Banking Groups Press for FCC Action on TCPA Petition

The American Bankers Association and other financial groups asked the FCC to act on their petition seeking clarity that banks, credit unions and customer-facing financial service providers can use automatic telephone dialing systems, prerecorded messages and artificial voice for calls involving the COVID-19 pandemic without violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. “Financial institutions’ calls and text messages to offer payment deferrals and other loan modifications and to warn consumers of potential fraud on the consumer’s account protect and support consumers’ financial health and safety,” the groups said in reply comments posted Friday in docket 02-278. “These calls and texts clearly fall within the Emergency Purposes Exception.” Many credit unions "closed lobbies, keeping only drive-through facilities open, and reduced hours in an effort to protect the health and safety of their employees and members,” said the CrossState Credit Union Association, which supports the petition: “As a result of these changes, credit union members need to be notified when such changes have occurred.”