[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 12, Volume 6]
[Revised as of January 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 12CFR707.2]

[Page 377-379]
 
                       TITLE 12--BANKS AND BANKING
 
            CHAPTER VII--NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION
 
PART 707--TRUTH IN SAVINGS--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 707.2  Definitions.

    For purposes of this part, the following definitions apply:
    (a) Account means a share or deposit account at a credit union held 
by or offered to a member or potential member. It includes, but is not 
limited to, accounts such as share, share draft, checking and term share 
accounts. For purposes of the advertising regulations in Sec. 707.8, the 
term also includes an account at a credit union that is held by or 
offered by a share or deposit broker.
    (b) Advertisement means a commercial message, appearing in any 
medium, that promotes directly or indirectly the availability of, or a 
deposit in, an account.
    (c) Annual percentage yield means a percentage rate reflecting the 
total amount of dividends paid on an account, based on the dividend rate 
and the frequency of compounding for a 365-day period and calculated 
according to the rules in appendix A of this part.
    (d) Average daily balance method means the application of a periodic 
rate to the average daily balance in the account for the period. The 
average daily balance is determined by adding the full amount of 
principal in the account for each day of the period and dividing that 
figure by the number of days in the period.
    (e) Board means the National Credit Union Administration Board.
    (f) Bonus means a premium, gift, award, or other consideration worth 
more than $10 (whether in the form of cash, credit, merchandise, or any 
equivalent) given or offered to a member during a year in exchange for 
opening, maintaining, or renewing an account, or increasing an account 
balance. The term does not include dividends, other consideration worth 
$10 or less given during a year, the waiver or reduction of a fee, the 
absorption of expenses, non-dividend membership benefits, or 
extraordinary dividends.
    (g) Credit union means a federal or state-chartered credit union 
that is either insured by, or is eligible to apply for insurance from, 
the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund.
    (h) Daily balance method means the application of a daily periodic 
rate to the full amount of principal in the account each day.
    (i) Dividend and dividends mean any declared or prospective earnings 
on a member's shares in a credit union to be paid to a member or to the 
member's account. For purposes of this part, the

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term does not include the payment of a bonus or other consideration 
worth $10 or less given during a year, the waiver or reduction of a fee, 
the absorption of expenses, non-dividend membership benefits, or 
extraordinary dividends.
    (j) Dividend declaration date means the date that the board of 
directors of a credit union declares a dividend for the preceding 
dividend period.
    (k) Dividend period means the span of time established by the board 
of directors of a credit union by the end of which shares in a member 
account earn dividend credit. The dividend period may be different for 
each type of account.
    (l) Dividend rate means the declared or prospective annual dividend 
rate paid on an account, which does not reflect compounding. For 
purposes of the account disclosures in Sec. 707.4(b)(1)(i), the rate 
may, but need not, be referred to as the ``annual percentage rate'' in 
addition to being referred to as the ``dividend rate.''
    (m) Extraordinary dividends means a nonrepetitive dividend paid at 
an irregular time from funds legally available for such distribution.
    (n) Fixed-rate account means an account that is not a variable rate 
account as defined in paragraph (z) of this section.
    (o) Grace period means a period following the maturity of an 
automatically renewing term share account during which the member may 
withdraw funds without being assessed a penalty.
    (p) Interest means any payment to a member or to a member's account 
for the use of funds in a nondividend-bearing account at a state-
chartered credit union offered pursuant to state law, calculated by 
application of a periodic rate to the balance. For purposes of this 
regulation, the term does not include the payment of a bonus or other 
consideration worth $10 or less given during a year, the waiver or 
reduction of a fee, the absorption of expenses, non-dividend membership 
benefits, or extraordinary dividends. Except as is specifically 
otherwise provided in this part, in the case of an interest-bearing 
account held in or offered by a state-chartered credit union pursuant to 
state law, the word ``interest'' shall be substituted for all references 
to ``dividend'' or ``dividends'' in this part.
    (q) Member means:
    (1) A natural person member of the credit union who holds an account 
primarily for personal, family, or household purposes;
    (2) A natural person nonmember who holds an account primarily for 
personal, family, or household purposes, either jointly with a natural 
person member or in a credit union designated as a low-income credit 
union, or to whom such an account is offered; and
    (3) A natural person nonmember who holds a deposit account in a 
state-chartered credit union pursuant to state law, or to whom such 
deposit account is offered.

The term does not include a natural person who holds an account for 
another in a professional capacity or an unincorporated nonbusiness 
association of natural person members.
    (r) Non-dividend membership benefits means any property or service 
provided by a credit union to its members, the nature of which makes its 
valuation unreasonable and administratively impracticable.
    (s) Passbook account means an account in which the member retains a 
book or other document in which the credit union records transactions on 
the account.
    (t) Periodic statement means a statement setting forth information 
about an account (other than a term share account or passbook account) 
that is provided to a member on a regular basis four or more times a 
year.
    (u) Potential member means a natural person within the credit 
union's field of membership (or an unincorporated nonbusiness 
association of such persons) or otherwise eligible to become a member as 
defined in paragraph (q) of this section.
    (v) State means a state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the United States.
    (w) Stepped-rate account means an account that has two or more 
dividend rates that take effect in succeeding periods and are known when 
the account is opened.

[[Page 379]]

    (x) Term share account means any share certificate, interest-bearing 
certificate of deposit account, or other account with a maturity of at 
least seven days in which the member generally does not have a right to 
make withdrawals for six days after the account is opened, unless the 
account is subject to an early withdrawal penalty of at least seven 
days' dividends on amounts withdrawn, offered by a credit union to a 
member or potential member.
    (y) Tiered-rate account means an account that has two or more 
dividend rates that are applicable to specified balance levels.
    (z) Variable-rate account means a share, share draft, checking, or 
term share account in which the simple dividend rate may change after 
the account is opened, unless the credit union contracts to give at 
least thirty days advance written notice of rate decreases.

[58 FR 50445, Sept. 27, 1993, as amended at 59 FR 13436, Mar. 22, 1994; 
59 FR 59899, Nov. 21, 1994]