IBA Compliance Connection

Your go to source for compliance!

We are integrating new branches as part of a recent acquisition. We will be changing service hours at these branches – in some cases, we are extending the service hours by an hour, and other cases we will be shortening the service hours by one hour. We also may close early one day for a ribbon cutting ceremony. Our current procedures for changes in hours are to provide thirty days advance notice, with conspicuous signage posted in the affected branches. Is any other notice required under Illinois law, such as the Illinois Promissory Note and Bank Holiday Act?

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We are not aware of any Illinois laws that expressly address a change in bank hours, although we agree that it would be prudent to post advance notice of the changed hours. Your bank also may wish to review relevant advertising, listings and other information to ensure that they reflect the new hours (as well as any disclosures and account agreements that reflect the previous hours). We also recommend checking the account agreements from the acquired branch customers to see if they include any relevant notification requirements.

We also note that the change in hours may raise some Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) concerns. One factor in your CRA service performance rating is whether a branch’s services, “including, where appropriate, business hours,” vary in a way that inconveniences customers in your assessment area. Therefore, it would be prudent to document your business reasons for making the change, although you are not required to do so.

Additionally, the Illinois Promissory Note and Bank Holiday Act (PNBHA) does not require a bank to notify the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) regarding one-time early closings, such as the early closing for your ribbon cutting ceremony. We have confirmed with a representative of the IDFPR that when a bank intends to close one hour early on a particular day, the PNBHA’s requirements do not apply — but again, we believe it would be prudent to post advance notice of the one-time early closing.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

  • Community Reinvestment Act, Appendix A to Part 345, Ratings, Part (b)(3) (“The FDIC rates a bank’s service performance ‘outstanding’ if, in general, the bank demonstrates: . . . Its services (including, where appropriate, business hours) do not vary in a way that inconveniences its assessment area(s), particularly low- and moderate-income geographies and low– and moderate-income individuals . . .”)
  • Illinois Promissory Note and Bank Holiday Act, 205 ILCS 630/17(a) (“The following days shall be legal holidays in the State of Illinois upon which day a bank may, but is not required to, remain closed: the first day of January (New Year's Day). . . .”)
  • IDFPR 2019 Bank Holiday Schedule (“In addition to the holidays cited above, banks are authorized to close at 12:00 noon on each Saturday and all day on Sunday. A bank may also select one additional day of the week to remain closed by following the procedures outlined in Section 17(b) of the Promissory Note and Bank Holiday Act [205 ILCS 630/17(b)].”)
  • Promissory Note and Bank Holiday Act, 205 ILCS 630/17(c) (“If an occasion arises when a state bank wishes to remain closed on a particular day, other than a day on which the bank has selected to remain closed on a regular basis as provided in this Section, such state bank may remain closed on such an occasion after first sending to the Commissioner a copy of a resolution adopted by the board of directors authorizing the bank to remain closed on such occasion and notice of the intent to remain closed on such occasion shall be conspicuously posted in the lobby of the main banking office and any branches of such bank for at least 3 weeks in advance of such occasion. Any day which any bank doing business within the State shall select to remain closed pursuant to this Section shall, with respect to such bank, be treated and considered as a Sunday.”)