No, you are not required to provide provisional credit (or interest) to a consumer who provides a notice of error more than sixty days after the date the periodic statement was sent. However, you may be required to refund overdraft fees related to errors occurring before the close of the sixty-day period.

Under Regulation E, a bank must provide provisional credit to a consumer’s account “in the amount of the alleged error (including interest where applicable)” only when the error notice is received by the bank no later than sixty days after sending the periodic statement on which the alleged error was first reflected and certain other criteria are met (such as including sufficient information about the customer and the error).

Although a consumer faces unlimited liability for unauthorized transfers that occur after the sixty-day period (up to the date on which the consumer notifies the bank of the unauthorized transfer), a bank must correct any errors it determines occurred before the close the sixty-day period, including “the refunding of any fees imposed by the institution,” which would include overdraft fees. However, a bank is not required to refund fees that would have been imposed whether or not the error occurred.

Additionally, we note that a consumer may be liable for up to $500 of an unauthorized transfer occurring before the close of the 60-day period if the transfer involved a lost or stolen access device and the consumer failed to notify the bank within two business days of learning of the loss or theft.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.11(b)(1) (“A financial institution shall comply with the requirements of this section with respect to any oral or written notice of error from the consumer that: (i) Is received by the institution no later than 60 days after the institution sends the periodic statement or provides the passbook documentation, required by § 1005.9, on which the alleged error is first reflected; (ii) Enables the institution to identify the consumer’s name and account number; and (iii) Indicates why the consumer believes an error exists and includes to the extent possible the type, date, and amount of the error, except for requests described in paragraph (a)(1)(vii) of this section.”)

• Regulation E, Official Interpretations, Paragraph 11(b)(1), Comment 7 (“Effect of late notice. An institution is not required to comply with the requirements of this section for any notice of error from the consumer that is received by the institution later than 60 days from the date on which the periodic statement first reflecting the error is sent. Where the consumer’s assertion of error involves an unauthorized EFT, however, the institution must comply with § 1005.6 before it may impose any liability on the consumer.”)

• Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.11(c)(2)(i) (Forty-five day period. If the financial institution is unable to complete its investigation within 10 business days, the institution may take up to 45 days from receipt of a notice of error to investigate and determine whether an error occurred, provided the institution does the following: (i) Provisionally credits the consumer’s account in the amount of the alleged error (including interest where applicable) within 10 business days of receiving the error notice. If the financial institution has a reasonable basis for believing that an unauthorized electronic fund transfer has occurred and the institution has satisfied the requirements of § 1005.6(a), the institution may withhold a maximum of $50 from the amount credited. An institution need not provisionally credit the consumer’s account if: . . .”)

• Regulation E, Official Interpretations, Paragraph 11(c), Comment 6 (“Correction of an error. If the financial institution determines an error occurred, within either the 10-day or 45-day period, it must correct the error (subject to the liability provisions of §§ 1005.6(a) and (b)) including, where applicable, the crediting of interest and the refunding of any fees imposed by the institution. In a combined credit/EFT transaction, for example, the institution must refund any finance charges incurred as a result of the error. The institution need not refund fees that would have been imposed whether or not the error occurred.”)

• Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.6(b)(3) (“A consumer must report an unauthorized electronic fund transfer that appears on a periodic statement within 60 days of the financial institution’s transmittal of the statement to avoid liability for subsequent transfers. If the consumer fails to do so, the consumer’s liability shall not exceed the amount of the unauthorized transfers that occur after the close of the 60 days and before notice to the institution, and that the institution establishes would not have occurred had the consumer notified the institution within the 60-day period. When an access device is involved in the unauthorized transfer, the consumer may be liable for other amounts set forth in paragraphs (b)(1) or (b)(2) of this section, as applicable.”)

• Regulation E, Official Interpretations, Paragraph 6(b)(3), Comment 2 (“For example, a consumer’s account is electronically debited for $200 without the consumer’s authorization and by means other than the consumer’s access device. If the consumer notifies the institution within 60 days of the transmittal of the periodic statement that shows the unauthorized transfer, the consumer has no liability. However, if in addition to the $200, the consumer’s account is debited for a $400 unauthorized transfer on the 61st day and the consumer fails to notify the institution of the first unauthorized transfer until the 62nd day, the consumer may be liable for the full $400.”)

• Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.6(b)(2) (“Timely notice not given. If the consumer fails to notify the financial institution within two business days after learning of the loss or theft of the access device, the consumer’s liability shall not exceed the lesser of $500 or the sum of: (1) (i) $50 or the amount of unauthorized transfers that occur within the two business days, whichever is less; and (ii) The amount of unauthorized transfers that occur after the close of two business days and before notice to the institution, provided the institution establishes that these transfers would not have occurred had the consumer notified the institution within that two-day period.”)

• Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.2(a)(1) (“‘Access device’ means a card, code, or other means of access to a consumer’s account, or any combination thereof, that may be used by the consumer to initiate electronic fund transfers.”)