In most cases, a check should clear within one or two business days. There are a few cases in which a check might be held for longer, such as if it's a large deposit amount or an international check.
Usually, you'll have access to your direct deposit at the opening of business on your payday — by 9 a.m. In many cases, direct deposits hit accounts even earlier, often between midnight and 6 a.m. on payday morning. But there are factors that can affect how long it takes your direct deposit to become available.
Knowing when your check is going to clear can be tricky, we want to give you some insight on what to expect. Generally, we finish processing the current business day's transactions, and updating account balances, by 8 a.m. CT on the next business day.
Most transactions post at the end of each business day but posting order and times can vary. Business days for banks are generally Monday - Friday from 9am to 5pm, excluding federal holidays. Transactions received outside of these hours, including on weekends, are usually posted on the next business day.
Pending transactions are payments that would normally go into or out of your account within 7 days. When you use a debit card to pay for something, it reduces the available balance in your current account. Similarly, when you use a credit card to pay for something, it increases your available balance.
Generally, a bank must make the first $225 from the deposit available—for either cash withdrawal or check writing purposes—at the start of the next business day after the banking day that the deposit is made. The rest of the deposit should generally be available on the second business day.
The Federal Reserve has set baseline rules for check deposits: The first $225 must be available the next business day, while amounts from $226 to $5,525 must be available within two business days after the deposit, and amounts of over $5,525 generally should be accessible on the seventh business day.
Funds deposited before 9:00 p.m. ET on a business day will generally be available the next business day. Funds deposited before 8:00 p.m. PT on a business day will generally be available the next business day.
This is because some financial institutions update their accounts a few hours after midnight. However, most banks complete the direct deposit before 6 a.m., allowing many consumers to wake up the next day with the funds sitting in their accounts.
What time your direct deposit hits depends on the financial institution. Most recipients can expect their direct deposits to be available by 9 a.m. on payday, with many banks allowing funds to be released between midnight and 6 a.m. If your bank allows for the funds to be released sooner, you'll see them then.
The bank that fails to observe the stroke of midnight on the day after dishonoring presentment of a check is strictly liable to settle the transaction in favor of the payee. However, the party seeking payment must first have standing to enforce the midnight deadline rule against the dishonoring bank.
Only a handful of banks, such as PNC, KeyBank and Fifth Third Bank, offer immediate check deposit availability.
Generally, funds are verified within 24 to 48 hours of the transaction being initiated. If the payer has the funds available in their checking account, the transaction is typically cleared within three to five business days and the funds are moved to the payee's account.
Example: If a bank is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, then those hours are considered the bank's banking day. If a customer makes a deposit at 6:00 pm on Friday, it will not be processed until the next banking day, which would be Monday.
If you're concerned about processing times, ask your bank "How long does it take for a check to clear?" Your teller or customer service representative can review the details of your check and let you know if you should expect any delays and how long before your funds are available.
By 11.59pm on the working day after we receive the cheque. When will the payment be available for you to use? From 11.59pm on the working day after we receive the cheque, at the latest.
For tender offers, the SEC takes the position that a “business day” means “any day, other than Saturday, Sunday or a federal holiday, and shall consist of the time period from 12:01 a.m. through 12:00 midnight Eastern time.”
The short answer is that you'll typically be able to access a direct deposit by 9 a.m. on the morning of your payday and sometimes as early as midnight.
A bank may hold a check longer if it's an unusual deposit, such as if you've never deposited a check from that payer before. A check may take also longer to clear if it's for a larger amount or is from an international bank. Checks from foreign banks usually require longer hold times because they take longer to verify.
Banks may establish different cut-off hours for different types of deposits, as well as for deposits made at different locations. Generally, the cut-off hour may not be earlier than 2 p.m. for deposits made in person at a bank branch, and not earlier than noon for deposits at off-site locations such as ATMs.
Banks must report your deposit to the federal government if it's more than $10,000 to alert the federal government to monitor for potential financial crime.
A pending transaction is a recent authorised card transaction that is waiting to be processed by the merchant and can take up to 28 days but normally takes 2/3 days to clear onto your balance. Once a pending transaction has cleared, it will appear below in your list of cleared transactions.
Most types of checks clear within two business days, though some banks and credit unions are speedier (jump to a list of banks that clear checks faster). Usually the first $200 of a check is made available the business day after the bank receives the check.
Key Takeaways
While the day cycle for processing ACH transfers is 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST, the night cycle usually runs from 10:00 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. The network is set up to process a large number of payments, from payroll and vendor payments to utility bills.