How Your Bank can Benefit From Reg E Changes

Over the last several years, institutions have seen tremendous growth from fee income. Recent legislative changes will severely impact that income in the very near future. What’s worse, though, is how these changes designed to help the customer COULD potentially cost you many customers if you don’t have a plan.

The impending changes to Reg E requiring opt-in for overdraft protection could put many of your customers in a bad place by denying point of sale purchases and embarrassing them. They will most certainly blame your institution for their situation, and not the government or their failure to opt-in. So, do you have a plan to deal with these calls that will no doubt be coming your way?

Here are five things you should be doing right now:

1. Contact your customers – Call your customers and explain the Reg E situation in terms they can understand by giving an example of what might happen in the grocery store should they overdraft their account. Use real life examples.
2. Cross-sell Opportunity – Use this opportunity to have a discussion with the customer about their relationship with your bank and their financial needs.
3. Educate your customer on the new regulation. In addition to calling your customers, put notifications in the branch, ATM, web banking as well as via direct mail.
4. For banks not participating in Reg E, are you using this as an opportunity to call your customers? Call them and tell them that you are not participating in this Reg and what that means to them.
5. Evaluate new technology to help your tellers manage Reg E. Quest’s Teller Referral Assistant® software was created specifically for banks running Fiserv, FIS, Metavante, Jack Henry and OSI and can help tellers view and update the Reg E indicators without leaving the teller application.

Check out the full article at http://www.quest-analytics.com/sdarticles/sd201007-01.asp