Regulation E implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), which establishes a basic framework of the rights, liabilities, and responsibilities of participants in the electronic fund and remittance transfer systems. Rulemaking authority under EFTA generally transferred from the Federal Reserve Board to the CFPB in July 2011 pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Act. The CFPB restated Regulation E at 12 CFR Part 1005 in December 2011.
Regulation E contains two subparts: A and B. Subpart A contains regulations that apply to electronic fund transfers (EFTs), prepaid accounts, gift cards and gift certificates. Subpart A’s regulations applicable to EFTs include disclosures, error resolution, and rules related to unauthorized EFTs. The regulations applicable to gift cards and certificates include disclosures, and limitations on fees and expiration dates. Subpart B to Regulation E contains rules regarding remittance transfers (the Remittance Rule). These rules provide for disclosure, error resolution, and cancellation rights.
In March 2013, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) issued a final rule amending subpart A to remove the requirement that a fee notice be posted on or at an ATM machine.
In October 2016, the Bureau issued two final rules amending Regulation E. The first rule established protections for consumers who use prepaid accounts. This rule has a separate Final Rule webpage. The second rule made certain clerical and non-substantive corrections to Regulation E.
In May 2020, the Bureau issued a final rule amending the Remittance Rule. The final rule added certain exceptions to the Remittance Rule and made changes to a safe harbor in the Remittance Rule that determined which entities were remittance transfer providers. This rule has a separate Final Rule webpage.
Final rules; amendments; official interpretations; corrections
Remittance Transfers under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (Regulation E) - June 5, 2020
- The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection is amending the Remittance Rule in Regulation E to provide tailored exceptions to address compliance challenges that insured institutions may face in certain circ*mstances upon the expiration of a statutory exception that allows insured institutions to disclose estimates instead of exact amounts to consumers. That exception expires on July 21, 2020. The final rule also increases a safe harbor threshold related to whether a person makes remittance transfers in the normal course of its business.
Treatment of Pandemic Relief Payments Under Regulation E and Application of the Compulsory Use Prohibition - Apr. 13, 2020
- The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection is issuing this interpretive rule to provide that certain relief payments related to the COVID-19 pandemic are not “government benefits” under Regulation E and EFTA and are therefore not subject to the compulsory use prohibition in EFTA, if certain conditions are met.
Rules Concerning Prepaid Accounts Under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (Regulation E) and the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z) - Jan. 25, 2018
- The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection is issuing this final rule to modify several aspects of the prepaid accounts rule and extending the overall effective date to April 1, 2019.
Prepaid Accounts Under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (Regulation E) and the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z); Delay of Effective Date - Apr. 20, 2017
- The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection is issuing this final rule to extend the Oct. 1, 2017 effective date of the prepaid accounts rule by six months, to April 1, 2018.
Prepaid Accounts Under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (Regulation E) and the Truth In Lending Act (Regulation Z) - Nov. 22, 2016
- The Bureau is issuing this final rule to create consumer protections for prepaid accounts under Regulation E, which implements EFTA; Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act; and the official interpretations to those regulations. Among other things, this final rule modifies general Regulation E requirements to create tailored provisions governing disclosures, limited liability and error resolution, and periodic statements, and adds new requirements regarding the posting of account agreements. It also makes several revisions to the Remittance Rule (subpart B of Regulation E).
Electronic fund transfers (Regulation E) - Oct. 12, 2016
- The Bureau is making certain clerical and non-substantive corrections to errors it has identified in Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.
Electronic fund transfers (Regulation E) - Sept. 18, 2014
- The Bureau is amending subpart B of Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the official interpretation to the regulation (Remittance Rule). This final rule extends a temporary provision that permits insured institutions to estimate certain pricing disclosures pursuant to section 1073 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Absent further action by the Bureau, that exception would have expired on July 21, 2015. Based on a determination that the termination of the exception would negatively affect the ability of insured institutions to send remittance transfers, the Bureau is extending the temporary exception by five years from July 21, 2015, to July 21, 2020. The Bureau is also making several clarifications and technical corrections to the regulation and commentary.
Electronic fund transfers (Regulation E); Correction - Aug. 14, 2013
- The Bureau is making a clarificatory amendment and technical correction to a final rule and official interpretation (the 2013 Final Rule) that appeared in the Federal Register on Wednesday, May 22, 2013, 78 FR 30662 . The 2013 Final Rule modifies the final rules issued by the Bureau in February, July, and August 2012 (collectively the 2012 Final Rule) that implement section 1073 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act regarding remittance transfers. This rule makes a clarificatory amendment and a technical correction to the 2013 Final Rule, which amends Regulation E.
Electronic fund transfers (Regulation E ) - May 22, 2013
- The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is amending its regulation which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the official interpretation to the regulation. This final rule (the 2013 Final Rule) modifies the final rules issued by the Bureau in February, July, and August 2012 (collectively the 2012 Final Rule) that implement section 1073 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act regarding remittance transfers. The amendments address three specific issues in the 2012 Final Rule: (1) the disclosure of fees imposed by a designated recipient’s institution; (2) the disclosure of third-party taxes; and (3) the error resolution provisions that apply when a remittance transfer is not delivered because the sender provided certain incorrect or insufficient information.
