Updates Help Ensure Continued Access to Remittance Transfers for Community Bank Customers

Washington, D.C. (May 1, 2013)— The Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) today expressed its support for the revisions to theConsumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) final rule on remittance transfers. The CFPB issued several updates to the rule to help smaller remittance transfer providers such as community banks continue to offer these services.

"ICBA is glad the CFPB addressed the community banking industry's concerns with this latest rule on remittance transfers," ICBA President and CEO Camden R. Fine said. "As previously written, the CFPB’s rule would have posed unnecessary compliance challenges to Main Street institutions. The revisions reflect the operational realities of community banks and will help ensure that their customers continue to have access to remittance services."

Under the CFPB’s revisions, a requirement that providers disclose foreign taxes or fees imposed by a recipient institution for receiving transfers into an account has been made optional. Additionally, when funds are deposited into the wrong account because the customer provided an incorrect account number or recipient institution identifier, and certain other conditions are satisfied, the provider would be required to attempt to recover the funds but would not bear the cost of funds that cannot be recovered. Finally, the proposed 90-day implementation period was extended to 180 days.

The final rule responds to concerns articulated by ICBA in a February comment letter, which encouraged the CFPB to:

• replace the recipient bank fee disclosure with a statement that recipient institution fees "may apply,"
• replace the disclosure of foreign taxes with a statement that foreign taxes "may apply,"
• revise the error-resolution and liability provisions to ensure that the customer should be responsible for the accuracy of all routing and account crediting information they provide, not just account numbers, and
• extend the implementation period to give smaller financial institutions sufficient time to comply with the final rule.

For more information, visit www.icba.org.

About ICBA 
The Independent Community Bankers of America®, the nation’s voice for nearly 7,000 community banks of all sizes and charter types, is dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of the community banking industry and its membership through effective advocacy, best-in-class education and high-quality products and services. For more information, visit www.icba.org.