(a) Definitions.
(1) Agreement. For purposes of this section, “agreement” or “prepaid account agreement”
means the written document or documents evidencing the terms of the
legal obligation, or the prospective legal obligation, between a prepaid
account issuer and a consumer for a prepaid account. “Agreement” or
“prepaid account agreement” also includes fee information, as defined
in paragraph (a)(3) of this section.
(2) Amends. For purposes of this section,
an issuer “amends” an agreement if it makes a substantive change (an
“amendment”) to the agreement. A change is substantive if it alters
the rights or obligations of the issuer or the consumer under the
agreement. Any change in the fee information, as defined in paragraph
(a)(3) of this section, is deemed to be substantive.
(3) Fee information. For purposes of this section, “fee information” means the short
form disclosure for the prepaid account pursuant to section 1005.18(b)(2)
and the fee information and statements required to be disclosed in
the pre-acquisition long form disclosure for the prepaid account pursuant
to section 1005.18(b)(4).
(4) Issuer. For purposes of this section, “issuer”
or “prepaid account issuer” means the entity to which a consumer is
legally obligated, or would be legally obligated, under the terms
of a prepaid account agreement.
(5) Offers. For purposes of this section,
an issuer “offers” an agreement if the issuer markets, solicits applications
for, or otherwise makes available a prepaid account that would be
subject to that agreement, regardless of whether the issuer offers
the prepaid account to the general public.
(6) Offers to
the general public. For purposes of this section, an issuer “offers
to the general public” an agreement if the issuer markets, solicits
applications for, or otherwise makes available to the general public
a prepaid account that would be subject to that agreement.
(7) Open account. For purposes of this section, a prepaid account is an “open account”
or “open prepaid account” if: There is an outstanding balance in the
account; the consumer can load funds to the account even if the account
does not currently hold a balance; or the consumer can access credit
from a covered separate credit feature accessible by a hybrid prepaid-credit
card as defined in Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.61, in connection with
the account. A prepaid account that has been suspended temporarily
(for example, due to a report by the consumer of unauthorized use
of the card) is considered an “open account” or “open prepaid account.”
(8) Prepaid
account. For purposes of this section, “prepaid account” means
a prepaid account as defined in section 1005.2(b)(3).
(b) Submission of agreements to the
Bureau.
(1) Submissions on a rolling basis. An issuer
must make submissions of prepaid account agreements to the Bureau
on a rolling basis, in the form and manner specified by the Bureau.
Rolling submissions must be sent to the Bureau no later than 30 days
after an issuer offers, amends, or ceases to offer any prepaid account
agreement as described in paragraphs (b)(1)(ii) through (iv) of this
section. Each submission must contain:
(i) Identifying information about the
issuer and the agreements submitted, including the issuer’s name,
address, and identifying number (such as an RSSD ID number or tax
identification number), the effective date of the prepaid account
agreement, the name of the program manager, if any, and the list of
names of other relevant parties, if applicable (such as the employer
for a payroll card program or the agency for a government benefit
program);
(ii) Any prepaid account
agreement offered by the issuer that has not been previously submitted
to the Bureau;
(iii) Any prepaid
account agreement previously submitted to the Bureau that has been
amended, as described in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section; and
(iv) Notification regarding any
prepaid account agreement previously submitted to the Bureau that
the issuer is withdrawing, as described in paragraphs (b)(3), (b)(4)(ii),
and (b)(5)(ii) of this section.
(2) Amended agreements.
(i) Submission of amended agreements generally. If a prepaid account agreement previously submitted to the Bureau
is amended, the issuer must submit the entire amended agreement to
the Bureau, in the form and manner specified by the Bureau, no later
than 30 days after the change becomes effective. If other identifying
information about the issuer and its submitted agreements pursuant
to paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section previously submitted to the
Bureau is amended, the issuer must submit updated information to the
Bureau, in the form and manner specified by the Bureau, no later than
30 days after the change becomes effective.
(ii) Submission
of updated list of names of other relevant parties. Notwithstanding
paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section, an issuer may delay submitting
a change to the list of names of other relevant parties to a particular
agreement until the earlier of:
(A) Such time as the issuer is otherwise submitting
an amended agreement or changes to other identifying information about
the issuer and its submitted agreements pursuant to paragraph (b)(1)(i)
of this section; or
(B) May 1 of each
year, for any up dates to the list of names of other relevant
parties for that agreement that occurred between the issuer’s last
submission of relevant party information and April 1 of that year.
(3) Withdrawal of agreements no longer offered. If an issuer no longer offers a prepaid account agreement that was
previously submitted to the Bureau, the issuer must notify the Bureau,
in the form and manner specified by the Bureau, no later than 30 days
after the issuer ceases to offer the agreement, that it is withdrawing
the agreement.
(4) De minimis exception.
(i) An issuer is not required to
submit any prepaid account agreements to the Bureau if the issuer
has fewer than 3,000 open prepaid accounts. If the issuer has 3,000
or more open prepaid accounts as of the last day of the calendar quarter,
the issuer must submit to the Bureau its prepaid account agreements
no later than 30 days after the last day of that calendar quarter.
(ii) If an issuer that did not
previously qualify for the de minimis exception newly qualifies for
the de minimis exception, the issuer must continue to make submissions
to the Bureau on a rolling basis until the issuer notifies the Bureau
that the issuer is withdrawing all agreements it previously submitted
to the Bureau.
(5) Product testing exception.
