How long can a bank or credit union hold funds I deposited?

In general, the following deposits must be made available by the next business day:

• Cash deposited in-person
• Checks for $225 or less deposited in-person
• Electronic payments (wire transfers and ACH deposits)
• Government, cashier's, and certified checks deposited in-person or at the institution's ATMs
• Personal checks deposited in-person and drawn from the same institution

Your bank or credit union has a cut-off time for what it considers the end of the business day. If you make a deposit after the cut-off time, the bank or credit union can treat your deposit as if it was made on the next business day. A bank or credit union’s cut-off time for receiving deposits can be no earlier than 2:00 p.m. at physical locations and no earlier than noon at an ATM or elsewhere.

In general, banks or credit unions may hold deposits more than one business day if:

• The account has been open for less than 30 days
• The account has been overdrawn too many times in the last six months (check your bank for specific policies)
• If you made a deposit at an ATM owned by another institution
• The bank believes the deposited check may be uncollectible
• The bank suspects fraud
• There's an unexpected outage or emergency situation like a natural disaster
• You deposit a check for more than $5,525 (see below)

When you deposit a check for more than $5,525:

• $225 must be available the next business day
• Amounts up to $5,525 must be available within two business days if the deposited check is a local check
• Amounts over $5,525 are generally available within seven business days