ABA President & CEO Rob Nichols Meets with FCC Chairman Pai

Re: Notification of Ex Parte Presentation, CG Docket Nos. 02-278, 18-152

On September 13, 2019, the following individuals with the American Bankers Association (ABA) met with Chairman Ajit Pai and Zenji Nakazawa, Chairman Pai’s Public Safety and Consumer Protection Advisor: Rob Nichols, ABA’s President and CEO; Dan Smith, Senior Vice President; and Jonathan Thessin, Senior Counsel.

In the meeting, ABA expressed support for the Federal Communications Commission’s (Commission) efforts to combat the fraudsters, scammers, and others who place illegal automated calls. We also emphasized the continuing negative impact to ABA members and their customers of some of the Commission’s prior Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) decisions. We explained that many of the Commission’s existing TCPA interpretations impair the ability of banks to send time-critical, non-telemarketing communications to millions of customers promptly, including fraud alerts, data breach notifications, servicing calls, and loan modification outreach. We urged the Commission to act expeditiously to ensure that its implementation of the TCPA facilitates these valued calls.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Thessin
Senior Counsel
Consumer & Regulatory Compliance
Regulatory Compliance and Policy