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DATA INTEGRITY CHALLENGE

Get Your CRA Data Right The First Time

CRA Today's Data Integrity Challenge is one week, October 19-23, 2026: real case studies, and a room full of CRA professionals navigating the same challenges you are.

October 19-23, 2026 
1:00 PM ET daily
Replays for going deeper
Built-in Implementation Day on Wednesday
Challenge Enrollment: $595 + $295 per additional seat
Linda Ezuka, founder of CRA Today
Why This Challenge

WHY DATA INTEGRITY
LANDS WITH YOU

When it comes to your CRA Program, data integrity isn't a side task, it's the foundation everything else rests on. The burden of small business, small farm and home mortgage data often lands with your compliance department, no matter how small and mighty it may be. Errors don't stay small: they trigger examiner scrutiny, costly corrections, and reputational risk.

The Data Integrity Challenge is a practical, one-week working experience designed for CRA bankers and analysts who want to:

Minimize compliance and operational risk.
Improve efficiency in data collection and review.
Build real confidence in monitoring and reporting practices.
Ensure CRA and HMDA data can withstand examiner scrutiny.

You don't have to figure it out alone. This challenge provides expert instruction, real-world case studies, and a collaborative space to practice.

The Curriculum

What we'll cover in five days

Five days, five disciplines. Each session builds on the last, from raw data through examiner-ready documentation, for the data that feeds both your CRA and HMDA reporting. 

1
Day One · Monday, October 19

Data Collection Foundations

Why CRA data accuracy matters and how to build a working dataset.

We Will Cover
Overview of CRA data types and how they tie to CRA performance.
Key regulatory definitions & requirements
Identifying core data sources
Pulling initial reports and identifying required fields.
Mapping Call Report/product codes to CRA reportable activity.
2
Day Two · Tuesday, October 20

Scrubbing and Error Prevention

Cleansing loan data and catching mistakes before submission.

We Will Cover
Common data integrity pitfalls.
Filtering out ineligible loans.
Validating geographic and income-level data with FFIEC and source docs.
Using internal controls & system fields.
GAR verification and small business loan misclassification.
Volume vs. 100% review strategies
3
DAY THREE · WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21

Implementation Day

Your quiet day to go heads down and implement what you've learned so far, a full day to work your own CRA data while the methods are still fresh.

We Will Cover
Pull your own reports and build the working dataset from Day One.
Run the scrubbing and validation checks from Day Two against live loan data.
Flag the gaps, questions, and edge cases you hit along the way.
Bring them back to the group for the remaining sessions.
4
DAY FOUR · THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22

Documentation, Monitoring & Audit Prep

Building defensible systems and institutionalizing controls.

We Will Cover
Documenting decisions, workflows, and controls.
GAR cheat sheet and templates.
Year-end scrubs and sampling protocols.
Preparing for internal audits; evidence for policies & procedures.
Communicating findings to CRA committees and executive leadership.
The “three lines of defense” framework.
5
DAY FIVE · FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23

Reporting & Exam Readiness

Submission, examiner expectations, and sustainable integrity practices.

We Will Cover
CRA submission workflow: edit checks, encrypted files, re-filing protocols.
Examiner “hot button” issues: GAR consistency, data volume, geocoding.
Defending performance with documentation and context.
Embedding data integrity as a year-round practice.
Examiner-ready examples.
Also covered

Home Mortgage HMDA Data: The same collection, scrubbing, monitoring, documentation and reporting disciplines, applied to a far larger field set where small mapping errors multiply fast.

The Stakes

Why data integrity matters

Neglecting CRA data integrity can lead to:

Costly examiner findings.
Delays in submissions and re-filings.
Time lost to error corrections and misclassified loans.

Examiners need to trust your data before they can fairly evaluate your CRA performance. When that trust isn't there, it just means a longer road, not an easier one.

And the exposure keeps widening: HMDA reporting carries roughly three times as many fields as CRA reporting, which multiplies the room for error on every loan you report.

By contrast, getting your data right the first time reduces risk, streamlines efficiency, and strengthens credibility with both examiners and your executive leadership.

Enrollment

The Data Integrity Challenge

With this challenge, you get support, accountability, and proven methods to get CRA data integrity right the first time, including:

1Daily training sessions on data collection, scrubbing, monitoring, and reporting
2Practical strategies to reduce compliance errors and strengthen CRA exam readiness
3Support and accountability in a community of peers facing the same challenges
4Real-world case studies and guided exercises from CRA data experts
5Daily homework assignments to put concepts into practice immediately.
6Recordings of every session, so a conflict on your calendar does not cost you a day.

Challenge Enrollment: $595 + $295 per additional seat

JOIN THE CHALLENGE
The Challenge Schedule
All sessions 1:00 PM ET
Mon
19
Day One
Data Collection Foundations
Tue
20
Day Two
Scrubbing and Error Prevention
Wed
21
Day Three
Implementation Day
Thu
22
Day Four
Documentation, Monitoring & Audit Prep
Fri
23
Day Five
Reporting & Exam Readiness
In Their Words

Testimonials

The Data Integrity Challenge was outstanding! Over four interactive days, we received practical guides and templates that will be extremely useful. The sessions helped me rethink procedures and identify improvements for our CRA program and data collection methods. This training truly delivered actionable value.

— Binuri Fonseka
SMBC Manubank

I attended as a guest and learned so many things, questions that I wanted the answers to but couldn't find in print, as a lot of CRA interpretation seems to be gray, not black and white. If you are able to join the Hub, jump at the chance. Seems to be very much worth the investment for both the information you will obtain and the contacts you will make. All the participants, many with years of CRA experience, were so willing to share their knowledge. An overall great experience!

— Roseanne Craig
Adirondack Trust Company

The Data Integrity Challenge training was excellent! All sessions were very interactive, and I liked the real-world examples. The practical guides and templates provided will be invaluable for future work. As a direct outcome, I created a memo template for addressing and communicating CRA data errors with lines of business, which I'll begin using soon.

— Binuri Fonseka
SMBC Manubank

Even if you have your data integrity procedures down, it is a great refresher to go through each step of the process with peers from other banks. Everyone does everything a little differently and it's helpful to hear different perspectives that you may not have thought of prior.

— Jaskarn Nahal
Oak Valley Community Bank

I appreciate how open Linda is to having the class be a discussion instead of just a presentation. Some presenters will say that but not really engage. Linda and Alyssa are always open. I always feel heard and part of the group. I also really like that they make sure to answer each question and always follow up if needed.

— Heather Fantasia
MutualOne Bank

It hit the big questions I have and sessions were at a decent length of time that I didn't feel rushed to get off to get to the next thing I had to do.

— Gail Edmonds
FVC Bank
CRA Today has trained CRA professionals at:
1,708
BANKS
2,404
BANKERS
Independent Financial
MidCountry Bank
Exchange Bank
First Bank
Central Pacific Bank
BankFirst
First National Bank Texas
Fidelity Bank
Citizens National Bank
Bank of Utah
Plumas Bank
Red River Bank
Arrow Financial Corporation
Pioneer Bank
Central Bank
Winchester Savings Bank
OakStar Bank
Lincoln Savings Bank
North Easton Savings Bank
Flushing Bank
Frandsen Bank & Trust
Avidbank
Avidia Bank
Bangor Savings Bank
Berkshire Bank
Tri Counties Bank
Saratoga National Bank
Glens Falls National Bank

One week to data you can defend

October 19-23, 2026. Challenge Enrollment: $595 + $295 per additional seat.

JOIN THE CHALLENGE