My bank is going to offer customers the option of accessing account statements online and suppress paper statements. We will send the customer an email notifying them when each statement is available for access. They will then have to sign on to online banking to access it. I have searched for and read many good posts regarding consent, retention, etc., but have another question.

How are others handling the disclosures that are printed on the back of paper statements when the customer switches to E-statements, such as notification of how and where to dispute errors, unauthorized transactions, etc.?

Are you including the disclosures in the body of the email notifying the customer that the statement is available? Are you including the disclosures on the online banking page where the statement is accessed? Are you even including these disclosures with E-statements?

Thanks!

You have all those choices. My e-statements are "push" and the short EFT resolution notice is included with each one. Once you have the customers E-Sign consent you can also go to an annual disclosure if you want, using the longer form in the model disclosures.

We've implemented eStatements and it has been going very well. But there is a little dispute going on. We monitor any statements that didn't get fixed due to an email address issue (all of them have been my fault when typing in an email address). I correct the email address and resend electronically.

We also monitor who is not retrieving their statements (we use a "pull" method). I was told that if they don't open their statements in a certain amount of time, then we must send out the original in the mail.

I couldn't really find anything in the ESIGN papers but maybe it's a Reg E issue? Help!

We send an e-mail to notify the statement is ready. Customer logs on to Internet banking and retrieves the statement in a pdf format. The disclosure stuff is the last page.

Maggie-what do you do if/when they don't retrieve their statement?

Resend the e-mail. They keep track of who has accessed and who hasn't. Beyond that, I'm not sure. We haven't gone "public" yet. Just employees and a few test customers.

You are not required to monitor whether the customer pulls the statement (although I believe that to be a good practice), unless you have a state rule on that. You are required to monitor for returned emails announcing the availability of the statements. If you received a bounced email, you are required to resend to a new (or corrected) email address, or mail the statement. The literal requirement is that you make a best effort to resend the communication using information in your files. See Reg. E, for example, section 205.17.

Yet again John, you rock!

If a customer no longer wishes to receive a paper statement and the bank does not yet do e-statements, can the bank stop the mailing of a paper statement? The customer has access to online banking but it does not provide any disclosures, etc. If the customer has monthly EFTs, then it appears we must still send the statement. I can't find anything that states we would not. My research indicates that all we could do is hold the statements for the customer to pick up. Is that the bank's only option (not ready to do e-statements at this time)? Thank you.

Because you are required to deliver certain information in those statements, you cannot discontinue them. The EFTs (or capability of EFTs) will require that they be sent. This protects you as much as the customer, in the event of unauthorized transactions. Think about the 60-day statement rule under Reg. E. If you never send statements and there are unauthorized debits, all that liability can be on you as the consumer never has a statement to review.

As you have suggested, you do have the option of holding the statement for customer pickup if requested. I'd suggest that you require the customer to sign a written request for hold statements, and that the request provide that unclaimed statements will be either (1) mailed to the address of record or (2) destroyed, after 90 days. And include an acknowledgment that the customer's time windows for statement examination under the UCC and Regulation E begin when the statement is made available for pickup.

Marketing will be at the county fair next month. They want to have a sign up table for existing customers to authorize us to start sending electronic monthly / quarterly statements. Is there a way to do this? Can we take their information and then contact them through email and have them respond through email?

You could certainly start the process and get their information and a signature for authorization. (We required this on net banking before transfers allowed funds out of an account. It isn't required for statements, but you could do it.) Then send them the email and use that to initiate demonstrable consent.