A bank account opened this month is treated differently from one opened years ago when a check is deposited. Regulation CC, the Federal Reserve Board’s funds-availability rule, defines a new account as one in its first 30 calendar days. During that window, the bank may hold part of a check deposit for as long as the ninth business day.
The 30-day clock in 12 CFR 229.13(a)
The definition sits in the new-account exception of 12 CFR 229.13. The text reads: “An account is considered a new account during the first 30 calendar days after the account is established.” The count is in calendar days, so weekends and holidays are included, unlike the business-day counts used for holds themselves.
The clock runs from the day the account is established, not from the day of any particular deposit. A deposit made on day 29 falls inside the window; one made on day 31 does not. The regulation also carries a qualifier: an account is not new when an account holder already had another account at the same bank within the prior 30 days. A customer who simply opens a second account at a bank where a first one has been held for years is not pushed back into new-account treatment on that basis.
Where the ninth business day applies
For a new account, the regulation gives the bank a defined amount of funds that receive the standard availability treatment, and a limit for everything above it. The rule provides for the first “$6,725 of funds deposited on any one banking day,” with the excess to be available “not later than the ninth business day.” The figure is measured per banking day, not per month and not per account lifetime.
The wording matters. The ninth business day is an outer limit, set by the regulation as the latest point at which a bank may keep the excess out of reach. It is not a standard schedule that banks must apply,. The rule sets the ceiling; each bank’s own funds-availability policy, disclosed to customers, decides where in that range a given deposit lands.
Because business days are counted instead of calendar days, a deposit’s ninth business day lands well over a calendar week after the deposit.
What the new-account exception leaves alone
The exception is aimed at the risk attached to check deposits, which can be returned unpaid days after the money appears in an account. It does not slow every kind of deposit. Under the section, cash and electronic payments in a new account are still available the next business day, so a paycheck sent by direct deposit or a cash deposit made at a teller is not pulled into the nine-day window simply because the account is young.
The same section contains a separate large-deposit exception. It provides that two other availability provisions, sections 229.10(c) and 229.12, do not apply to the portion of deposits “in excess of $6,725 on any one banking day.” The same dollar figure therefore anchors both the new-account tier and the large-deposit tier, which is why the number appears in more than one place in the section.
How the $6,725 figure got there
The dollar threshold is not fixed. The amount has changed before. The final rule published in the Federal Register on May 20, 2024 raised the new-account figure from $5,525 to $6,725. The rule states that “this final rule is effective July 1, 2025.” The eCFR text, current as of September 30, 2026, carries the $6,725 figure today.
The practical effect of the increase is that a larger share of a new account holder’s deposits falls inside the standard treatment before the extended hold can apply. A customer depositing a single check below the threshold on one banking day sits inside the tier; a deposit above it puts the excess in the range running to the ninth business day.
Timing questions that arise in the first month
Because the window is short, the interaction between account age and deposit date produces most of the confusion. An account opened on the first of a month has its new-account period end 30 calendar days later, and a large check deposited near the end of that period may still be treated under the exception even though the customer has held the account for most of a month. The reverse also holds: a deposit made on the 31st day is outside the exception entirely.
The ninth business day is likewise counted from the deposit, not from account opening. Two clocks therefore run at once in the first month. One decides whether the exception applies at all, and the other decides when held funds must be released.
The regulation text itself, the eCFR page for section 229.13 maintained from the Federal Reserve Board’s rule, is the controlling reference for each of these points. As of September 30, 2026, it states the 30-calendar-day definition, the $6,725 per banking day figure and the ninth business day limit exactly as described here.
When a young bank account is frozen or garnished
This kit is for people whose bank account has been frozen or hit by a creditor, including federal-benefit recipients, and who need to know what to do next.
The Bank Account & Debt Protection Kit includes the frozen-account response and a protected-funds and dispute log, which together give a reader a set of steps to follow and a record to keep when funds are tied up.
Open the frozen-account response and protected-funds log →
This article was produced with AI assistance and checked against the primary sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
