The FDIC recently issued notice of a new proposed rule that would affect all insured banks. The FDIC is concerned that depositors receive misleading and sometimes incorrect information from tellers and others regarding insurance coverage of deposits. To combat what the FDIC sees as a potential financial harm to depositors, the FDIC wants to pass this three-part rule. The FDIC intends for this rule to promote public confidence in deposit insurance by providing depositors with improved access to accurate information about FDIC insurance coverage of their accounts at insured financial institutions.
The first part of the rule would require all employees with authority to open deposit accounts and/or respond to customer inquiries about their accounts to complete a free, computer-based course put on by the FDIC. Employees would have to complete the course at least once a year. The second part of the rule would require employees who are opening a deposit account to ask depositors if they have other accounts at the same bank. If the depositors answer in the affirmative then the employee must ask if the accounts total more than the then maximum amount that is insured by the FDIC, currently $250,000. If the depositors answer yes to this second question, then the employee must give the depositors a copy of the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Summary publication. The employee must follow this part of the rule regardless of whether the depositors open an account in person, through the mail, by telephone or via the internet. The rule also applies to all depositors, including businesses and individuals, with the exception of pass-through accounts where the bank would not normally know the beneficiaries of the accounts. The final part of the rule simply requires all banks to add a link to the FDIC’s EDIE on the bank’s website.
The rule is still in the proposal stage. A link to the rule can be found here: http://www.fdic.gov/news/board/2011rule3.pdf.
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