Q&A: When Is E-Mail SPAM?

CUNA
February 16, 2005

Question: Under what circumstances is an e-mail from a credit union considered “commercial” SPAM? How does it compare to a credit union’s “transactional” or “relationship” e-mail?

Answer: CUNA’s Compliance Team evaluated the Federal Trade Commission’s regulations implementing the CAN-SPAM Act and identified a set of criteria that determines whether an e-mail message is “commercial.” E-mails designed primarily for advertising and promoting products and services are subject to the new SPAM law, set to take effect March 28.

An e-mail is primarily “commercial” if:

1. It only contains ads or promotions for products and services, or

2. It contains both types of information (“commercial” and “transactional” or “relationship”) and the recipient reasonably read the subject line as commercial e-mail, or the non-commercial materials don’t appear at the beginning of the e-mail message.

This question was taken from Compliance Challenge. Visit http://www.cuna.org/compliance to test yourself on other compliance issues.