Authorizes certain depository institutions prohibited by State law from offering demand deposits to offer all owners of a interest- or dividend-paying deposit or account to make withdrawals by negotiable or transferable instruments for the purpose of making payments to third parties. Requires that such an institution either: (1) not engage in lending activities; or (2) not be an affiliate of a company or companies whose aggregate assets represent over ten percent of the institution's total assets.
Amends Federal banking law governing interaccount transfers to provide that a depository institution may permit owners of certain interest- or dividend-paying accounts to make up to 24 transfers monthly for any purpose to their other accounts in the same institution.
Amends the Federal Reserve Act to authorize a Federal reserve bank to pay interest at least quarterly (at a rate not to exceed the general level of short term interest rates) to a depository institution on any balance it maintains at the reserve bank.
Repeals a specified restriction in order to authorize pass-through reserves for member banks (as well as non-member banks).
Instructs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to obtain annually a prescribed survey of designated retail bank fees and services (including electronic and credit card fees), and report the results annually to Congress.
Reformulates the mandatory depository institution reserve ratio to: (1) one that is not greater than three percent, and may be zero, (currently, a flat ratio of three percent) for transaction accounts of $25 million or less; and (2) reduce from eight percent to zero the minimum ratio for transaction accounts exceeding $25 million. (Thus authorizes zero reserve requirements for such accounts.)
Requires the Federal Reserve banks to transfer certain surplus funds for deposit into the general fund of the Treasury equal to the estimated net cost of making the quarterly payments of interest mandated by this Act for FY 2002 through 2006.
Prohibits such banks from replenishing surplus funds by the amount of any such transfers during that time period.