ABA Urges FCC To Crackdown on Spam Texts

The American Banking Association (ABA) and six other associations have urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take more action to combat texts that impersonate banks.

The joint letter responded to a recent FCC proposal that would require mobile providers to block texts from a sender after they receive notice that the sender is transmitting suspected illegal texts.

ACA International, American Financial Services Association, Bank Policy Institute, Mortgage Bankers Association, and Student Loan Servicing Alliance also joined the coalition.

The coalition also expressed support for a proposed new rule that would require an opt-in for text messages that originate as emails, also known as email-to-text messages.

The groups support this proposal as they have previously raised concerns that many impersonators use email-to-text as a primary means to send a large volume of illegal texts quickly.

However, the coalition has also urged the FCC to ensure that agency-mandated or voluntary text blocking identifies only texts that are clearly illegal and is undertaken on a non-discriminatory basis.

They also proposed a rule to require mobile providers to provide banks with access to texts that are impersonating them so they can act on that information to better protect their customers.

The coalition has insisted on a crackdown on scam text due to the significant harm caused to customers.

In particular, illegal text messages used to commit fraud or scams resulted in victims losing $800 on average per scam in 2023, according to consumers’ reports to the Federal Trade Commission.

According to the groups, these texts also undermine banks’ ability to communicate as it leads customers to question the legitimacy of important messages that legitimate companies send.