Q:  Are accounts that waive fees or provide fee-reducing credits considered “noninterestbearing”

under the temporary Dodd-Frank Deposit Insurance Provision?

A:  FDIC regulation 12 C.F.R. § 330.1(k) expressly provides that, . . . A bank’s absorption of expenses incident to providing a normal banking function or its forbearance from charging a fee in connection with such a service is not considered a payment of interest.  Accordingly, neither the waiving of fees nor the provision of fee-reducing credits will be deemed payment of interest under the Dodd-Frank Deposit Insurance Provision; if an IDI waives fees or provides fee-reducing credits for a customer with a noninterest-bearing DDA, such features would not prevent that account from qualifying as a noninterest-bearing transaction account.

This can be found in - FAQ#12 of FDIC’s FAQs.  FDIC’s FAQs can be found at: http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/unlimited/faq.pdf