402
Opinion of the Court
petitioner relies, by their own terms, apply only to § 547(c), not to § 547(b). Section 547(c), in turn, establishes various exceptions to § 547(b)'s general rule permitting recovery of preferential transfers. Subsection (c)(1) provides an exception for transfers that are part of a contemporaneous exchange of new value between a debtor and creditor; subsection (c)(2) provides an exception for transfers made from debtor to creditor in the ordinary course of business. These sections are designed to encourage creditors to continue to deal with troubled debtors on normal business terms by obviating any worry that a subsequent bankruptcy filing might require the creditor to disgorge as a preference an earlier received payment. But given this specialized purpose, we see no basis for concluding that the legislative history, particularly legislative history explicitly confined by its own terms to § 547(c), should cause us to adopt a "date of delivery" rule for purposes of § 547(b).9
9 Those Courts of Appeals to have considered the issue are unanimous in concluding that a "date of delivery" rule should apply to check payments for purposes of § 547(c). Braniff Airways, Inc. v. Midwest Corp., 873 F. 2d 805 (CA5 1989); In re Continental Commodities, Inc., 841 F. 2d 527 (CA4 1988); In re Wolf & Vine, 825 F. 2d 197 (CA9 1987); In re Kenitra, Inc., 797 F. 2d 790 (CA9 1986); In re White River Corp., 799 F. 2d 631 (CA10 1986); and O'Neill v. Nestle Libbys P. R., Inc., 729 F. 2d 35 (CA1 1984). A few Bankruptcy Courts and District Courts have disagreed. See, e. g., In re Hartwig Poultry, Inc., 56 B. R. 332 (Bkrtcy. Ct. ND Ohio 1985). We, of course, express no views on that issue, which is not properly before us. We do note, however, that § 547(c)(2) has undergone significant change since the time of Representative Edwards' and Senator DeConcini's comments. Section 547(c)(2) previously had a requirement that, in order for a payment by the debtor to qualify as a payment in the ordinary course of business, the payment had to have been made within 45 days of when the underlying debt was first incurred. That requirement has since been eliminated. See Union Bank v. Wolas, 502 U. S. 151, 156-157 (1991). This in turn may mean that, in the context of a check payment, there is now less need to precisely date the time when a check transfer occurs for purposes of § 547(c)(2). That is, rather than inquiring whether a transfer occurred on the 45th day or the 46th, courts now need only focus on whether the transfer was made in the ordinary course of business. Id.,
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