Regulation E: Protection for Consumer Electronic Financial Transactions
When money moves at the speed of a tap or click, it's crucial to have a set of rules ensuring your electronic transactions are safe, transparent, and fair. Enter Regulation E, a regulation that covers electronic fund transfers (EFTs) such as:
Basically, any transaction initiated electronically that affects your bank account falls under Regulation E, which:
- ATM withdrawals
- Online bill payments
- Swiping a card at checkout
- Direct deposits and social security payments
- Transferring funds through apps
Basically, any transaction initiated electronically that affects your bank account falls under Regulation E, which:
- Sets ground rules: It establishes clear rights, responsibilities, and liabilities for both consumers and financial institutions involved in EFTs.
- Protects consumer rights: It ensures they have access to important information about their accounts, the ability to dispute errors, and protect against unauthorized transactions.
IPA on Reg E
The CFPB's Final Rule for Prepaid Accounts under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (Regulation E) and the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z), extends Regulation E coverage to several prepaid account products. As a result, prepaid account products must comply with a number of regulatory obligations including the provision of account opening disclosures, offering limited liability and error resolution protection, and providing periodic statements or transaction histories to account holders. The IPA worked with the CFPB throughout its rulemaking process to implement a number of positive changes to the Prepaid Rule. While our members appreciate the changes the CFPB made to the Prepaid Rule in response to our concerns, the IPA supports making additional changes to the Prepaid Rule to help streamline it and ease the myriad compliance challenges it presents while still retaining critically important consumer protections. In particular, the IPA and its members support changes to the Prepaid Rule’s disclosure requirements, restrictions for credit offered in connection with a prepaid account, and definition of “business partner”.
| Full Statement on Summary of Remaining Issues with the CFPB's Prepaid Account Rule |