I have reviewed OCC bulletin 2010-15 & the Consumer Compliance Outlook 1Q from the Philadelphia Fed.

Can we have a marketing piece promoting the benefits of opting into payment of overdraft resulting from ATM transactions and Everyday VISA Check Card transactions on one side of a piece of paper and the model form A-9 tailored to our institution on the back of the marketing piece?

I don't recommend it. Footnote 39 in the November Federal Register document publishing the final rule, in a discussion of the model form, says "Institutions may provide other information about their overdraft services and other overdraft protection plans in a separate document." [emphasis mine]

I recommend the marketing piece be on a separate sheet. And don't forget that it should be checked for compliance with Regulation DD section 230.11(b).

If our cover letter that we plan to send with the A-9 form just mentions that we have Overdraft Privilege but doesn't go into detail about the specifics of the program, do we need to include the advertising disclosures?

Bump

If there is any chance that the letter will be viewed as "promoting the payment of overdrafts," you should include the four information elements. The letter, after all, is to encourage your customers to opt-in, right? That, in my opinion, without even reading your letter, is "promoting the payment of overdrafts."

Warning: Stump speech ahead

Part of this whole overdraft fee mess is an attempt to get banks to be more transparent about their overdraft processing and fees. In the interest of that transparency, I urge bankers not to be looking for excuses to withhold information.