If your bank or credit union uses social media, then you have to comply with the disclosure laws by including the official advertising sign like member FDIC or federally insured by the NCUA. As a social media lawyer that specializes in social media compliance for banks or social media compliance for credit unions, I’m here to tell you how you can comply with social media laws when you are promoting insured financial products on your bank or credit union social media profile. So, let’s get started.
Some banks and credit unions are confused as to when we have to use Member FDIC or Federally Insured by the NCUA. And you know what? It is pretty confusing. At the end of the day, the law says that you have to use those statements every time that you promote an insured product. So you don’t need to use the statement if you are showing your employees out in the community, doing something good and giving back for community service. Or if you’re wishing people, I don’t know, happy independence day, you don’t have to use the advertising statement. But on the other hand, if you’re promoting an insured product like a savings account, then you must use the official advertising statement on your post or else you are violating the law. Don’t just take my word for it. This is required by FFIEC social media guidance.
So now the question becomes, where do you place the advertising statement? Well, the law says a few things. First, you have to place the official advertising statement on the first page of your advertisement in a clear and conspicuous way and it must be at least in the same size as the smallest font of the ad. So how do you apply this to social media? A few different ways. First, if you have a Facebook page, you should be including member FDIC or the federally insured by the NCUA statement on your cover photo. Why? Because that is the first page that someone will see when they visit your bank or credit union social media profiles. This applies to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and even YouTube.
Now on Instagram, you can’t put the advertising statement in that small little bubble where you put your logo, but you can type it up there at the top of your bio. So that’s the first thing you need to do, but is that the only thing? No way.
Meaning when you promote an insured product on your social media profile, sometimes people will see it when they visit your social media profile, but usually they see it in their news feed. That’s where they get your posts scrolling down their page that promotes, let’s say, that savings account. So you also have to include the official advertising statement on the post itself. You could do it in either the text or you can put it in the image of your post, but it has to be front and center because that is considered the first page of the advertisement that people will see. Adding the statement in these places are required for social media compliance for banks or social media compliance for credit unions.
These are just a few tips on how your bank or credit union can comply with financial laws, regulations, and FFIEC social media guidance on social media, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Meaning every bank or credit union that uses social media must have a social media risk management program that complies with the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council social media guidance. Or you might be asking yourself, “Ethan, my bank or credit union uses social media, but we may not have a social media risk management program, or we may not know how the law applies to our social media use.” Well, never fear. The Social Media Law Firm is here.
At The Social Media Law Firm, we’ve helped hundreds of banks and credit unions learn about their social media risks and implemented solutions on how to manage them. We can help your financial institution by evaluating your level of risk and help you implement a social media risk management program that is tailored to your specific organizational needs in as little as three months.
Best of all, our social media compliance law firm works on a fixed monthly retainer – so you know exactly how much it will cost to get your social media risk management program in place and get all your marketing activities back online safely. Just contact us, and we’d be happy to schedule a free consultation.
For more legal tips, follow The Social Media Law Firm on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok – and feel free to comment with questions any anytime.
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