Social Media Compliance

In today’s online environment, banks and credit unions need to have a social media presence to be successful. But using these platforms can expose your financial institutions to serious social media legal risks. After all, your social media activity is subject to the same regulations that apply to the financial industry as a whole, including fair lending, anti-discrimination laws, and the FFIEC social media guidance.

 

Complying with these laws and regulations on social media can be tricky. While the laws that govern your social media activity have been around for many years, they don’t have clear guidelines on how they apply to social media. To complicate matters, social media sites like Facebook and Instagram change all the time, and there are so many new regulations being implemented that it’s hard to keep up. This leaves our banks and credit unions confused about what we can or cannot do online.

 

To make matters worse, if you don’t follow the laws and regulations that govern the banking industry on social media, you put your financial institution at risk. Serious risk. Failure to comply with social media laws and regulations will subject your bank to lawsuits, fines, regulatory scrutiny, cease and desist orders, damage to your reputation, and worst of all – losing your clients. Needless to say, these consequences can really “break the bank.”

 

How Does Your Financial Institution Use Social Media?

 

To help you avoid these painful repercussions, you need to understand how banking regulations apply to your financial institution’s social media use. Every bank and credit union use social media differently, so you have to understand the legal risks that apply to your unique social media activities.

 

For example, some banks use social media to advertise products and services such as credit cards, mortgages, or checking accounts. If this is part of your social media strategy, you’ll need to comply with the advertising laws governing the banking industry. Ask yourself:

 

• Whether you are properly using the applicable advertising notice, such as “Member FDIC” or “Federally Insured by the NCUA,” whenever you promote an insured product?

 

• If you meet all the disclosure requirements of the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z whenever you are promoting credit cards or loans in a post or advertisement?

 

• Whether you are complying with the Fair Housing Act by displaying the proper disclosures when promoting real estate-related products or services?

 

While many banks and credit unions use social media to promote their products, others will use social media to primarily engage with their community and share information and resources that will keep your financial institution top of mind. If you are using social media to engage with your community, you’ll need to comply with other banking regulations. Consider the following:

 

• Whether you are adequately monitoring your social media communications and timely responding to consumer inquiries as required by FFIEC social media guidance?

 

• If you are preserving your social media content on a regular basis as required by the Community Reinvestment Act using social media archiving tools?

 

• Whether you are properly protecting consumer data and maintain social media privacy policies that comply with the Bank Secrecy Act and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act?

 

Regardless of whether your financial institution’s social media strategy focuses on advertising products, engaging your community, or a mix of both – it’s critically important that you have a risk management program in place that protects you from social media risk in a manner that complies with FFIEC social media guidance.

 

So, how do you protect your financial institution from social media risk?

 

Your bank or credit union can’t afford to sit on the sidelines and not take advantage of social media. You need to identify the specific risks that you are facing and develop a plan to manage them. The Social Media Law Firm can conduct a social media risk assessment to determine your current level of compliance with regulations that govern the banking industry on social media. With our assessment in hand, you’ll have the tools you need to execute your social media strategies while eliminating social media legal risks.

 

By going through this step-by-step process with The Social Media Law Firm, you’ll be able to market your bank on social media with the confidence that you’re protected from social media risks. As experienced social media attorneys, we understand the complexities and frustrations you’re facing, and know how to get your financial institution back into compliance. We are the only law firm in the world that focuses exclusively on social media compliance for banks and social media compliance for credit unions.

 

Having conducted risks assessment and built risk management programs for banks and credit unions across the country, we can tell you exactly what you need and what your costs will be up front so that you can enjoy the peace of mind that everything is being handled correctly. Best of all, we work hand-in-hand with your marketing and compliance departments to make sure you can accomplish your marketing goals in a safe and compliant manner.

 

So, what are you waiting for? Contact us today to get your financial institution into compliance.