§ 229.16 - Specific availability policy disclosure.

§ 229.16 Specific availability policy disclosure.

(a) General. To meet the requirements of a specific availability policy disclosure under §§ 229.17 and 229.18(d), a bank shall provide a disclosure describing the bank's policy as to when funds deposited in an account are available for withdrawal. The disclosure must reflect the policy followed by the bank in most cases. A bank may impose longer delays on a case-by-case basis or by invoking one of the exceptions in § 229.l3, provided this is reflected in the disclosure.

(b) Content of specific availability policy disclosure. The specific availability policy disclosure shall contain the following, as applicable -

(1) A summary of the bank's availability policy;

(2) A description of any categories of deposits or checks used by the bank when it delays availability (such as local or nonlocal checks); how to determine the category to which a particular deposit or check belongs; and when each category will be available for withdrawal (including a description of the bank's business days and when a deposit is considered received);^[1]

(3) A description of any of the exceptions in § 229.13 that may be invoked by the bank, including the time following a deposit that funds generally will be available for withdrawal and a statement that the bank will notify the customer if the bank invokes one of the exceptions;

(4) A description, as specified in paragraph (c)(1) of this section, of any case-by-case policy of delaying availability that may result in deposited funds being available for withdrawal later than the time periods stated in the bank's availability policy; and

(5) A description of how the customer can differentiate between a proprietary and a nonproprietary ATM, if the bank makes funds from deposits at nonproprietary ATMs available for withdrawal later than funds from deposits at proprietary ATMs.

(c) Longer delays on a case-by-case basis -

(1) Notice in specific policy disclosure. A bank that has a policy of making deposited funds available for withdrawal sooner than required by this subpart may extend the time when funds are available up to the time periods allowed under this subpart on a case-by-case basis, provided the bank includes the following in its specific policy disclosure -

(i) A statement that the time when deposited funds are available for withdrawal may be extended in some cases, and the latest time following a deposit that funds will be available for withdrawal;

(ii) A statement that the bank will notify the customer if funds deposited in the customer's account will not be available for withdrawal until later than the time periods stated in the bank's availability policy; and

(iii) A statement that customers should ask if they need to be sure about when a particular deposit will be available for withdrawal.

(2) Notice at time of case-by-case delay -

(i) In general. When a depositary bank extends the time when funds will be available for withdrawal on a case-by-case basis, it must provide the depositor with a written notice. The notice shall include the following information -

(A) A number or code, which need not exceed four digits, that identifies the customer's account.

(B) The date of the deposit;

(C) The amount of the deposit that is being delayed; and

(D) The day the funds will be available for withdrawal.

(ii) Timing of notice. The notice shall be provided to the depositor at the time of the deposit, unless the deposit is not made in person to an employee of the depositary bank or the decision to extend the time when the deposited funds will be available is made after the time of the deposit. If notice is not given at the time of the deposit, the depositary bank shall mail or deliver the notice to the customer not later than the first business day following the banking day the deposit is made.

(3) Overdraft and returned check fees. A depositary bank that extends the time when funds will be available for withdrawal on a case-by-case basis and does not furnish the depositor with written notice at the time of deposit shall not assess any fees for any subsequent overdrafts (including use of a line of credit) or return of checks or other debits to the account, if -

(i) The overdraft or return of the check or other debit would not have occurred except for the fact that the deposited funds were delayed under paragraph (c)(1) of this section; and

(ii) The deposited check was paid by the paying bank.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the depositary bank may assess an overdraft or returned check fee if it includes a notice concerning overdraft and returned check fees with the notice required in paragraph (c)(2) of this section and, when required, refunds any such fees upon the request of the customer. The notice must state that the customer may be entitled to a refund of overdraft or returned check fees that are assessed if the check subject to the delay is paid and how to obtain a refund.

(d) Credit union notice of interest payment policy. If a bank described in § 229.2(e)(4) begins to accrue interest or dividends on all deposits made in an interest-bearing account, including cash deposits, at a later time than the day specified in § 229.14(a), the bank's specific policy disclosures shall contain an explanation of when interest or dividends on deposited funds begin to accrue.

[53 FR 19433, May 27, 1988, as amended at 53 FR 31292, Aug. 18, 1988; 53 FR 44324, Nov. 2, 1988; Reg. CC, 54 FR 13850, Apr. 6, 1989; 60 FR 51671, Oct. 3, 1995; Reg. CC, 62 FR 13810, Mar. 24, 1997; 69 FR 47311, Aug. 4, 2004]

Footnotes - 229.16

^[1] A bank that distinguishes in its disclosure between local and nonlocal checks based on the routing number on the check must disclose that certain checks, such as some credit union share drafts that are payable by one bank but payable through another bank, will be treated as local or nonlocal checks based upon the location of the bank by which they are payable and not on the basis of the location of the bank whose routing number appears on the check. A bank that makes funds from nonlocal checks available for withdrawal within the time periods required for local checks under §§ 229.12 and 229.13 is not required to provide this disclosure on payable-through checks to its customers. The statement concerning payable-through checks must describe how the customer can determine whether these checks will be treated as local or nonlocal, or state that special rules apply to such checks and that the customer may ask about the availability of these checks.