I'm curious how other banks handle new account holds. We use the model language on our disclosure which implies new accounts are automatically held for the time frames stated. Our tellers, however, seem to pick and choose who they place a hold on. Is this true of other banks? And does your teller program automatically hold new accounts? Thanks.

Sounds like a training issue. We had a teller system alert that said "New Account" that would prompt the teller to place the hold and put the deposit into a tray for additional review. For newer tellers, that alert had to be approved by a senior teller / supervisor before the transaction could be completed.

If your tellers are having problems, retrain them, enforce the policy, and start writing them up if they don't follow it. I found that impacting their potential bonus by using policy violations as a weight in the calculation solved all problems.

Look at your disclosure. The model language says:

If you are a new customer, the following special rules will apply during the first 30 days your account is open. (Emphasis supplied)

If that's what it says, then in order for your disclosure to be correct, you must impose the hold more than half the time. Depositors would not receive a hold notice at the time the hold was imposed.

Your bank may have modified the language to say:

If you are a new customer, the following special rules may apply during the first 30 days your account is open. (Emphasis supplied)

If so, you may impose the holds described in this paragraph at will; i.e. with no measure of consistency, and the customer is entitled to a notice each time a hold is imposed.