How Long Does a Deposit Stay Pending: Hold Times by Type

How long a deposit stays pending depends on what you deposited and how. Cash and wire transfers usually clear the same or next business day. Direct deposits and other electronic transfers post within one to two business days. Paper checks take longer, often two business days for local checks and up to five for out-of-region or riskier ones. Federal law guarantees that at least the first $275 of any check deposit is available by the next business day, no matter the check type.¹

Hold Times by Deposit Type

Cash

Cash handed to a teller at your own bank must be available no later than the next business day. Cash deposited at an ATM your bank owns follows the same rule. Cash dropped into an ATM owned by a different bank can take up to five business days to show as available.²

Wire Transfers

Wires normally land the same business day the receiving bank gets them. They settle through the Federal Reserve rather than through a batched clearing process, so they skip the multi-day pending window that checks and ACH transfers sit in.

Direct Deposits and ACH Transfers

Direct deposits from an employer or government agency, and other transfers routed through the Automated Clearing House network, generally post within one to two business days. Federal rules require that electronic payment deposits be available no later than the business day after the bank receives them.²

Peer-to-Peer Apps

Standard transfers from apps like Venmo or Cash App move through the ACH network and typically arrive in one to three business days. Most of these apps also offer instant transfers for a fee that bypass the batch process.

Mobile and ATM Check Deposits

A mobile check deposit through your bank’s app is convenient, but it does not qualify for the next-day rules that apply to checks handed to a teller. Regulation CC ties its fastest schedules to deposits made “in person to an employee” of the bank.³ Banks set their own remote-deposit policies. Many release a portion within one business day and the rest within two to three days, with longer holds common for large amounts or new accounts.

Checks deposited at your own bank’s ATM generally follow the branch schedule. Checks left at another bank’s ATM can be held up to five business days.⁴

Cashier’s, Payroll, and Government Checks

Certain check types are treated as lower risk and qualify for next-business-day availability when deposited in person: cashier’s checks, certified checks, teller’s checks, and government checks such as tax refunds or Social Security payments.⁵ Payroll checks arriving through direct deposit follow the electronic timeline and are generally available the next business day.⁶

Personal Checks

Personal checks have the longest standard holds. Under federal rules, a check drawn on a bank in the same processing region as yours must be available by the second business day after deposit. A check drawn on a bank in a different region can be held up to five business days.⁴ A check drawn on the same bank you deposit it at often clears faster, because the bank can verify the funds internally.

International Checks

Checks drawn on banks outside the United States fall outside Regulation CC, which only covers checks payable through a U.S. bank office.³ The bank sets its own policy for foreign checks. Holds of two to four weeks are common because collection runs through international clearing networks.

The Federal Maximum Hold Times

The Expedited Funds Availability Act, implemented through Regulation CC, sets the ceilings a bank cannot exceed without invoking a specific exception.³ Many banks release funds sooner. The thresholds, adjusted for inflation effective July 1, 2025, are:¹

The first $275 of a check deposit is available by the next business day, whatever the check type.
Cash and electronic payments are available by the next business day.
Local checks are fully available by the second business day after deposit.
Nonlocal checks are fully available by the fifth business day after deposit.

When a Bank Can Hold Your Deposit Longer

Regulation CC allows banks to extend hold times when specific risk factors are present. Whenever the bank invokes one of these exceptions, it must give you written notice stating the amount held, the reason, and the date the funds will be released.³

Large Deposits

When the checks you deposit in a single day add up to more than $6,725, the bank can place an extended hold on the portion above that threshold.¹ The extension adds up to five extra business days for local checks and up to six for nonlocal checks, on top of the standard schedule.⁷ A large nonlocal deposit can therefore be held up to eleven business days.

New Accounts

An account open fewer than 30 calendar days counts as new. Cash and electronic deposits still follow the standard next-day rule. Check deposits are treated differently: the first $6,725 in qualifying checks each day follows next-day rules, and anything above that can be held up to nine business days.¹ The new-account exception does not apply if you already had an account at the same bank for at least 30 days before opening the new one.

Repeatedly Overdrawn Accounts

Banks can extend holds when your account has a history of overdrafts. The exception applies if your balance was negative on six or more banking days in the past six months, or negative by $6,725 or more on at least two banking days in the past six months.⁷ Once either condition is met, extended holds can apply to all of your accounts for six months after the last overdraft.

Doubtful Checks

If the bank has a specific reason to believe a check will not clear, such as evidence of alteration or information about insufficient funds in the paying account, it can impose an extended hold. The written notice must state the specific reason.³

How Weekends, Holidays, and Cutoff Times Change the Math

Hold periods are counted in business days, meaning Monday through Friday and excluding federal holidays.⁸ A check dropped off Friday afternoon will not start its clock until Monday. A deposit made the Wednesday before a three-day weekend effectively loses those extra calendar days.

Banks also set daily cutoff times. Anything deposited after the cutoff is treated as received the next banking day. If your bank’s cutoff is 2:00 p.m. and you deposit at 3:00 p.m. Monday, the hold period starts counting from Tuesday.⁹ Cutoff times are usually posted in the deposit agreement and on the bank’s app or website.

The Risk of Spending a Pending Deposit

Some banks display a pending deposit in your total balance before the money is actually usable. The bank authorizes transactions against your available balance, not the total, so spending against the higher figure can trigger an overdraft fee.¹⁰

The bigger risk is a deposited check that bounces after the bank has already released part of the funds. A personal check can be returned unpaid days later. When that happens, the bank reverses the deposit and may add a returned-item fee. If you have already spent the money, the account goes negative and you owe the full amount plus fees. Waiting for a check to fully clear before spending large sums is the safest approach.

What to Do About a Hold You Think Is Wrong

Ask the bank to explain the hold in writing. When a bank invokes any exception, the law requires written notice with the specific reason and the release date.³ Compare the length against the federal ceilings above. A hold beyond those limits without a valid exception violates Regulation CC.

If the bank does not resolve the issue, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at consumerfinance.gov/complaint.¹¹ The CFPB forwards the complaint to the bank and requires a response. Depending on the type of institution, oversight may also fall to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC, or the National Credit Union Administration.

1
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks (Regulation CC) Threshold Adjustments
2
eCFR. 12 CFR Part 229 Subpart B – Availability of Funds and Disclosure of Funds Availability Policies
3
eCFR. 12 CFR Part 229 – Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks (Regulation CC)
4
eCFR. 12 CFR 229.12 – Availability Schedule
5
National Credit Union Administration. Expedited Funds Availability Act (Regulation CC)
6
HelpWithMyBank.gov. Can the Bank Place a Hold on a Payroll Check
7
eCFR. 12 CFR 229.13 – Exceptions
8
Federal Reserve. A Guide to Regulation CC Compliance
9
Federal Reserve. Applying Funds Availability Rules
10
HelpWithMyBank.gov. Can the Bank Charge an Overdraft Fee While There Is a Deposit Pending
11
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint