Bill to Allow Checking Account Interest Accrual Rep. Scott Murphy (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) have
introduced legislation that would allow small businesses to earn interest on
their checking accounts. The NSBA-supported Business Checking Fairness Act of 2009 (H.R. 4067) would repeal the provisions
in the Banking Act of 1933 which
prohibit banks from paying interest on business checking accounts. The
inability to earn interest on a checking account has disproportionably affected
small businesses for too long. Many
large firms have the ability to earn interest on their checking accounts
through “sweep” accounts, which enable the business to “sweep” their
checking-account balances, at the close of business, into a special interest-bearing
account up to 24 times per month. The transferred money is then put back into
the firm’s primary checking account at the beginning of the next business day,
providing overnight interest accrual. Due
to the complexity of “sweep” accounts and the significant cost in administering
them, these interest-bearing accounts have not been an option for most small
businesses. The Business Checking
Fairness Act of 2009 would ease this inequality, granting small businesses
the overdue ability to earn interest on their checking accounts. NSBA
applauds the introduction of the Business
Checking Fairness Act of 2009 and thanks Reps. Murphy and Jones for their
leadership on the issue. |