One of the lesser-known and little-discussed pieces of the financial reform package just signed into law is the repeal of Reg Q. Reg Q, as you will recall, said that banks cannot pay interest on business demand accounts. As the repeal is signed into law, banks will now be permitted to pay interest on business demand accounts. This is no small issue, as business checking comprises a large part of the $920 billion that sits in checking accounts.  

The real question, however, is how responsive will the banks be? It is already difficult enough for them to manage their margins so they may not be fast to act upon this new interest-bearing provision for their business customers. If that is the case, there may be a window of opportunity for credit unions to leverage this difference and build strong core business relationships.

But interest-bearing business checking may not…