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[George Schneider]

I have a Branch Manager at one of our banks that is intrested in sending out
information via email to potential customers in a effort to drum up business.
My concern I know there are certian laws governing this such an opt out
option. Does anyone know the requiremnets or any good resources to find this
information.

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

Aloha George,

Unless those potential customers have asked to be included in e-mail communications
what your branch manager wants to do is called "spamming" and I would strongly
discourage it. Not only do a lot of folks have filters in place to block
that kind of message but of those who don't some of them are going to resent
the message and it will leave a bad impression of your bank.

Additionally some of them may report your bank to the spam block lists and
you may find yourselves blacklisted so that even your legitimate e-mails
start getting blocked or filtered.

As for laws -- it will depend entirely upon what jurisdiction you're in.
You don't mention if you're even in the U.S. Best advice, if you really
insist upon this approach, would be for you to contact a lawyer in your area
who is experienced in electronic communications laws.

-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr - MVP
http://www.rolandschorr.com
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenote.html

 

[Greg V]

Here's a biggie for you.. The Can Spam Act

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.htm

Also for state laws... check

http://www.spamlaws.com/us.shtml

Not all spam is spam however, I suggest if you're going to produce emails to
potential customers, that it be informative, such as a newsletter large
corporate entitys produce, you'd also have to target your customer base and
not every tom dick and harry in the neighborhood.

 

[Vanguard]

Aloha George,

Unless those potential customers have asked to be included in e-mail
communications what your branch manager wants to do is called
"spamming" and I would strongly discourage it.

Nope, that is not spamming ... unfortunately. If you have a business
relationship with a company, they can send you e-mails at any time
regarding anything regarding your current service and anything else they
provide. 'A "transactional or relationship message" - email that
facilitates an agreed-upon transaction or updates a customer in an
existing business relationship - may not contain false or misleading
routing information, but otherwise is exempt from most provisions of the
CAN-SPAM Act' (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.htm).
"
The CAN-Spam Act does not include a conventional exception for
commercial e-mail sent to persons with whom the sender has a preexisting
business relationship."
(http://www.emaillabs.com/pdf/CAN-Spam_Legal_Brief.pdf). That doesn't
prevent them from sending you e-mails, just that they cannot lie about
from where they originate. The opt-out is still a requirement which
must be available for 30 days after the mailing and the opt-out requests
must be honored within 10 business days.

Some businesses have their customers select their preferences that gets
recorded in their account, so go check the preferences in your account.
Some just send out their mailing and wait for the opt-out. The business
may honor the opt-out but the laws say the existing business
relationship overrides that voluntary action (i.e., the recipient may
not like it but the sender isn't illegal).

The bank already has lawyers on retainer. Go ask them.

As for laws -- it will depend entirely upon what jurisdiction you're
in. You don't mention if you're even in the U.S.

Poster is posting from a Colorado POP, so it is likely that his bank
must comply with the CAN-SPAM federal law and maybe any more restrict
state laws.

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

Aloha Vanguard,

The OP said "potential customers." That says to me that he does not have
a business relationship with them already; hence it is spam.

-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr - MVP
http://www.rolandschorr.com
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenote.html

 

[Vanguard]

The OP said "potential customers." That says to me that he does not
have a business relationship with them already; hence it is spam.

Yep, you're right. Missed the "potential customers" which really means
"NON- customers", like car dealers hiding behind "preowned vehicles"
instead of "used cars".

 

[Ada Pan [MSFT]]

Hello George,

As Ben suggested, you may need to contact a lawyer in your area who is
experienced in electronic communications laws to find more qualified
information.

Regards,

Ada Pan

Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
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