Do Any TCPA Exemptions Exist for Financial Institutions?

TCPA exemptions allow financial institutions and some non-profits to contact consumers without consent, though strict rules must be followed regardless of exemptions. It helps to know the law to recognize TCPA violations by financial institutions.

What Is the TCPA?

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a federal law which limits the way that businesses can contact consumers with telemarketing texts, calls, and faxes. In order to place these robocalls and automated texts, businesses must have express prior written consent. Even an established business relationship does not shirk this requirement.

In addition to requiring consent before robocalls, the TCPA established the National Do Not Call Registry. This registry is a national list of phone numbers which should not be contacted with telemarketing offers. Once a consumer registers their number with the DNC Registry, businesses have 31 days to comply with the request.

Under the TCPA, consumers are able to take legal action against robocalls, spam texts, and junk faxes. The law allows plaintiffs to collect up to $1,500 in statutory damages for willful violation of the law and up to $500 in damages for negligent violations. If a company violates the law with multiple calls or texts, these damages can quickly add up.

Are There TCPA Exemptions?

Although the TCPA universally protects consumers from robocalls, there are exceptions to the law. For example, calls or texts from a government agency about an emergency or calls from a doctor’s office are not considered robocalls and are therefore allowed under the TCPA. Similarly,

The Do Not Call Registry also allows certain phone calls such as political calls, charitable calls, debt collection calls, informational calls, and surveys.

Generally, several requirements have to be met for a financial institution’s call to be legal under TCPA. This includes the following:

• Time Sensitive: Generally, the financial institution exemption from TCPA aims to allow banks and other companies to send time-sensitive messages to their customers to inform them of financial matters.
• Free: Calls made to consumers by financial institutions must not cost anything for their customers. This means that no legal call or text should count against a customer’s cellular plan.
• Provided Numbers: Financial institutions are required to send calls and texts only to the phone number which they were given by the customer. If a work phone or alternative number was not given, these numbers cannot be used to reach the customers.
• Protected Numbers: Emergency or toll-free numbers cannot be contacted unless the called party has given prior express written consent – similar to the base TCPA requirements.
• No Marketing: Even if a call falls under exemption categories, it cannot legally contain a sales pitch otherwise it is considered a robocall.
• Debt Collection: Calls made for debt collection purposes may be subject to additional regulations such as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Have Financial Institutions Been Hit With TCPA Lawsuits?

Although TCPA exemptions may allow financial institutions to contact their customers legally, not all calls from financial institutions are allowed. In some cases, these calls can spark legal action under the TCPA. For example, in 2019, three plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against JP Morgan Chase Bank alleging that the bank made repeated phone calls even after they asked for the calls to stop.

Some of these cases have resulted in significant payouts. In July, a New York woman won an award of $232,500 from a court judge. The court awarded the woman $500 for each of the 465 robocalls she allegedly received over the course of only six months. The award followed positive decisions from a court arbitrator, a panel of arbitrators, and even a federal magistrate judge.

Larger settlements have also been reached in TCPA class action lawsuits against banks. HSBC Bank previously agreed to pay $2.4 million to resolve allegations that they violated TCPA with spam robocalls. Under the terms of the settlement, Class Members were estimated to receive around $92 if they submitted a valid claim form with the settlement administrator.

“The court finds that the Settlement Agreement is fair, adequate and reasonable, appears to be the product of arm’s-length and informed negotiations, and treats all members of the class fairly,” the settlement motion for preliminary approval stated.

Can I File A TCPA Lawsuit?

Even with TCPA exemptions allowing certain communications from banks and other financial institutions, you may be able to take legal action against banks which violated the federal law with unsolicited telemarketing calls and texts. An experienced TCPA attorney can help evaluate your case to determine your eligibility to recover significant compensation.