IB
Union Calendar No. 27
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 974
[Report No. 107–38]
To increase the number of interaccount transfers which may be made from
business accounts at depository institutions, to authorize the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System to pay interest on reserves,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 13, 2001
Mrs. KELLY (for herself, Mrs. CAPITO, and Mr. CANTOR) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
APRIL 3, 2001
Additional sponsor: Mr. SHERMAN
APRIL 3, 2001
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House
on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 13, 2001]
A BILL
To increase the number of interaccount transfers which may
be made from business accounts at depository institu-
tions, to authorize the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System to pay interest on reserves, and for
other purposes.
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 ‘‘Small Business Interest
Checking Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. INTEREST-BEARING TRANSACTION ACCOUNTS AU-
THORIZED.
(a) REPEAL OF PROHIBITION ON PAYMENT OF INTER-
EST ON DEMAND DEPOSITS.—
(1) FEDERAL RESERVE ACT.—Section 19(i) of
the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 371a) is amended
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‘‘(i) [Repealed]’’.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 as-
sociation may not permit any’’.
(3) FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE ACT.—Section
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‘‘(g) [Repealed]’’.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 sub-
section (a) shall take effect at the end of the 2-year period
beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. INTEREST-BEARING TRANSACTION ACCOUNTS AU-
THORIZED FOR ALL BUSINESSES.
Section 2 of Public Law 93–100 (12 U.S.C. 1832) is
amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘Para-
graph’’ and inserting ‘‘Except in the case of any de-
pository institution which is prohibited by the appli-
cable law of any State from offering demand deposits,
paragraph’’;
(2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as
subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and
(3) 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 may determine
by rule or order), for any purpose, to another account of
the owner in the same institution. Nothing in this sub-
section shall be construed to prevent an account offered pur-
suant to this subsection from being considered a transaction
account (as defined in section 19(b) of the Federal Reserve
Act for purposes of such 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 interest
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 be-
half 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)(B), in a
Federal reserve bank by any such entity on
behalf of depository institutions.’’.
(b) AUTHORIZATION FOR PASS THROUGH RESERVES
FOR MEMBER BANKS.—Section 19(c)(1)(B) of the Federal
Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 461(c)(1)(B)) is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘which is not a member bank’’.
(c) SURVEY OF BANK FEES AND SERVICES.—Section
19 of the Federal Reserve Act (as amended by subsections
(a) and (b) of this section) is amended by adding at the
end the following new subsection:
‘‘(n) SURVEY OF BANK FEES AND SERVICES.—
‘‘(1) ANNUAL
SURVEY
REQUIRED.—The Board
shall obtain annually a sample, which is representa-
tive by type and size of the institution and geographic
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):
‘‘(A) Checking and other transaction ac-
counts.
‘‘(B) Negotiable order of withdrawal and
savings accounts.
‘‘(C) Automated teller machine transactions.
‘‘(D) Other electronic transactions.
‘‘(E) Credit Cards.
‘‘(2) MINIMUM SURVEY REQUIREMENT.—The an-
nual survey described in paragraph (1) shall meet the
following minimum requirements:
‘‘(A) CHECKING AND OTHER TRANSACTION
ACCOUNTS.—Data on checking and transaction
accounts shall include, at a minimum, the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(i) Monthly and annual fees and
minimum balances to avoid such fees.
‘‘(ii) Minimum opening balances.
‘‘(iii) Check processing fees.
‘‘(iv) Check printing fees.
‘‘(v) Balance inquiry fees.
‘‘(vi) Fees imposed for using a teller or
other institution employee.
‘‘(vii) Stop payment order fees.
‘‘(viii) Nonsufficient fund fees.
‘‘(ix) Overdraft fees.
‘‘(x) Deposit items returned fees.
‘‘(xi) Availability of no-cost or low-cost
accounts for consumers who maintain low
balances.
‘‘(B) NEGOTIABLE ORDER OF WITHDRAWAL
ACCOUNTS
AND
SAVINGS
ACCOUNTS.—Data on
negotiable order of withdrawal accounts and sav-
ings accounts shall include, at a minimum, the
following:
‘‘(i) Monthly and annual fees and
minimum balances to avoid such fees.
‘‘(ii) Minimum opening balances.
‘‘(iii) Rate at which interest is paid to
consumers.
‘‘(iv) Check processing fees for nego-
tiable order of withdrawal accounts.
‘‘(v) Check printing fees for negotiable
order of withdrawal accounts.
‘‘(vi) Balance inquiry fees.
‘‘(vii) Fees imposed for using a teller
or other institution employee.
‘‘(viii) Stop payment order fees for ne-
gotiable order of withdrawal accounts.
‘‘(ix) Nonsufficient fund fees for nego-
tiable order of withdrawal accounts.
‘‘(x) Overdraft fees for negotiable order
of withdrawal accounts.
‘‘(xi) Deposit items returned fees.
‘‘(xii) Availability of no-cost or low-
cost accounts for consumers who maintain
low balances.
‘‘(C) 
AUTOMATED
TELLER
TRANS-
ACTIONS.—Data on automated teller machine
transactions shall include, at a minimum, the
following:
‘‘(i) Annual and monthly fees.
‘‘(ii) Card fees.
‘‘(iii) Fees charged to customers for
withdrawals, deposits, transfers between ac-
counts, balance inquiries through institu-
tion-owned machines.
‘‘(iv) Fees charged to customers for
withdrawals, deposits, transfers between ac-
counts, balance inquiries through machines
owned by others.
‘‘(v) Fees charged to noncustomers for
withdrawals, deposits, transfers between ac-
counts, balance inquiries through institu-
tion-owned machines.
‘‘(vi) Point-of-sale transaction fees.