Electronic fund transfers (Regulation E) temporary delay of effective date - Jan. 29, 2013
- The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is issuing this final rule to delay the February 7, 2013, effective date of final rules published by the Bureau on February 7, 2012, and August 20, 2012 (collectively, 2012 Final Rule), that amend Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA). The 2012 Final Rule implements statutory requirements set forth in section 1073 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) regarding remittance transfers. The Bureau is delaying the effective date of the 2012 Final Rule pending the finalization of a proposal, published on December 31, 2012 (December 2012 Proposal), that would address three narrow issues in the 2012 Final Rule. The Bureau will determine the new effective date when it finalizes the December 2012 Proposal.
Electronic fund transfers (Regulation E) - Aug. 20, 2012
- The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection is amending Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the official interpretation to the regulation, which interprets the requirements of Regulation E. The final rule modifies a final rule published in February 2012 implementing section 1073 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act regarding remittance transfers. The final rule adopts a safe harbor with respect to the phrase “normal course of business” in the definition of “remittance transfer provider,” which determines whether a person is covered by the rule. The final rule also revises several aspects of the February 2012 final rule regarding remittance transfers that are scheduled before the date of transfer, including preauthorized remittance transfers.
Electronic fund transfers (Regulation E); correction - July 10, 2012
- The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is correcting a final rule with an official interpretation (Final Rule) that appeared in the Federal Register of February 7, 2012. The Final Rule provides new protections, including disclosures and error resolution and cancellation rights, to consumers who send remittance transfers to other consumers or businesses in a foreign country. The Final Rule inadvertently did not reflect certain technical and conforming changes made by an interim final rule published on December 27, 2011. The Final Rule also contained a technical error in the formatting of certain model forms. This document corrects the error and the formatting of the model forms.
Electronic fund transfers (Regulation E) - Feb. 7, 2012
- The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection is amending Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the official interpretation to the regulation, which interprets the requirements of Regulation E. The final rule provides new protections, including disclosures and error resolution and cancellation rights, to consumers who send remittance transfers to other consumers or businesses in a foreign country. The amendments implement statutory requirements set forth in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Electronic Fund Transfers (Regulation E) - Dec. 27, 2011
- Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) transferred rulemaking authority for a number of consumer financial protection laws from seven Federal agencies to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) as of July 21, 2011. The Bureau is in the process of republishing the regulations implementing those laws with technical and conforming changes to reflect the transfer of authority and certain other changes made by the Dodd-Frank Act. In light of the transfer of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System's (Board's) rulemaking authority for the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) to the Bureau, the Bureau is publishing for public comment an interim final rule establishing a new Regulation E (Electronic Fund Transfers). This interim final rule does not impose any new substantive obligations on persons subject to the existing Regulation E, previously published by the Board.
Proposed rules
84 FR 67132 - Dec. 6, 2019
82 FR 29630 - June 29, 2017
82 FR 13782 - Mar. 15, 2017
79 FR 77101 - Dec. 23, 2014
79 FR 28458 - May 16, 2014
79 FR 23234 - April 25, 2014
77 FR 77188 - Dec. 31, 2012
77 FR 6310 - Feb. 7, 2012
76 FR 29902 - May 23, 2011
Related documents
Request for Information Regarding Potential Changes to the Remittance Rule - Apr. 2019
- This request seeks information that may inform possible changes that would not eliminate, but would mitigate the effects of the expiration of an exception for certain financial institutions in the Remittance Rule. EFTA expressly limits the length of the exception to July 21, 2020 and does not authorize the Bureau to extend the term. The CFPB also seeks information related to the Rule's coverage, including whether to change a safe harbor that determines who is not required to comply, and whether a small financial institution exception may be appropriate.
Remittance Rule Assessment - Oct. 2018
- Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) to review some of its rules within five years after they take effect. These formal reviews are called assessments. The Bureau’s Remittance Rule took effect on Oct. 28, 2013, and this report publishes the findings of the Bureau’s assessment of the Remittance Rule. In its assessment, the Bureau used both its own research and external sources to evaluate the effectiveness of the Remittance Rule in meeting the purposes and objectives of the Bureau, and the specific goals of the Remittance Rule stated by the Bureau prior to the Rule’s effective date. Read the full report.
Defining Larger Participants of the International Money Transfer Market - Sept. 2014
- The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection is amending the regulation defining larger participants of certain consumer financial product and service markets by adding a new section to define larger participants of a market for international money transfers.
Remittance Rule Safe Harbor List - Nov. 2013
- On September 26, 2012 , the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) issued a safe harbor list of countries that qualify for an exception in subpart B of Regulation E, which implements EFTA, and published the list on its website. The Bureau is publishing the list, which is unchanged from the September 26, 2012 release, in the Federal Register.
