Payable-through account

A payable-through account (PTA) is a demand deposit account through which banking agencies located in the United States extend cheque writing privileges to the customers of other institutions, often foreign banks.

PTA accounts are a concern to bank regulators because the banks or agencies providing the accounts may not subject the end customers to the same level of scrutiny as they would their own customers. These concerns were addressed in Title 3A, especially Section 311(b)(4), of the Patriot Act.

A full explanation from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is available at: http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/1995/fil9530.html