(i) An issuer is not required to
submit a prepaid account agreement to the Bureau if the agreement
meets the criteria set forth in paragraphs (b)(5)(i)(A) through (C)
of this section. If the agreement fails to meet the criteria set forth
in paragraphs (b)(5)(i)(A) through (C) of this section as of the last
day of the calendar quarter, the issuer must submit to the Bureau
that prepaid account agreement no later than 30 days after the last
day of that calendar quarter. An agreement qualifies for the product
testing exception if the agreement:
(A) Is offered as part of a product test offered
to only a limited group of consumers for a limited period of time;
(B) Is used for fewer than 3,000 open
prepaid accounts; and
(C) Is not offered
other than in connection with such a product test.
(ii) If an agreement that did not
previously qualify for the product testing exception newly qualifies
for the exception, the issuer must continue to make submissions to
the Bureau on a rolling basis with respect to that agreement until
the issuer notifies the Bureau that the issuer is withdrawing the
agreement.
(6) Form and content of agreements submitted to
the Bureau.
(i) Form and content generally.
(A) Each agreement must
contain the provisions of the agreement and the fee information currently
in effect.
(B) Agreements must not
include any personally identifiable information relating to any consumer,
such as name, address, telephone number, or account number.
(C) The following are not deemed to be part
of the agreement for purposes of this section, and therefore are not
required to be included in submissions to the Bureau:
(1)
Ancillary disclosures required by state or Federal law, such as affiliate
marketing notices, privacy policies, or disclosures under the E-Sign
Act;
(2) Solicitation or marketing
materials;
(3) Periodic statements;
and
(4) Documents that may
be sent to the consumer along with the prepaid account or prepaid
account agreement such as a cover letter, a validation sticker on
the card, or other information about card security.
(D) Agreements must be presented in a
clear and legible font.
(ii) Fee information. Fee information must be set forth either in the prepaid account
agreement or in addenda to that agreement that attach either or both
the short form disclosure for the prepaid account pursuant to section
1005.18(b)(2) and the fee information and statements required
to be disclosed in the long form disclosure for the prepaid account
pursuant to section 1005.18(b)(4). The agreement or addenda thereto
must contain all of the fee information, as defined by paragraph (a)(3)
of this section.
(iii) Integrated agreement. An issuer may not
provide provisions of the agreement or fee information to the Bureau
in the form of change-in-terms notices or riders (other than the optional
fee information addenda described in paragraph (b)(6)(ii) of this
section). Changes in provisions or fee information must be integrated
into the text of the agreement, or the optional fee information addenda,
as appropriate.
(c) Posting of agreements offered to the general
public.
(1) An issuer
must post and maintain on its publicly available Web site any prepaid
account agreements offered to the general public that the issuer is
required to submit to the Bureau under paragraph (b) of this section.
(2) Agreements posted pursuant to
this paragraph (c) must conform to the form and content requirements
for agreements submitted to the Bureau set forth in paragraph (b)(6)
of this section.
(3) The issuer
must post and update the agreements posted on its Web site pursuant
to this paragraph (c) as frequently as the issuer is required to submit
new or amended agreements to the Bureau pursuant to paragraph (b)(2)(i)
of this section.
(4) Agreements
posted pursuant to this paragraph (c) may be posted in any electronic
format that is readily usable by the general public. Agreements must
be placed in a location that is prominent and readily accessible to
the public and must be accessible without submission of personally
identifiable information.
(d) Agreements for all open accounts.
(1) Availability
of an individual consumer’s prepaid account agreement. With respect
to any open prepaid account, an issuer must either:
(i) Post and maintain the consumer’s
agreement on its Web site; or
(ii) Promptly provide a copy of the consumer’s agreement to the consumer
upon the consumer’s request. If the issuer makes an agreement available
upon request, the issuer must provide the consumer with the ability
to request a copy of the agreement by telephone. The issuer must send
to the consumer a copy of the consumer’s prepaid account agreement
no later than five business days after the issuer receives the consumer’s
request.
(2) Form and content of agreements.
(i) Except as
provided in this paragraph (d), agreements posted on the issuer’s
Web site pursuant to paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section or sent to
the consumer upon the consumer’s request pursuant to paragraph (d)(1)(ii)
of this section must conform to the form and content requirements
for agreements submitted to the Bureau as set forth in paragraph (b)(6)
of this section.
(ii) If the
issuer posts an agreement on its Web site under paragraph (d)(1)(i)
of this section, the agreement may be posted in any electronic format
that is readily usable by the general public and must be placed in
a location that is prominent and readily accessible to the consumer.
(iii) Agreements posted or otherwise
provided pursuant to this paragraph (d) may contain personally identifiable
information relating to the consumer, such as name, address, telephone
number, or account number, provided that the issuer takes appropriate
measures to make the agreement accessible only to the consumer or
other authorized persons.
(iv)
Agreements posted or otherwise provided pursuant to this paragraph
(d) must set forth the specific provisions and fee information applicable
to the particular consumer.
(v)
Agreements posted pursuant to paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section
must be updated as frequently as the issuer is required to submit
amended agreements to the Bureau pursuant to paragraph (b)(2)(i) of
this section. Agreements provided upon consumer request pursuant to paragraph
(d)(1)(ii) of this section must be accurate as of the date the agreement
is sent to the consumer.
(vi)
Agreements provided upon consumer request pursuant to paragraph (d)(1)(ii)
of this section must be provided by the issuer in paper form, unless
the consumer agrees to receive the agreement electronically.
(e) E-Sign Act requirements. Except as otherwise provided in this section, issuers may provide
prepaid account agreements in electronic form under paragraphs (c)
and (d) of this section without regard to the consumer notice and
consent requirements of section 101(c) of the Electronic Signatures
in Global and National Commerce Act (E-Sign Act) (15 U.S.C. 7001 et seq.).
(f) Initial submission
date. The requirements of this section apply to prepaid accounts
beginning on April 1, 2019. An issuer must submit to the Bureau no
later than May 1, 2019 all prepaid account agreements it offers as
of April 1, 2019.
