Does anyone have any clarification on what is and what is not a telephone transfer under 205.3? I've read the reg and the commentary, but I'm looking for more concrete, real life examples. For instance, you pay your electric bill via the electric company's automated phone line, and your deposit account is debited via ACH- I don't believe this falls under "written agreement or plan between the you and your financial institution". Thoughts?

The written agreement or plan wording applies to an agreement between the bank and its customer that the bank will accept telephonic instructions to effect EFTs (usually transfers). Usually, these are part of a Telephone Response System.

The scenario that you've described, M&M, would be an EFT because it is initiated via the ACH and debits a consumer account. The fact that it was authorized by a telephone call is incidental to whether it's an EFT.

Thank you John. That's what I thought, but I wanted to confirm.