Member Alert: RMAI Submits Comments to Proposed FCC Rule on Text Messages

This week, RMAI submitted a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to their request for comments from the public about the unlawful use of text messages.  The FCC is proposing rules that would: (1) require mobile wireless providers to block text messages when notified by the FCC that they are likely scams; (2) extend the Do-Not-Call protections to marketing text messages; and (3) ban the practice of obtaining a single consumer consent as justification for calls and texts from multiple parties.

While expressing RMAI’s support to the FCC on cracking down on illegal texts, RMAI expressed a need for the rule to have a bright-line separation between spam marketing texts and legitimate texts from the financial services industry who have contractual and established relationships with consumers. We emphasized that consumers have shown a clear desire to utilize texts as a way to communicate with and to receive communications from the financial services industry, and we need to avoid inadvertently blocking these important non-marketing text messages.

RMAI’s letter can be found here.