5 Tips to Running A Compliant Bank Marketing Team

Marketing for a bank or credit union can be a lot of fun. Designing cool ads, writing killer copy, posting community event photos on Facebook... Often, it’s a blast. 

But marketing at a financial institution can also be pretty frustrating—especially if you end up on the wrong side of the compliance line. “Sorry Compliance Officer, yes I did send that ad to print before asking you to review…” Sound familiar? 

Truth is, marketing in the financial industry isn’t just about catchy slogans and fun visuals. It’s also about adhering to strict compliance regulations that safeguard consumers and protect your institution from costly penalties. 

So how can you ensure that your financial institution’s marketing efforts stay compliant—before the Compliance Officer comes banging on your door? 

The Consequences of Non-compliance

First, let’s talk about what happens when your institution’s marketing efforts aren’t compliant. 

While not all non-compliance issues will result in lawsuits or hefty fines, many can. Depending on the severity of the violation, regulatory penalties can range from a slap on the wrist to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Being sued for misleading practices, discriminatory advertising, or hidden terms is never a good look and could result in expending millions to defend your institution or settle with a plaintiff.  

Reputational damage may be even more costly than financial penalties. You try to present your bank or credit union as a professional, law-abiding, community-driven business, and one lawsuit related to non-compliance can send all that work down the drain. If you were shopping around for a new bank, you wouldn’t trust one that had recently been sued for discriminatory practices, would you? 

Non-compliance can also trigger frustrating audits and regulatory investigations. Instead of marketing your financial institution and making a difference, you’ll be hunting down past documents, going back and forth with auditors, and falling further and further behind your competitors. And the end of an investigation doesn’t mean the end of regulatory scrutiny. Your institution could be closely watched for years after a compliance mix-up. It can even hinder your institution’s ability to expand and thrive. 

Sound pretty terrible? Compliance is no joke, and it’s important to be aware of potential issues and address them right away. If you’re serious about compliance from the beginning, then you’re much more likely to get from idea to publication without any hiccups.

5 Tips for Remaining Compliant

1. Understand Regulatory Requirements

It’s difficult to plan a compliant marketing campaign when you don’t know the rules. 

Here are some of the key regulations that govern financial marketing: 

• Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Regulation Z: Requires transparency for consumers through clear and accurate disclosure of loan terms such as interest rates, and specialized rules for real estate ads.

• Truth in Savings Act (TISA): Ensures that deposit account advertisements clearly disclose terms, including interest rates, and fees.

• Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): Prohibits discriminatory practices based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age in any aspect of lending, including marketing loan products. 

• Fair Housing Act (FHA): Prohibits discrimination in housing-related financial product advertising, such as mortgages and home equity loans.

• CAN-SPAM Act: Governs email marketing, requiring senders to include opt-out options, accurate subject lines, and sender identification.

• Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA): Requires institutions to protect personal information and inform consumers about data-sharing practices, particularly in targeted advertising.

• FTC Act Section 5/Dodd-Frank Act: Includes provisions prohibiting unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (UDAP/UDAAP) in financial marketing and services.

• Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA): Regulates the online collection and marketing use of information to children under 13, requiring parental consent and disclosures when applicable

This isn’t an exhaustive list and the regulatory landscape is always changing, so you should work closely with your Compliance department to stay up-to-date on applicable regulations. 

2. Collaborate with Legal and Compliance Teams

This may sound obvious, but you should always work with your Legal and Compliance teams to ensure that you have their stamp of approval before your team releases a new ad or marketing asset. 

While it’s the Compliance department’s job to help guide the organization—and double-check that everything stays compliant—it’s your job to make sure everything you do is compliant from the start. This means holding regular cross-department meetings and having a clear, easy-to-follow compliance approval process.

Here are some tips for collaborating with other departments:

• Establish shared goals that contribute to the overall institution

• Create cross-department working groups for major projects

• Leverage technology for seamless collaboration (i.e. use Kadince software) 

• Celebrate wins together

• Foster a culture of openness and support

To learn more about collaborating with other departments, check out this article. 

3. Keep All Marketing Materials

When it’s time for an audit—whether internal or external—auditors will need access to all of your institution’s marketing materials and supporting documents. Make sure to keep copies of:

• Final versions of all marketing materials

• Drafts of all marketing materials

• Notes and feedback from compliance reviews

• Approvals from the Compliance team

• Demographic data about the ad’s audience and how your marketing has helped LMI communities in your area

You need to keep all of this information on hand and easily accessible for auditors. Some institutions do this with a dedicated drive, but this can quickly get messy and become a bigger hassle than it needs to be. Instead, many financial institutions love using Kadince software to store and manage all marketing materials, supporting documentation, audit trails, demographic details, and compliance approvals. You can even give examiners limited access to the software. They’ll only see the data you want them to see, and this drastically reduces the back-and-forth grind. 

4. Train Your Team

Every member of the Marketing team should have a basic understanding of compliance standards and applicable regulations. This will help your team avoid mistakes before they’re made, and it can drastically cut down on revision time after Compliance’s review. 

One way to keep compliance on your team’s mind and help them stay up-to-date is by holding regular training sessions. These sessions can focus on regulatory requirements, the importance of compliance, and how to avoid common mistakes. Review past Compliance edits to ensure that everyone understands why the asset didn’t pass and to increase the chance of fewer mistakes being made in the future.  

There’s no rule on whether these meetings should be held weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Find what works best for your team and go from there. And don’t hold these meetings just for the sake of holding them. Make sure they are educational and substantive; nobody has time for extra meetings with no purpose. 

5. Use Kadince to Manage Compliance Reviews and Approvals

You need more than email threads and online drives to manage your institution’s marketing materials and compliance reviews. 

Kadince software makes it easy to track, manage, and analyze your institution’s advertising materials and other marketing assets. Kadince is an all-in-one, easy-to-use software that will make your marketing compliance and approval process much smoother, no matter how many ads you create each year.

With Kadince, you can:

• Utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to remain compliant

• Route marketing assets for review and approval

• Funnel all marketing requests down a streamlined process

• Always be prepared for the advertising audit

• Create detailed reports in minutes

• Track marketing efforts that reach diverse population groups

If you want to ensure that your institution’s marketing efforts are compliant, you need Kadince. Schedule a demo to learn more.

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Reach this article to learn how Kadince helped APG Federal Credit Union go from averaging 700 marketing projects per year to over 1,000.

Compliance Doesn’t Have to Be Difficult

Staying compliant isn’t just about avoiding fines and legal trouble. It’s about building trust with your audience and keeping your institution relevant. By following the tips above, you can spend less time worrying about compliance and more time designing cool ads and connecting with consumers. 

So the next time the Compliance Officer comes banging on your door, you can both leave with a smile. 

*This article was reviewed by compliance expert Charles LeFevre of Stanford Hill.

None of Kadince, Inc., its affiliates, or its respective employees, directors, officers, and agents (collectively, “Kadince”) are responsible or liable for any content or information incorporated herein. Read full disclosure.