFE Act. Mortgage loan origination activities: application, processing, underwriting, appraisals, title reports, program guidelines, closing, and financial calculations. General mortgage knowledge—programs, products, and terms. Ethics as it pertains to mortgage laws and regulations, appraisal practices, and fraud. Material covered by the Uniform State Test, including the SAFE Act, minimum licensing standards, and required and prohibited conduct. State-specific licensing requirements and mortgage laws.