Account for DBA Sole Proprietorship

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Question:

A customer has a DBA sole proprietorship using his social security number. Are there any regs, etc., that say it cannot be in a "personal type" checking account? We only have a "commercial account" and nothing for the small "mom and pop" type of business.

Answer:

There are no regulations that would, in themselves, prevent your classifying the account as personal. However, there are common-sense considerations that argue strongly against it. For example, the sole proprietorship account is not legally entitled to coverage under Regulation E, and is treated slightly differently under Regulation CC. Your check cashing rules for businesses should, in my opinion, apply to the account. You should be able to put the account through analysis or subject it to business account service charge schedules. I cannot think of a single cogent argument for classifying a business account, including a sole proprietorship, as anything other than a commercial account.

First published on BankersOnline.com 9/20/10