If a cash deposit is made at a retail store to a prepaid card account, does the transaction description on the periodic statement need to include the name and location of the retail store? Does the answer change for a cash or a check deposit at an ATM? Also, for retail purchases that are made in person or online, should the periodic statement list the city and state? Is the street address required?

Cash Deposits

No, we do not believe your bank is required to list the name and location of a retail store on your periodic statement when a cash deposit is made to a prepaid account at the retail store.

As to the retail store location, when a consumer initiates a transfer at an electronic terminal (such as a point of sale terminal at a retail store) that involves “a deposit of cash or a check, draft, or similar paper instrument,” the terminal location does not need to be disclosed on the periodic statement. Likewise, your bank is not required to list the terminal location on the periodic statement when a cash or check deposit is made to an ATM.

As to the retail store name, Regulation E provides that a periodic statement shall include the name of “any third party to or from whom funds were transferred,” recognizing that some transactions may not involve a third party. However, when a customer makes a deposit on a prepaid card, there is no third party transferee to list on the periodic statement. Consequently, we do not believe you are required to name the retail store at which the consumer initiates a transfer on the periodic statement.

Additionally, we note that for prepaid accounts, a bank is not required to furnish a periodic statement if it makes available to the consumer: (1) the consumer’s account balance through a telephone line, (2) an electronic history of the consumer’s last twelve months of account transactions through a website, and (3) provides a written history of the consumer’s last 24 months of account transactions if the consumer makes an oral or written request for the information. However, the same information required for periodic statements must be included in the electronic or written transaction account histories.

Retail Purchases

For retail purchases initiated in person or online, you are not required to provide the terminal’s street address if the periodic statement provides the generally accepted name for the specific location or the name of the terminal owner or operator. For example, the periodic statement could reflect the name of the merchant to whom the funds were transferred and the location of the terminal where the transfer was initiated, such as “XYZ Store, Anytown, Ohio,” without the street address.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

  • Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.9(b) (“For an account to or from which electronic fund transfers can be made, a financial institution shall send a periodic statement for each monthly cycle in which an electronic fund transfer has occurred; and shall send a periodic statement at least quarterly if no transfer has occurred. The statement shall set forth the following information, as applicable: . . .”)
  • Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.9(b)(1)(iv) (“For each electronic fund transfer occurring during the cycle: . . . (iv) For a transfer initiated by the consumer at an electronic terminal (except for a deposit of cash or a check, draft, or similar paper instrument), the terminal location described in paragraph (a)(5) of this section; . . .”)
  • Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.2(h) (“‘Electronic terminal’ means an electronic device, other than a telephone operated by a consumer, through which a consumer may initiate an electronic fund transfer. The term includes, but is not limited to, point-of-sale terminals, automated teller machines (ATMs), and cash dispensing machines.”)
  • EFTA, 15 USC 1693d(a) (“For each electronic fund transfer initiated by a consumer from an electronic terminal, the financial institution holding such consumer's account shall, directly or indirectly, at the time the transfer is initiated, make available to the consumer written documentation of such transfer. The documentation shall clearly set forth to the extent applicable— . . . (4) the identity of any third party to whom or from whom funds are transferred
  • Interagency Examination Procedures, Electronic Funds Transfer Act, page 30 (March 2019) (“Periodic statements must be sent for each monthly cycle in which an EFT has occurred, and at least quarterly if no EFT has occurred (12 CFR 1005.9(b)). For each EFT made during the cycle, the statement must include, as applicable: . . . Name of any third party payee or payor.”)
  • Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.9(b)(1)(v) (“For each electronic fund transfer occurring during the cycle: . . . (v) The name of any third party to or from whom funds were transferred.”)
  • Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.18(c)(1) (For financial institutions offering prepaid accounts — “A financial institution need not furnish periodic statements required by § 1005.9(b) if the financial institution makes available to the consumer:

(i) The consumer’s account balance, through a readily available telephone line;

(ii) An electronic history of the consumer’s account transactions, such as through a Web site, that covers at least 12 months preceding the date the consumer electronically accesses the account; and

(iii) A written history of the consumer’s account transactions that is provided promptly in response to an oral or written request and that covers at least 24 months preceding the date the financial institution receives the consumer’s request.”)

  • Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.18(c)(3) (“The history of account transactions provided under paragraphs (c)(1)(ii) and (iii) of this section must include the information set forth in § 1005.9(b).”)
  • Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.9(b)(1)(v) (“For each electronic fund transfer occurring during the cycle: . . . (v) The name of any third party to or from whom funds were transferred.”)
  • Regulation E, Official Interpretations, Paragraph 9(b)(1)(v), Comment 3 (“A single entry may be used to identify both the terminal location and the name of the third party to or from whom funds are transferred. For example, if a consumer purchases goods from a merchant, the name of the party to whom funds are transferred (the merchant) and the location of the terminal where the transfer is initiated will be satisfied by a disclosure such as ‘XYZ Store, Anytown, Ohio.’”)
  • Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.9(a)(5) (“Except as provided in paragraph (e) of this section, a financial institution shall make a receipt available to a consumer at the time the consumer initiates an electronic fund transfer at an electronic terminal. The receipt shall set forth the following information, as applicable: . . . The location of the terminal where the transfer is initiated, or an identification such as a code or terminal number. Except in limited circumstances where all terminals are located in the same city or state, if the location is disclosed, it shall include the city and state or foreign country and one of the following:

(i) The street address; or

(ii) A generally accepted name for the specific location; or

(iii) The name of the owner or operator of the terminal if other than the account-holding institution.”)

  • Regulation E, Official Interpretations, Paragraph 9(a)(5)(iii), Comment 1 (“Examples of an owner or operator of a terminal are a financial institution or a retail merchant.”)