History

• The U.S. Congress amended the Home Owners' Loan Act of 1933 to create the legal definition of an FSB bank, according to AllBusiness. In 1982, Congress deregulated FSBs under the Garn-St Germain Act of 1982 to allow them to offer discount brokerage accounts and checking accounts.
  
  

Identification

• Banks chartered as a FSB are a type of bank institution known as a "thrift institution," according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Thrift institutions are commercial banks that primarily accept deposits and extend lines of credit to homeowners.
  
  

Features

• As of 2010, a FSB bank may put up to 10 percent of its assets, such as deposits, into loans other than mortgages, according to AllBusiness. The bank itself may be owned by private members or shareholders.