As the end of the year draws closer, banks continue to work on making sure they are prepared to meet the new requirements for FDIC signage, which will be mandatory as of January 1, 2025. Here are some highlights from the Q&A recently posted by the FDIC to assist banks working on understanding the requirements and updating policies.
The final compliance date is January 1, 2025. No changes were required to be fully implemented on the initial April 1, 2024 effective date because the new rule created a transitional period from April to January, during which insured financial institutions can comply with the rule by complying with either the prior requirements or the future requirements.
Once the rule becomes fully effective on January 1, the digital sign must be displayed on the bankās initial page or home page, landing or login pages, and any page where a customer may transact with deposits, like a page where a customer can remotely deposit a check or move funds between two FDIC-insured accounts. It should not be displayed on a page that transacts with a non-deposit account, such as a page that allows customers to move funds from a deposit account to a non-deposit account. For purposes of FDIC signage, the term ānon-deposit productsā does not cover credit products or safe deposit boxes.
On screens or pages where the digital sign is required, it cannot be dismissed by the user; it must be displayed continuously. Displaying the digital sign in the footer of the bankās website does not meet the āclear and conspicuousā requirement, so on pages where the digital logo is required, it must be displayed somewhere outside the footer. If the digital sign does not fit on the expected screen size, as for mobile applications that may be used on handheld devices, the sign can be scaled, āwrapped,ā or āstackedā to fit the screen, but it must still be continuously displayed clearly and conspicuously. The digital sign is not required on embedded third-party pages that transact with the customerās bank account. The digital sign may link to the FDICās BankFind tool, but this is not required.
Non-deposit disclosures must state that non-deposit products are not insured by the FDIC, are not deposits, and may lose value. These disclosures should be displayed clearly and conspicuously on pages that interact with both deposit and non-deposit products. Displaying the disclosures in the footer of the bankās webpage again does not meet the clear and conspicuous requirement. When designing pages that offer options to transact with both deposit and non-deposit products, banks should be careful to ensure the non-deposit disclosures are provided and that the FDIC digital sign is not placed in close proximity to non-deposit products.
Despite its name, the digital sign is not required on advertisements, even digital advertisements, so digital and social media advertisements are not required to display the FDIC digital sign. Advertisements in all media will continue to use the āMember FDICā disclosure or the traditional FDIC logo.
The ATM requirements are for ATMs that accept deposits; machines that just dispense cash would not be ATMs for these purposes. The exact requirements for an ATM that does accept deposits will depend on whether the ATM also offers access to non-deposit products, such as investment accounts (again, not credit products). For now, an ATM that allows access to deposit products and does not offer access to non-deposit products can meet the requirements by either displaying a physical sign posted to the ATM or by displaying the FDIC digital sign clearly, conspicuously, and continuously on the home page, each transaction screen, and any screen relating to deposits. If the ATM also offers access to non-deposit products, each ATM page or screen relating to non-deposit products must clearly, conspicuously, and continuously display the non-deposit disclosures.
ATMs that are put into service after January 1, 2025 will be required to display the digital sign rather than have a posted sign, but the rule will not retroactively apply to ATMs put into service prior to January 1 even though they continue to be used after that date.
Banks looking for additional information on how the rule changes apply to them can also check out the FDICās presentation slide decks from webinars about the changes. As always, Compliance Allianceās Hotline is also available to answer our membersā questions about this and any other compliance concerns you may have.