The board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) yesterday extended a guarantee program on business bank accounts enacted during the height of the financial crisis. The FDIC’s Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG) program, enacted by the regulator in October 2008 to protect smaller banks from losing larger deposits, was extended by unanimous vote until the end of this year. The program, which guarantees non-interest-bearing deposits greater than $250,000, can also be extended at the discretion of the FDIC board until the end of 2011. It had been set to expire June 30. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said in a press release that “allowing the TAG program to expire in this environment could cause a number of community banks – already under stress – to experience deposit withdrawals from their large transaction accounts and would risk needless liquidity failures.”

The Treasury Department will release new rules today that would prevent banks from seizing a borrower’s Social Security benefits to recover unpaid debt, The Wall Street Journal reported. The proposed rules, to be published in the Federal Register, will require banks to check if the borrower has received any direct deposits of federal benefits within the past 60 days, the Journal said. If the borrower has received a federal benefit, the new rule would require the banks to establish a protected amount equal to the sum of the benefits deposited. Any amount above the protected amount would be handled according to the garnishment rules of each state.

The Midwest Airlines name is going away. But not the chocolate chip cookies, the Kansas City Star reported. Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings Inc., which last year bought both Midwest and Frontier airlines, said Tuesday that the combined airline will fly under the Frontier name starting later this year. The company is also merging the frequent-flier programs of the two airlines, and will begin offering Midwest’s iconic cookies to Frontier passengers as well. Frontier introduced connecting service from Des Moines International Airport to Denver through Midwest flights to Milwaukee in February. Airport spokesman Roy Criss said Des Moines is not among the 10 cities Frontier will announce for new direct flights to Denver. Frontier logos will appear on all Midwest aircraft by October 2011.

Online investment firm Scottrade will open a branch office in West Des Moines on April 26. It will be the second Greater Des Moines location for the company, which also operates a downtown Des Moines office. The company claims to have the largest branch network in the industry, with more than 450 locations. The new office at 6305 Mills Civic Parkway will be managed by Jesse Burr. Though Scottrade does not provide advice, stockbrokers are available at branch offices to answer account-related questions, provide customer service and give tutorials on Scottrade’s online trading services.