Is it acceptable to notify a customer that their e-statement is available through the message board within the online banking application? That is, when the customer logs into their account through online banking, they would be notified via the message board that their e-statement is available. Or do we have to email them a notification?

We would disclose this method of notification to the customer at the time they agreed to e-statements.

Thanks.

205.17(c)(2)(i) says "Alert the consumer of the disclosure’s availability by sending a notice to the consumer’s electronic address (or to a postal address, at the financial institution’s option)" so I would be inclined to send the message. Otherwise, you assume they will be logging in to see the message.

The e-mail is a more direct form of notification that the statement is available.

The customer's electronic address is, surprisingly, "defined" in the OSC to §205.17:

Quote:

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1. Electronic address. A consumer’s electronic address is an e-mail address that is not limited to receiving communications transmitted solely by the financial institution.

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So, although compliance with §205.17 is optional at this point (the mandatory compliance date was lifted), if the Fed ultimately adopts this standard, using a message when the customer logs into your e-Banking system won't "cut it."

I hasten to add here that the Fed's adoption of this definition of electronic address is one part of the Fed's "interim final" rule that provoked a lot of negative comment from the industry.

Thank you so much for the clarification! That really helps.

Andy and John are right about the optional status of the "e-Regs", but you will be taking an expensive gamble if you develop an e-delivery system that ignores the Fed's latest pronouncements. This is a mission-critical decision that will guide the development of your programming, deployment and sales training. If you guess wrong that the Fed will permit alert messages via a proprietary system, how much more will it cost to come back later and retool this part of your e-delivery service?

I agree that email notification of statement availability is the way to go. Besides complying with the "interim final" regulations (!), from a quality service perspective, it's the right thing to do for our members.

My colleagues were interpreting the regs another way, so this forum has been very helpful. Thanks again.

I am totally in Richard's camp on this question. As I mentioned earlier, only giving your customers notice when they access your e-banking service may be technically OK now, but it will not "cut it" if the Fed adopts as final the language in the "interim final" regulations.

Point to the Official Staff Commentary to §205.17 if your associates are still not convinced. It's pretty plainly put there.

And make sure they read Richard's comments. Just how much do they want to risk going down the wrong road on this?