Advertising “free” accounts with a fee for paper statements

I spent all of last week in Arlington with my team and a ballroom full of compliance professionals at our 2023 Regulatory Compliance School.  It was a great time, and I want to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to our new group of NCCOs!

However, I’m glad to be home!  I missed my husband, our new puppy, and my bed (and not necessarily in that order).  By the way – meet Maple!  Isn’t she the cutest?

At School last week, I presented on NCUA’s Truth in Savings rule, and I received an interesting question that I had seen a while before.  So, I wanted to take this opportunity to share this information out with all of our dear readers, since it is a repeat.  The question asked was: Can I call an account “free” if there are no fees associated with the account so long as the member signs up for electronic statements, but there would be a fee imposed for paper statements?

Unfortunately, there is not an explicit answer for this one.  However, the regulators are definitely leaning more toward one direction.

 

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