State Treasurer Vivek Malek promotes MOBUCK$ program

Missouri state Treasurer Vivek Malek visited the southeastern part of the Show Me State Friday, Nov. 10, to raise awareness of his department's MOBUCK$ linked deposit program.

When Gov. Mike Parson appointed him to the office at the end of 2022, Malek said he learned about the program, which former state Treasurer Wendell Bailey started in the 1980s.

He thought it had great potential and visited Perryville, Farmington and Cape Girardeau to inform people about his plans for the program.

"This is a program for small businesses, for farmers, for local governments ... what it does is, if you have a loan, especially in these times of high interest rates, you can lower your interest rate by up to 30% through MOBUCK$," Malek said in Cape Girardeau.

To apply, a small-business owner must be headquartered in Missouri, have fewer than 100 employees, be in good standing with taxes, have no defaulted loans in the past and have no felony charges.

If they meet these criteria, they can apply to their bank for a loan and the bank can apply to the state treasurer's office for MOBUCK$. The office sends the same amount of money to the bank as a CD, but instead of asking for a market rate of return, it asks for about a 70% reduced rate. The difference is transferred to the beneficiary.

Malek started the program in January but had to shut it down in May because they had dispersed all $800 million allocated for MOBUCK$.

However, the program is restarting Tuesday, Jan. 2. Malek said bills will make their way through the state Legislature asking for an increase to the amount of money available.

"We hope it will go through this year. We are raising the limit from $800 million to $1.2 billion, so we will have hopefully a limit of $400 million into the program, which will keep us afloat for the rest of the year," he said.

Applicants can ask for as much as $5 million for any normal business operations. This was lowered from a $10 million cap earlier in the year so the money can reach additional businesses.

Malek said the average amount requested from January to May was approximately $250,000.

MOBUCK$ can only be sent to Missouri banks. Participating banks are listed on the state treasurer's website. Currently, Malek's office is working with more than 100 of them.

The treasurer called the program helpful for all parties involved. Beneficiaries get a lower interest rate, banks get an infusion of capital and while the state loses some revenue in the short-term, the businesses helped provide more tax revenue over time.

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