The Electronic Transfer Fund Act (Regulation E) does not apply to your business customers. Regulation E applies to “any electronic fund transfer that authorizes a financial institution to debit or credit a consumer’s account.” 12 CFR 1005.3(a).  The term “account” is defined as “a demand deposit (checking), savings, or other consumer asset account . . . established primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.” 12 CFR 1005.2(b)(1).  The term “consumer” means a “natural person.” 12 CFR 1005.2(e).  Consequently, Regulation E does not apply to small business deposit accounts held by your bank.

While Regulation E does not apply to your business customers, we recommend that you check your business account agreements and related communications to make sure that the Regulation E disclosures were not provided to your business customers (either in their account agreements or by also sending them the annual Regulation E disclosures). If the Regulation E disclosures were made to your business customers, you still might be contractually obligated to comply with those provisions. 

We are not aware of any other law or regulation that mandates error resolution procedures for businesses. However, we do note that some open-end credit accounts, such as certain MasterCard and Visa credit card programs, offer “zero liability” protections for small businesses.