SECTION 229.57—Consumer
Awareness
A. 229.57(a) General Disclosure
Requirement and Content 1. A bank must provide
the disclosure required by section 229.57 under two circumstances.
First, each bank must provide the disclosure to each of its consumer
customers who receives paid checks with his or her account statement.
This requirement does not apply if the bank provides with the account
statement something other than paid original checks, paid substitute
checks, or a combination thereof. For example, this requirement would
not apply if a bank provided with the account statement only a document
that contained multiple check images per page. Second, a bank also
must provide the disclosure when it (a) provides a substitute check
to a consumer in response to that consumer’s request for a check or
check copy or (b) returns a substitute check to a consumer depositor.
A bank must provide the disclosure each time it provides a substitute
check to a consumer on an occasional basis, regardless of whether
the bank previously provided the disclosure to that consumer.
2. A bank may, but is not required
to, use the model disclosure in appendix C-5A to satisfy the disclosure-content
requirements of this section. A bank that uses the model language
is deemed to comply with the disclosure-content requirement(s) for
which it uses the model language, provided the information in the
disclosure accurately describes the bank’s policies and practices.
A bank also may include in its disclosure additional information relating
to substitute checks that is not required by this section.
3. A bank may, by agreement or at
the consumer’s request, provide the disclosure required by this section
in a language other than English, provided that the bank makes a complete
English notice available at the consumer’s request.
9-580.2
1. A consumer may request a check or a copy of a check on an occasional
basis, such as to prove that he or she made a particular payment.
A bank that responds to the consumer’s request by providing a substitute
check must provide the required disclosure at the time of the consumer’s
request if feasible. Otherwise, the bank must provide the disclosure
no later than the time at which the bank provides a substitute check
in response to the consumer’s request. It would not be feasible for
a bank to provide notice to the consumer at the time of the request
if, for example, the bank did not know at the time of the request
whether it would provide a substitute check in response to that request,
regardless of the form of the consumer’s request. It also would not
be feasible for a bank to provide notice at the time of the request
if the consumer’s request was mailed to the bank or made by telephone,
even if the bank knew when it received the request that it would provide
a substitute check in response. A bank’s provision to the consumer
of something other a substitute check, such as a photocopy of a check
or a statement containing images of multiple substitute checks per
page, does not trigger the notice requirement.
2. A consumer who does not routinely receive
paid checks might receive a returned substitute check. For example,
a consumer deposits an original check that is payable to him or her
into his or her deposit account. The paying bank returns the check
unpaid and the depositary bank returns the check to the depositor
in the form of a substitute check. A depositary bank that provides
a returned substitute check to a consumer depositor must provide the
substitute check disclosure at that time.
