Check Hold Calculator (Regulation CC)

How Check Hold Dates Are Calculated

Regulation CC, the Federal Reserve rule that implements the Expedited Funds Availability Act, sets the latest day a bank can make deposited money available. The clock starts on the banking day of the deposit. Deposits made on a weekend, a holiday or after the bank’s cut-off count as made on the next business day. Per the CFPB, the cut-off can be no earlier than 2 p.m. at a branch and noon at an ATM. The rule then counts forward in business days.

• Next business day: cash deposited in person, electronic payments, and Treasury, government, cashier’s, certified and teller’s checks deposited in person. Also checks drawn on your own bank deposited at a branch, and the first $275 of other checks.
• Second business day: the rest of an ordinary check, and the next-day items above when deposited at your bank’s own ATM instead of in person.
• Fifth business day: anything deposited at another bank’s ATM.

Worked example. You deposit a $2,000 personal check with a teller on Monday, October 26, 2026. The bank must make $275 available by Tuesday, October 27, and the remaining $1,725 by Wednesday, October 28. It may delay cash withdrawals of that second-day money by one more business day, except for $550. Banks may release funds sooner; these dates are the legal maximums.

2025-2026 Dollar Amounts and the Exceptions

Regulation CC’s dollar amounts are adjusted for inflation every five years. The Federal Reserve Board and CFPB final rule published May 20, 2024 raised them effective July 1, 2025. The CFPB’s consumer Q&A page (reviewed August 2026) still shows the old $225 and $5,525, but the regulation and the Fed’s compliance guide use the new figures.

Exceptions let a bank hold longer, with a written notice that gives the reason and the release date (12 CFR 229.13):

• Large deposits: check deposits over $6,725 in one banking day; the excess can be held.
• New accounts: the first 30 days. Cash and electronic deposits stay next-day. Cashier’s and government checks get next-day treatment only for the first $6,725, with the rest by the ninth business day. Ordinary checks have no federal schedule.
• Redeposited checks that were returned unpaid. A check returned only for a missing endorsement or for being postdated is not covered.
• Repeated overdrafts: negative on 6 or more banking days in 6 months, or 2 days at $6,725 or more.
• Reasonable cause to doubt collectibility, and emergencies.

The “reasonable period” for an exception hold is 1 extra business day for checks on your own bank, 5 for local checks (7 in total) and 6 for nonproprietary-ATM deposits.

Business Days Under Regulation CC

A business day is any weekday except these days in 12 CFR 229.2(g):

• January 1, July 4, November 11 and December 25;
• the third Monday of January and of February;
• the last Monday of May;
• the first Monday of September and the second Monday of October;
• the fourth Thursday of November.

When January 1, July 4, November 11 or December 25 falls on a Sunday, the next Monday is also excluded. June 19 is not on the regulation’s list, so a bank open that day counts it, though one that closes treats it as a non-banking day for when a deposit is received.

Scenarios

Common Mistakes

• Counting calendar days. Weekends and Reg CC holidays don’t count, so a Friday deposit’s “second business day” is Tuesday.
• Depositing after the cut-off. A 6 p.m. deposit counts as the next banking day.
• Using another bank’s ATM. That deposit can take until the fifth business day.
• Spending a check that later bounces. Available funds are not final. If the check is returned, the bank takes the money back.
• Relying on mobile deposit timing. The CFPB notes banks may set a different schedule for mobile deposits; check your account agreement.

What This Calculator Does Not Cover

It gives the federal outer limits for a single deposit at a bank or credit union in the 50 states. It does not cover:

• Your bank’s own faster policy.
• Combining several deposits on one day toward the $275 and $6,725 limits.
• Emergency-condition holds.
• Longer schedules for some deposits in Alaska, Hawaii and the territories.
• State laws that require faster availability.
• Mobile deposit agreements.

If a bank holds funds longer than these rules allow, or without the required notice, complain first to the bank. Then complain to its regulator or the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Use This Calculator

1. Enter the deposit date and amount — weekends, holidays and after-cut-off deposits move to the next business day.
2. Pick what you deposited — an ordinary check, a check on your own bank, a cashier’s or government check, cash or an electronic payment.
3. Pick how you deposited it — teller, your bank’s own ATM, or another bank’s ATM.
4. Pick any exception — new account, redeposited check, repeated overdrafts or doubtful check; large deposits are detected automatically.