12 CFR § 205.5 - Issuance of access devices.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t12/s205.5"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "12 CFR § 205.5 - Issuance of access devices."
title_number: 12
title_name: "Banks and Banking"
section_number: "205.5"
section_name: "Issuance of access devices."
chapter_name: "FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM"
subchapter_number: "A"
subchapter_name: "BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM"
part_number: "205"
part_name: "ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS (REGULATION E)"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "15 U.S.C. 1693b."
regulatory_source: "Reg. E, 61 FR 19669, May 2, 1996, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "205"
---


# 205.5 Issuance of access devices.

(a) *Solicited issuance.* Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, a financial institution may issue an access device to a consumer only:

(1) In response to an oral or written request for the device; or

(2) As a renewal of, or in substitution for, an accepted access device whether issued by the institution or a successor.

(b) *Unsolicited issuance.* A financial institution may distribute an access device to a consumer on an unsolicited basis if the access device is:

(1) Not validated, meaning that the institution has not yet performed all the procedures that would enable a consumer to initiate an electronic fund transfer using the access device;

(2) Accompanied by a clear explanation that the access device is not validated and how the consumer may dispose of it if validation is not desired;

(3) Accompanied by the disclosures required by § 205.7, of the consumer's rights and liabilities that will apply if the access device is validated; and

(4) Validated only in response to the consumer's oral or written request for validation, after the institution has verified the consumer's identity by a reasonable means.