For Details, Contact:
External Affairs
email: pacamail@ncua.gov
Fax: (703) 518-6409

FCU “Red Flags” Rule in Effect November 1; Compliance Assistance Available

October 31, 2008, Alexandria, Va. – The mandatory compliance date for NCUA’s rule under the Fair and Accurate Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act) on identity theft red flags and address discrepancies is November 1, 2008.  Under the rule, which became effective January 1, 2008, federal credit unions with covered accounts must have identity theft prevention programs to identify, detect, and respond to patterns, practices, or specific activities that could indicate identity theft (12 CFR §717.90). 

Federal credit unions must comply with the rule regarding address discrepancies applicable to users of consumer reports (12 CFR §717.91) and for federal credit unions who are card issuers to comply with the rule regarding change of addresses (12 CFR §717.82).  

To assist credit unions in compliance:

1. NCUA will be issuing an examiner checklist to review for compliance during exams which will be sent via express to all credit unions early next week.
 

2. NCUA examiners will be reviewing federal credit unions’ compliance with the  
   Identity Theft Red Flags and Address Discrepancies rule as part of NCUA’s
   normal examination process.  For those federal credit unions not in compliance,
   examiners will consider the credit union’s progress and compliance efforts to date
   when developing appropriate plans for implementation.

The National Credit Union Administration is the independent federal agency that regulates, charters and supervises federal credit unions. NCUA, with the backing of the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, insuring the deposits of nearly 89 million accounts in all federal credit unions and the overwhelming majority of state-chartered credit unions.

-NCUA-