Now that makes sense! Thanks so much for your help:) Have a great day!

is the following notice proper to include on our statements:

Funds Availability Policy Change Notice
Effective February 26, 2010

We may delay your ability to withdraw deposited funds made by check until the 2nd business day after the day of deposit for case by case delays. Longer delays may apply for no more than 7 business days after the day of the deposit.

After reading through this thread, I'm still not clear on two things:

We use Appendix C-3 as our Funds Availability Policy. Do we have to send a notice to our customers about the local/non-local changes?

Will a statement message suffice, or do we need to send a new policy to existing customers?

Thanks

Banker,
The most insightful answer you are going to get on this is something like " I think four out of seven field examiners would say that's fine."

Unless the Fed publishes model language, anything you do will be subject to the opinion of your particular field examiner. The Reg CC Commentary allows wide latitude in the form of the notice, but opinions could vary about the content. If you want meaningful assurances, contact the EIC from your last examination and run your methodology and language past him or her. Be prepared: Don't ask for advice unless you plan to take it.

My suggestion is that you gauge your own ability and willingness to refute regulatory criticism and then choose a good faith compliance mechanism within those boundaries.

Spin,

C-3 references case by case and exception holds. The demise of the nonlocal check would require their respective time frames be shortened. New customers need to be given a disclosure that is correct. My opinion is that existing consumer customers should be told about their improved availability.

Please review the section of the Reg CC commentary that deals with general disclosure requirements. It indicates that the notice of a policy change can be in any form as long as it meets those requirements; e.g. it is clear and conspicuous, etc. (Regulation DD notes that a notice of change may be "on or with a periodic statement." It would be pretty difficult for any third party to conclude statement messages might work for that regulation, but not this one.)

Your forms vendor may say they "suggest" it would be better to distribute a new disclosure. The people who built my car say the oil should be changed every 5,000 miles. The people who change the oil in my car say it should be changed every 3,000 miles. I assume the people who change the oil in my car are giving me advice based on their desire to sell oil.

Thanks, Ken. For others who are reading this, 229.15(a) and 229.18(e) in the commentary discuss notice requirements.

I believe Reg CC also says that there is no notice requirement if the change is due to a change in Appendix B (reduction of schedules for certain nonlocal checks).

I don't believe there is an Appendix B any longer.

So if we have decided that we need to disclose to our customers we are changing from 5/11 to 2/7 am I correct in stating this information can be included as a statement message, and that a whole new disclosure does not have to be mailed to the customer?

I believe that, if you can fit the facts of the change concisely and intelligibly into the character limits of your statement message, you can successfully use that mode of delivery. Since the change is favorable to the consumer, you have until 30 days AFTER you implement the change to get the word out.

Just want to make sure I am not missing something ... the only notices we are requried to have are the notice at account opening that they can keep and the notices at the teller line and on desks (where deposits are accepted)

Are you delaying the availability of funds for new accounts to 7 days?

New accounts availability is maximum up to the 9th business day and that will not change. You can certainly hold for less time but we state in our policy the maximum.

From the model language for a new account exception hold:

Funds from all other check deposits will be available on the (number) business day after the day of your deposit.

The new account exception hold is for whatever (number) of days you plugged in. It may be nine. It may be eleven. It may be fourteen, etc.

The nine day limit only applies to the haircut you can give to so-called next day items. The only other thing with a time limit for new accounts is cash. Everything else -- including on-us checks -- could be held for any time period you disclose (remembering you are competing with the bank across the street).

Still no word on the FRB timeline for revising the Model disclosures?
We still use Case by Case and Exception holds. Have never been able to quantify the effectivienss of the practice. For those who have same practice - are you continuing with it after the consolidation of the regions?

Do the Reg CC changes impact Section 229.12 "Extension of schedule for certain deposits in Alaska, Hawaii....etc., etc., etc."? Specifically item (2)
"...deposited by a check drawn on or payable through a paying bank not located in the same state as the depository bank"

Yes and no. If a bank in Alaska receives for deposit a check drawn on a bank in Massachusetts, the excess of the check over the first $100 would have to be available on the third business day after the banking day of deposit. The Alaska bank can continue to add one day for checks from out of state, but the amendments have made Massachusetts banks "local," so the Alaska bank can't add the one day to anything more than "2." That will be the case for checks from the Atlanta region beginning 2/27.

Option being considered: 2 day hold on all checks. Possible???

I know postal money orders are subject to next day availability. We have been hit hard by counterfeit ones. We can by regulation put an exception hold on next day items?

Just so I am clear, there are no longer non-local items? There seems to be some confusion among our Deposit Operations staff because the correspondence they are receiving still refers to local and non-local routing numbers. If there truly is one "almighty" clearing, why don't they just say so?

Effective, 2/27/2010 there will no longer be non-local checks. Until then you still have local and non-local.

Policy and notice question here: We give next day availability and only do exception holds. Our written policy does not list routing numbers or use the words local or non-local.Based on this, I don't think we are required to send notice of this change. However, in the text of the policy we are changing the case by case language (used for the large exception holds) to read from 5 days to 2. Wouldn't this change cause a notice to existing customers? Thank you in advance.

Not possible. One-day items are one-day items, and you cannot put 2d day availability on them unless they are not deposited into an account of a payee in person with an employee of the bank. The in-person exception doesn't apply to Treasury checks, however.

Are you sure you are referring to exception holds? The limit for them is going from 11 days to 7. The limit on case-by-case holds is cut from 5 to 2.

John B. Ref #1329120 response: was this for my question on whether or not we can have a blanket 2 day hold?????