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In response to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) related to the rules and regulations implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), NAFCU's Elizabeth LaBerge shared the association's support of the agency's efforts to "establish and implement exemptions to the TCPA's consent requirement for important information that consumers need regarding their credit union accounts."

"Information about fraudulent activity, data breaches and available protections, and money transfers is important and timely information members need immediately, and these exemptions facilitate that communication," wrote LaBerge, NAFCU's senior regulatory counsel.

In the letter sent Monday, LaBerge highlighted the coronavirus pandemic to against a limitation on the amount of calls or texts sent under the financial institutions exemption.

"As we have seen since March, circumstances can change quickly, and government programs or relief may become available unexpectedly," noted LaBerge. "In particular, limiting the amount of calls that can be made on a monthly basis may severely curtail a credit union’s ability to get important information to its members in a timely manner."

LaBerge also highlighted that if the FCC includes an opt-out provision in the informational call exemption, it is important that the option be limited to the opt-out method provided by the bank or business.

Additionally, LaBerge reiterated NAFCU's call to exempt financial institutions, citing the increase of the amount of business activity consumers perform on their computers and phones due to the pandemic.

LaBerge also asked the agency to expand the exemption to allow for at least six communications over a one-week period immediately following a transaction flagged for fraud or a data breach and flagged that the text limit of 160 characters is too short.

NAFCU has actively worked with the FCC on efforts to modernize the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for many years, and will continue its advocacy to ensure credit unions can contact their members regarding important, time-sensitive information, without fear of frivolous litigation.

Last month, NAFCU reiterated its call for the agency to protect legitimate callers and ensure consumers receive important information following the FCC’s recent order and fourth further notice of proposed rulemaking (FNPR) on methods to target and eliminate unlawful robocalls in an initial comment letter following the issuance of the FNPR.

In addition, NAFCU also joined with other trade associations to provide comments on the FNPR and advocate to ensure legitimate callers can contact their members regarding important, time-sensitive information.