Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Business Checking
Freedom Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. INTEREST-BEARING TRANSACTION ACCOUNTS AU-
THORIZED FOR ALL BUSINESSES.
(a) Section 2 of Public Law 93–100 (12 U.S.C. 1832)
is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as
subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
depository institution may permit the owner of any deposit
or account which is a deposit or account on which interest
or dividends are paid and is not a deposit or account de-
scribed in subsection (a)(2) to make up to 24 transfers
per month (or such greater number as the Board of Gov-
ernors of the Federal Reserve System may determine by
rule or order), for any purpose, to another account of the
owner in the same institution. An account offered pursu-
ant to this subsection shall be considered a transaction
account for purposes of section 19 of the Federal Reserve
Act unless the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System determines otherwise.’’.
(b) Effective at the end of the 2-year period begin-
ning on the date of the enactment of this Act, section 2
of Public Law 93–100 (12 U.S.C. 1832) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘but sub-
ject to paragraph (2)’’;
(2) by striking paragraph (2) of subsection (a)
and inserting the following new paragraph:
‘‘(2) No provision of this section may be con-
strued as conferring the authority to offer demand
deposit accounts to any institution that is prohibited
by law from offering demand deposit accounts.’’; and
(3) in subsection (b) (as added by subsection
(a) of this section) by striking ‘‘and is not a deposit
or account described in subsection (a)(2)’’.
SEC. 3. INTEREST-BEARING TRANSACTION ACCOUNTS AU-
THORIZED.
(a) REPEAL OF PROHIBITION ON PAYMENT OF IN-
TEREST ON DEMAND DEPOSITS.—
(1) FEDERAL RESERVE ACT.—Section 19(i) of
the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 371a) is amend-
ed to read as follows:
‘‘(i) [Repealed]’’.
(2) HOME OWNERS’ LOAN ACT.—The first sen-
tence of section 5(b)(1)(B) of the Home Owners’
Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 1464(b)(1)(B)) is amended by
striking ‘‘savings association may not—’’ and all
that follows through ‘‘(ii) permit any’’ and inserting
‘‘savings association may not permit any’’.
(3) FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE ACT.—Sec-
tion 18(g) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12
U.S.C. 1828(g)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(g) [Repealed]’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
subsection (a) shall take effect at the end of the 2-year
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. PAYMENT OF INTEREST ON RESERVES AT FEDERAL
RESERVE BANKS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 19(b) of the Federal Re-
serve Act (12 U.S.C. 461(b)) is amended by adding at
the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(12) EARNINGS ON RESERVES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Balances maintained
at a Federal reserve bank by or on behalf of a
depository institution may receive earnings to
be paid by the Federal reserve bank at least
once each calendar quarter at a rate or rates
not to exceed the general level of short-term in-
terest rates.
‘‘(B) REGULATIONS
RELATING
TO
PAY-
MENTS AND DISTRIBUTION.—The Board may
prescribe regulations concerning—
‘‘(i) the payment of earnings in ac-
cordance with this paragraph;
‘‘(ii) the distribution of such earnings
to the depository institutions which main-
tain balances at such banks or on whose
behalf such balances are maintained; and
‘‘(iii) the responsibilities of depository
institutions, Federal home loan banks, and
the National Credit Union Administration
Central Liquidity Facility with respect to
the crediting and distribution of earnings
attributable to balances maintained, in ac-
cordance with subsection (c)(1)(A), in a
Federal reserve bank by any such entity on
behalf of depository institutions.
‘‘(C) 
DEPOSITORY
INSTITUTIONS
DE-
FINED.—For purposes of this paragraph, the
term ‘depository institution’, in addition to the
institutions described in paragraph (1)(A), in-
cludes any trust company, corporation orga-
nized under section 25A or having an agree-
ment with the Board under section 25, or any
branch or agency of a foreign bank (as defined
in section 1(b) of the International Banking Act
of 1978).’’.
(b) AUTHORIZATION FOR PASS THROUGH RESERVES
FOR MEMBER BANKS.—Section 19(c)(1)(B) of the Fed-
eral Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 461(c)(1)(B)) is amended by
striking ‘‘which is not a member bank’’.
(c) CONSUMER BANKING COSTS ASSESSMENT.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Federal Reserve Act
(12 U.S.C. 221 et seq.) is amended—
(A) by redesignating sections 30 and 31 as
sections 31 and 32, respectively; and
(B) by inserting after section 29 the fol-
lowing new section:
‘‘SEC. 30. SURVEY OF BANK FEES AND SERVICES.
‘‘(a) ANNUAL SURVEY REQUIRED.—The Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall obtain an-
nually a sample, which is representative by type and size
of the institution (including small institutions) and geo-
graphic location, of the following retail banking services
and products provided by insured depository institutions
and insured credit unions (along with related fees and
minimum balances):
‘‘(1) Checking and other transaction accounts.
‘‘(2) Negotiable order of withdrawal and sav-
ings accounts.
‘‘(3) Automated teller machine transactions.
‘‘(4) Other electronic transactions.
‘‘(b) MINIMUM SURVEY REQUIREMENT.—The annual
survey described in subsection (a) shall meet the following
minimum requirements:
‘‘(1) CHECKING AND OTHER TRANSACTION AC-
COUNTS.—Data on checking and transaction ac-
counts shall include, at a minimum, the following:
‘‘(A) Monthly and annual fees and min-
imum balances to avoid such fees.
‘‘(B) Minimum opening balances.
‘‘(C) Check processing fees.
‘‘(D) Check printing fees.
‘‘(E) Balance inquiry fees.
‘‘(F) Fees imposed for using a teller or
other institution employee.
‘‘(G) Stop payment order fees.
‘‘(H) Nonsufficient fund fees.
‘‘(I) Overdraft fees.
‘‘(J) Deposit items returned fees.