The Clock Is Ticking On The FDIC Logo Change.  Here's What You Need To Know.

On Wednesday, December 20th, 2023, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Board of Directors adopted a final rule to amend Part 328 of its regulations to modernize the rules governing the use of the official FDIC sign in advertising statements, specifically uses in digital and mobile channels. Among these changes, the FDIC also took time to clarify other parts of the regulation, including false advertising, misrepresentations of deposit insurance coverage, and misuse of the FDIC name and logo.  

Background on Part 328 

Part 328 describes the official sign of the FDIC and outlines its use by insured depository institutions. It also prescribes the official advertising statement insured depository institutions must include in their advertisements. From this regulation, the FDIC defined the “official sign” to be used and outlined display requirements for size (7″ by 3″) and coloring (black lettering and gold background). However, the FDIC also outlined in § 328.2 Display and Procurement of Official Sign that instead of displaying the official sign, an insured depository institution may display signs that vary from the official sign in size, color, or material at so long as the variance was not smaller in size than the official sign and must have the same color for the text and symbols. This part established clear display requirements but provided flexibility for institutions for procurement.  

Changes Under the Amendment 

The amendment to the final rule is intended to enable consumers to better understand when they are conducting business with an insured depository institution (“IDI”) and when their funds are protected by the FDIC's deposit insurance coverage. The FDIC’s recent amendment to part 328 of its regulations covers key changes across a variety of parts of the institution. Some key items include:   

• Amends the rules governing the display of the official sign in branches to also, for example, apply the rules to other physical premises with different layouts and designs where consumers have access to or transact with deposits;  
• Establishes and requires the display of the FDIC official digital sign on bank websites, mobile applications, and ATMs;  
• Requires the use of disclosures differentiating deposits and non-deposit products across all banking channels, including digital channels;  
• Outlines the requirement for clearly and conspicuously displaying signage indicating that the non-deposit products: are not insured by the FDIC; are not deposits; and may lose value. This signage must be displayed on each IDI page relating to non-deposit products and may not be displayed in close proximity to the FDIC digital sign; 
• Clarifies the FDIC's rules regarding misrepresentations of deposit insurance coverage; 
• Amends the definition of “non-deposit product” to include crypto-assets and specifically address safe deposit box services; and  
• Requires covered institutions to establish and maintain written policies and procedures addressing compliance with part 328. 

New Official Digital Sign, Same “Historical Confidence” 

One of the biggest changes under this amendment is the official digital sign outlined for use by the FDIC. The FDIC believes that the use of the FDIC official digital sign will assist consumers in better understanding when they are conducting business with an insured institution vs when they are interacting with a non-bank entity. Seeing the FDIC official digital sign on all IDI websites and mobile applications will promote awareness that consumers are doing business with FDIC-insured institutions. 

While the FDIC noted that they are finalizing a design for the official digital sign, they did provide key information on what expectations will be for display. The rule specifies the language, color, size, and font to establish an easily recognizable, consistent digital sign designed to convey “the certainty and confidence historically provided by the FDIC” official sign at banks' teller windows. The new FDIC official digital sign expectations: 

• “FDIC” to be displayed with a wordmark size of 37.36 x 15.74px in navy blue (hexadecimal color code #003256). 
• “FDIC-Insured—Backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government” in Source Sans Pro Web font (regular 400 italic), 12.8px, displayed in black (hexadecimal color code #000000) lettering. 
• Displayed clearly and conspicuously in a continuous manner. 

• Near the top of the relevant page or screen. 
• In close proximity to the institution’s name. 
• Displayed on: 

• Initial or homepage of the website or application 
• Landing or login pages 
• Pages where customers may transact with deposits 

Recognizing the variability in the design and color of financial institution websites, the final rule also provides an alternative color if the specified colors, navy blue and black, would not be legible against the background design colors of the IDI's web page or mobile banking application. If the official FDIC digital sign in these colors would be illegible due to the color of the background, the final rule requires the “FDIC” and the one line of smaller type to the right of “FDIC” to both be displayed in white (hexadecimal color code #FFFFFF).  

The FDIC will also review options to provide an image of the FDIC official digital sign to IDIs upon request at no charge, similar to the process by which the FDIC provides banks with physical official signs today. As of January 2024, below is the current design for the FDIC official digital sign under § 328.5: 

FDIC Official Advertising Statement 

The term “advertisement,” as used by the FDIC in Part § 328.3 of the original rule, is outlined as a commercial message, in any medium, that is designed to attract public attention or patronage to a product or business. Official advertising statement. The FDIC’s official advertising statement is “Member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation”. Two additional clarifications are also offered under the subpart: 

1. Optional short title and symbol.  The short title “Member of FDIC” or “Member FDIC,” or a reproduction of the symbol of the Corporation may be used by insured depository institutions at their option as the official advertising statement.  

1. Size and print.  The official advertising statement shall be of such size and print to be clearly legible. If the symbol of the Corporation is used as the official advertising statement, and the symbol must be reduced to such proportions that the two lines of smaller type above and below “FDIC” are indistinct and illegible, those lines of smaller type may be blocked out or dropped. 

With the recent amendment to the final rule, the FDIC proposed to expand covered institution’s options for use of a short advertising statement to include the term “FDIC-insured.” For advertising, under the final rule, IDIs will have the option to use “FDIC-Insured” as a short form of the official advertising statement to satisfy advertising statement requirements.  

Digital Sign vs Advertising Statement 

Some of these official terms might prove confusing at first glance. However, the FDIC did outline it does not intend for the digital sign requirement to overlap with the general advertising statement requirements that apply to IDIs. For example, the advertising statement would not be required on web pages where an IDI displays the digital official sign, such as a homepage. In these situations, under § 328.6(d)(10), the advertising statement is unnecessary because the inclusion of the digital official sign makes it clear that the IDI is insured by the FDIC. It’s important to note that IDIs will remain responsible for complying with the official advertising statement requirements for other qualifying advertisements, including those contained on other web pages. 

What To Do Next 

Luckily, these changes announced on December 20th, 2023 come with adjustment time windows as well. The amendments made by the final rule will take effect on April 1, 2024 (though this is NOT an April Fools joke) and come with an extended expected compliance date of January 1, 2025. To get started, financial institutions should: 

• Ensure all physical signage is updated to reflect the new official digital sign design. 
• Review and update website headers to include the official digital sign. 
• Review and update mobile application headers to include the official digital sign. 
• Ensure that non-deposit product pages include a non-deposit sign and avoid close proximity to the official digital sign to ensure there is no consumer confusion. 
• Ensure that non-deposit online assets meet the one-time popup notification requirement when consumers initially access a page related to non-deposit products. 
• Ensure that web content, including pop-up notifications, are accessible to screen reader users. 
• Ensure all other advertising materials reflect the official advertising statement or one of the acceptable shortened forms (when the official digital sign is not present). 
• Establish, or update existing, written policies and procedures addressing compliance with part 328. 

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