A new sign of federal bank deposit insurance coverage for digital display purposes was approved for industry use late Wednesday by the board of insurance agency late Wednesday.
The new sign is intended to be used on digital channels, such as bank websites and mobile applications, through which depositors are increasingly handling their banking needs, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) said in a release.
Meanwhile, the long-used gold and black physical sign – typically displayed on the doors of insured banks and at teller stations – will continue to be used on those locations.
The new, black and navy-blue digital sign – shown just below – was adopted as part of a final rule to modernize the governing use of the official FDIC signs and advertising statements, and to clarify the FDIC’s regulations regarding false advertising, misrepresentations of deposit insurance coverage, and misuse of the FDIC’s name or logo, the agency said.
Beginning in 2025, the agency said, banks will be required to display the FDIC official digital sign near the name of the bank on all bank websites and mobile applications. Banks also will be required to display the FDIC official digital sign on certain automated teller machines, FDIC added.
The FDIC said that the final rule also modernizes requirements for display of the FDIC official, sign in bank branches and other physical premises to account for “evolving designs of bank branches and other physical bank locations where customers make deposits.”
Signs are required under the final rule to differentiate insured deposits from non–deposit products across banking channels, the FDIC said, and to indicate that certain financial products “are not insured by the FDIC, are not deposits, and may lose value.”
“The final rule clarifies the FDIC’s regulations regarding misrepresentations of deposit insurance coverage by addressing specific scenarios where a person, including a non–bank entity, provides information to consumers that may be misleading, confuse consumers as to whether they are doing business with a bank, and whether their funds are protected by deposit insurance,” the agency said in a release.” For example, the final rule clarifies that FDIC–associated terms or images may not be used in marketing and advertising materials to inaccurately imply or represent that any uninsured financial product or non–bank entity is insured or guaranteed by the FDIC.”
The changes made by the final rule take effect April 1, with an extended compliance date of Jan. 1, 2025, the agency said.