NOTE 8: FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS WITH OFF-BALANCE-SHEET CREDIT RISK

The Bank is a party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and to sell loans. Those instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amount recognized in the consolidated statements of financial condition.

The Bank’s exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. The Bank uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments.

A summary of financial instrument commitments at June 30, 2026 (unaudited) and September 30, 2025 is shown below.

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Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer as long as there is no violation of any condition established in the contract. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee. Since some of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amount does not necessarily represent future cash requirements.

The Bank evaluates each customer’s credit worthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary by the Bank upon extension of credit, is based on management’s credit evaluation of the customer and generally consists of real estate.

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Commitments and Contingencies

Outstanding letters of credit written are conditional commitments issued by the Company to guarantee the performance by a customer to a third party.  The Company’s exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for standby letters of credit is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments.  The Bank uses the same credit policies in making conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments.  The Company had four standby letters of credit totaling $178,000 with no amounts outstanding as of June 30, 2026 or September 30, 2025.

The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending other loan commitments.  The Company requires collateral and personal guarantees supporting these letters of credit as deemed necessary.  Management believes that the proceeds obtained through a liquidation of such collateral in the event of a default, and the enforcement of personal guarantees would be sufficient to cover the maximum potential amount of future payments required under the corresponding guarantees.

Unfunded Commitments

The Company maintains an allowance for credit losses for off-balance sheet credit exposures such as unfunded balances for existing lines of credit, commitments to extend future credit, as well as both standby and commercial letters of credit when there is a contractual obligation to extend credit and when this extension of credit is not unconditionally cancellable (i.e. commitment cannot be canceled at any time). The allowance for credit losses for off-balance sheet credit exposures is adjusted through the provision for credit loss expense on the accompanying consolidated statements of earnings. The estimate includes consideration of the likelihood that funding will occur, which is based on a historical funding study derived from internal information, and an estimate of expected credit losses on commitments expected to be funded over its estimated life, which are the same loss rates that are used in computing the allowance for credit losses on loans, and are discussed within this note. The allowance for credit losses for unfunded loan commitments of $24,000 and $23,000 at June 30, 2026 and September 30, 2025, respectively, is separately classified on the consolidated statements of financial condition within accrued interest payable and other liabilities.

The following table presents the balance and activity in the allowance for credit losses for unfunded loan commitments for the three months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025.

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The following table presents the balance and activity in the allowance for credit losses for unfunded loan commitments for the nine months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025.

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