§248a Pricing of Services

Summary

The Federal Reserve Board must publish for public comment a set of pricing rules and a proposed fee schedule for Federal Reserve bank services to depository institutions no later than the first day of the sixth month after March 31, 1980, and must begin using a fee schedule based on those rules no later than the first day of the eighteenth month after March 31, 1980. The fee schedule covers eight types of services, including currency and coin, check clearing, wire transfers, automated clearinghouse, settlement, securities safekeeping, Federal Reserve float, and new services like electronic funds transfers. Fees must be shown clearly, offered to nonmember banks at the same prices (though nonmembers may have other terms the Board sets), and over the long run must cover all direct and indirect costs actually incurred (including interest on credits before collection, overhead, and an imputed tax and capital return), while taking account of competition and maintaining adequate nationwide service. Interest on items credited before collection must use the current market rate for Federal funds. If service volumes fall, the Board must cut Federal Reserve banks’ operating budgets by a matching amount and pay all savings into the U.S. Treasury. Any depository institution may accept transaction-account deposits from other depository institutions or from any Federal Reserve bank office without regard to laws that limit the number or location of such institutions.