Last summer, a widespread scam convinced thousands of America that the government had created a “secret” bank account for them that could be tapped to pay bills. Would-be customers used Federal Reserve routing numbers over 100,000 times, attempting to execute transactions. “The Federal Reserve provides banking services only for banks,” the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta was compelled to announce in a statement. “Individuals do not have accounts at the Federal Reserve.”

But a new report co-authored by two Treasury Department veterans, “Central Banking for All: A Public Option for Bank Accounts,” argues that Americans should have an account at the Federal Reserve, just as banks do. They believe this would solve a vast array of problems at once, ensuring that everyone is included in the financial system, driving down retail costs for businesses and consumers, and even making recessions less likely.

Morgan Ricks and Lev Menand, who worked in the Obama administration, and John Crawford, a law professor at UC-Hastings, call their idea FedAccount. These personal accounts would operate like the accounts that commercial banks already have with the Fed—with all the attendant privileges. Whereas the average checking account draws 0.05 percent, federal reserve accounts earn interest equivalent to the federal funds rate—currently 1.75 percent. Americans wait up to two days for a check to clear, but thanks to the Fed, banks can instantly transfer money to each other. And while personal bank accounts are only guaranteed through the FDIC up to $250,000, Fed accounts can never default, no matter how large the account balance, because it’s the central bank that prints America’s money.

“The time has come to end this special privilege of banks,” the authors write. Every American, every business, every institution would have the option of a FedAccount, with all the functionality of a normal bank account, like debit cards, direct deposit, online bill pay, and mobile banking, and no chance of default. The authors see the U.S. Postal Service’s 31,000 locations nationwide as a good place to locate ATMs and provide teller services for deposits and withdrawals.

This would be offered as a free public service; nobody could be turned away for a minimum balance or any other reason. That means the 33.5 million Americans with little or no access to the financial system would suddenly have a stable bank account, which is critical to modern life. This would eliminate the need for check-cashing stores or prepaid debit cards, services that often charge exorbitant fees. Everyone would enjoy higher interest rates, transferring an enormous windfall from banks to the people. Americans wouldn’t have to subject themselves to banks with predatory sales practices such as signing them up for fake accounts, which, as federal bank regulators revealed last week, was not limited to Wells Fargo.