Question of the Week: Member Statements & NCUA Official Ad Statement
Posted: Jan 24, 2025 | Author:
Cornerstone Compliance Team
Question:
Does our credit union need to include the NCUA official advertising statement on member statements?
Answer:
NCUA Rules & Regulations, Section 740.5 covers the requirements for the official advertising statement. A portion of paragraph (a) states a credit union should include the official advertising statement in all its advertisements. Section 740.1 is written rather broadly and defines “advertisement” as “a commercial message, in any medium, that is designed to attract public attention or patronage to a product or business.”
Section 740.5(c) lists advertisements that do not need to include the official advertising statement. Member statements are not listed.
Some would say member statements are not “designed to attract public attention or patronage to a product of business,” since statements are being sent to existing members who already utilize those products.
One argument against including the official advertising statement is that member statements often include both deposit and loan information. One of the advertisements that is excluded in Section 740.5(c), paragraph (11), is “Advertisements that do not relate to member accounts, including but not limited to advertisements relating to loans by the credit union …”
Since there is no definitive answer, each credit union will need to make a risk-based decision as to whether they consider member statements advertisements.
The forms the official advertising statement can take are covered in Section 740.5(b). See that section for details.
