FDIC suspends project to modernize agency's signage

WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is suspending plans to modernize its iconic signage for the digital age, the latest regulatory effort slowed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The agency issued a request for information in February seeking feedback on a process to update the FDIC logo and sign seen at bank teller stations at ATMs. The regulator said it wanted to address “significant changes in the marketplace, technological developments, and rapidly evolving consumer behaviors” in recent years.

The FDIC last month extended the RFI’s deadline for public comment to April 20, but in a press release on Thursday it said the entire effort will be postponed.

"The agency remains committed to modernizing these rules at a future date to better reflect how banks and savings associations are transforming their business models to take deposits via physical branches, digital, and mobile banking channels,” the FDIC said.

Since the Federal Deposit Insurance Act was signed into law in 1950, banks have been required to display the FDIC’s logo physically wherever deposits are taken. But the rise of internet banking and a decline in customer use of bank branches have left the agency with questions about how to display its seal of safety in digital mediums.