Topic: Advertising & Marketing
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We are planning to distribute new, chip-enabled debit cards to all of our customers. We would like to send a mass email to customers who have provided their email addresses notifying them that they need to verify their mailing addresses to avoid delay. Would sending this email violate any regulations?
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We do not believe that an email requesting verification of customers' mailing addresses would violate any laws or regulations, provided that the email does not require customers to verify their mailing addresses as a precondition for receiving a new debit card. The E-SIGN Act requires you to make certain disclosures along with obtaining the recipient's…
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For brochure and other bank advertisements, do we have to display the FDIC logo, or can we simply print the letters “FDIC”?
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Bank advertisements should at least include the statement “Member FDIC.” Using the full FDIC logo is not required, but simply stating “FDIC” without “Member” would be insufficient. For resources related to our guidance, please see: FDIC Advertisement of Membership Rules, 12 CFR 328.3(c)(1) (“Except as provided in § 328.3(d), each insured depository institution shall include the official…
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Do we have to include the equal housing opportunity logo on all advertisements or just those that relate to mortgages and other types of loans?
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An “Equal Housing Lender” or “Equal Opportunity Lender” logo is required only on advertisements promoting loans for purchasing, constructing, improving, repairing, or maintaining a dwelling or loans secured by a dwelling. If an advertisement does not promote or mention mortgage loans, then this disclaimer is not required. For resources related to our guidance, please see:…
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If we have an ADA-compliant website, ATM’s with Braille, an interactive voice response (IVR) phone system, online banking, mobile banking, and a call center, is our bank fully compliant with the ADA? Is there anything else we have to do with our phone system? I am not sure if you can advise on this without actually auditing our website and services.
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While your bank has taken many positive steps towards compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), we agree that we cannot determine whether your bank’s website, ATMs, phone system and mobile banking are fully ADA compliant without a specialized audit.
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We have subscribed to the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry, and our Subscription Account Number (SAN) allows us to review the Registry in five area codes for free. If a non-customer leaves a message at our bank inquiring about a service, are we permitted to return their call without reviewing the DNC Registry outside those area codes? What if an existing customer gives us contact information for a non-customer friend or relative who they think may be interested in our services? Can we call those individuals even if their number is listed on the DNC Registry? If not, can we use a form letter to obtain their express written permission to contact them?
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Generally, subject to the limitations discussed below, you may return a call in response to an inquiry from a non-customer without checking the DNC registry, even if that individual’s number appears on the national DNC registry. However, we do not believe you should place a call to an individual whose contact information has been provided…
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We have a bank anniversary coming up, and we are considering randomly selecting 100 of our existing customers to receive a $100.00 gift card. One of those customers then will be randomly chosen to receive a $5,000.00 prize. Is there anything we should be concerned with by offering a sweepstakes like this?
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In our view, your proposal is a sweepstakes that would violate Illinois and federal restrictions on lotteries if it is limited to your customers with deposit accounts. The Federal Deposit Insurance Act defines a “lottery” as an arrangement in which participants “advance money or credit to another in exchange for the possibility or expectation that…
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We hired an external web design firm to make our website accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Is every page on our site expected to be compliant? We understand that it would be important for our home page and any page referring to our products and services to be compliant, but what about pages containing only historical information and old pictures of our bank?
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In our view, every page of your website should be accessible to individuals with disabilities, including those pages that contain only historical information and images. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicated it believes the ADA requires the websites of private businesses to be accessible to individuals with disabilities. Although the DOJ has not…
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We were recently acquired by a bank in Iowa. We want to decrease our drive-through and walk-up hours, but increase our lobby hours. We plan on posting advance notice of the change in our lobby. How many days’ notice should we provide? We asked the OCC, but we were informed to check state law.
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We are not aware of any laws that expressly address a change in bank hours, including the amount of customer notice to provide. We recommend that you check your account agreements to see if they include any relevant notification requirements. You also should consider updating relevant advertising, listings and other information to reflect the new…
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We have added a line to our monthly statements and transaction receipts advertising a Christmas Club account with a “3.5% APY.” If we remove the mention of the APY, would that eliminate the need to provide additional disclosures under Regulation DD?
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Yes, removing the mention of the annual percentage yield (APY) will eliminate the need to provide additional advertising disclosures related to the APY. Regulation DD requires additional disclosures to be provided with advertisements that include trigger terms such as “annual percentage yield” or “APY.” Without those trigger terms, the additional disclosures are not required. For…
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Our marketing department is working on a promotion for deposit accounts opened by teachers. We would like to provide an account opening bonus of $100, as well as a $100 gift card donated to the teacher’s classroom. Would the $100 gift card be treated as a donation? Should we donate it to the teacher or to the school? How would we disclose the bonuses to the customers and the schools?
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Whether the gift card is donated to the school or to the individual teacher is up to the bank. If donating to the school, it may be possible to designate that the gift card must be used in a particular teacher’s classroom, but that will depend on the school district’s policies. We recommend contacting the…