Do we get a break when advertising on Mobile devices?

• Author: Pry, Carl G.
• Position: MARKETING COMPLIANCE

So when bankers consider how to advertise on mobile devices such as cell phones and tablets, the question of whether there any exceptions from disclosure requirements should not be surprising. There are no such excep-tions; advertising on a mobile phone or tablet must be handled the same way it is on a bank's website or other form of electronic media.

For example, if a bank wishes to promote mortgage loans via a specially formatted ad that will appear on a consumer's mobile phone browser (or via the bank's app), the Equal Housing Lender logo and advertising state-ment must also appear. The consumer may have to scroll down to see it, but it must be present in the ad regardless of the platform (and it must be legible, which can definitely present a challenge). But with screen sizes of cell phones approaching the size of peoples' heads, maybe that's not as much of a problem as we feared.

The same goes for "Member FDIC" on an insured deposit account ad and the Nondeposit Investment Product disclosures for non-FDIC covered products such as mutual funds and insurance. Again, there are no exceptions written into any of those rules.

Linking to required disclosures

There is a provision that applies to all electronic media (whether on the Web, social media, cell phone or otherwise) that comes in very handy: the ability to link to required disclosures under Regulations Z (consumer-purpose loans) and DD (consumer deposit accounts). If the ad contains any terms that trigger additional disclosure, the bank may provide "a link that directly takes the consumer to the additional information." The disclosures must be one click away. When space is scarce, this provision is most welcome. Again, as long as this link takes the user directly the necessary...