A bank that holds a deposited check one business day longer than the normal schedule allows is still not free to hold everything. Under federal rules for check holds, the bank must make $550 of the deposited funds available as cash, or by a similar means, no later than 5:00 p.m. on a set day. The $550 floor sits in a single paragraph of Regulation CC, and the wording of that paragraph decides when the clock runs out and what counts as handing the money over.
The extra business day in 12 CFR 229.12(d)
Regulation CC sets the ordinary schedule for checks. Under 12 CFR 229.12, funds from local checks must be available for withdrawal not later than the second business day after the banking day of the deposit, and funds from nonlocal checks not later than the fifth business day. Those are the outer limits for the checks the section covers.
Paragraph (d) adds a flexibility for the bank. It reads that a depositary bank “may extend by one business day the time that funds deposited in an account by one or more checks subject to paragraphs (b), (c), or (f) of this section are available for withdrawal by cash or similar means.” In plain terms, the bank can push the cash-withdrawal date back one business day beyond the schedule, while the same funds stay available for other uses on the regular timetable.
The extension applies to checks subject to paragraphs (b), (c) or (f) of the section. It is a rule about withdrawing cash, not a general license to hold a deposit longer.
The $550 cash floor and the 5 p.m. deadline
The same paragraph then limits the extension. The text states that a depositary bank “shall, however, make $550 of these funds available for withdrawal by cash or similar means not later than 5:00 p.m. on the business day on which the funds are available under paragraphs (b), (c), or (f) of this section.”
That wording ties the 5 p.m. deadline to the day the funds would be available under the ordinary schedule, which is the day before the extended cash date. An illustration of the text: a local check deposited on a Monday falls under the second-business-day limit, which points to Wednesday. If the bank takes the extra business day, the full cash date moves to Thursday, but $550 must be available by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The business-day counting in the example follows the regulation’s own terms; the dates are hypothetical.
The floor is also a ceiling on the delay, not a promise of the whole deposit. A customer who deposits a check for more than $550 may find the balance subject to the extra day, while the first $550 must be reachable within the deadline.
What counts as cash or similar means
The paragraph does not require paper currency in every case. It says that “similar means include electronic payment, issuance of a cashier’s or teller’s check, or certification of a check, or other irrevocable commitment to pay.” A bank can therefore meet the floor by issuing a cashier’s check or sending an electronic payment, so long as the commitment is irrevocable.
One exclusion appears in the same sentence. Similar means “do not include the granting of credit to a bank, a Federal Reserve Bank, or a Federal Home Loan Bank that presents a check to the depositary bank for payment.” That language concerns how banks settle with one another, and it keeps a credit between institutions from being treated as the customer’s cash.
The $550 stacks on the $275
The paragraph closes with a sentence that matters for the total: “This $550 is in addition to the $275 available under § 229.10(c)(1)(vii).” The regulation itself states the addition; it is not a figure derived by the bank or by commentators. A depositor in the situation the rule describes can therefore be entitled to both amounts, for a combined $825 under the two provisions read together.
The $275 comes from a separate part of the regulation and is covered elsewhere; the point here is only that paragraph (d) says the two do not replace each other.
Where the $550 figure came from
The dollar figure is recent. The Federal Reserve Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau adjusted the Regulation CC amounts in a final rule published in the Federal Register on May 20, 2024. That rule raised the cash amount in this paragraph from $450 to $550, and it states that “this final rule is effective July 1, 2025.” The adjustment rests on a 21.8 percent increase in consumer prices, measured by the CPI, from July 2018 to July 2023.
The electronic CFR text, shown as current as of September 29, 2026, carries the $550 figure and the 5:00 p.m. deadline in paragraph (d). The page lists its last amendment as May 20, 2024, which matches the final rule that set the number.
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AI assistance was used in producing this article, which was reviewed against the official documents it cites.
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.
