What are Federal Reserve Holidays?
The Federal Reserve performs a variety of functions within the US economy. While the monetary policy arm of the Fed generates the majority of the media attention with the movement of interest rates, the processing side of the Fed has a substantially larger impact to the everyday consumer.
The Federal Reserve has five general functions which you can find here: https://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/structure-federal-reserve-system.htm. For consumers, on a day to day basis, however, the largest function are all the checks, ACH, and wires that are processed through the Federal Reserve Banks. Every check you deposit, direct deposit you receive, or bill you pay, processes through the Federal Reserve system. As a result, when they take a day off it can cause some confusion and problems moving money around the system.
The Federal Reserve takes a standard set of holidays every year (You can see the full list here: https://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/k8.htm). Most banks and credit unions observe the same holidays since they are unable to exchange funds between institutions on days when the Fed is closed. IAA Credit Union is closed most Fed holidays, but for the convenience of its members remains open for a few of them. Even though we are open to answer questions and process transactions, inter-institution processing cannot occur because the fed is closed. That means that ACH (direct deposit) and wires cannot be processed until the Fed reopens, typically the following day.
While you as a consumer can’t receive your direct deposit or wire money on a Fed holiday, modern banking does provide you some options. ATMs and Mobile Deposit allow you to make deposits even when the Fed is closed. In addition, Debit and Credit cards operate independently of Fed processing allowing you to make purchases and transfer money even when the Fed is closed.
Learn more about the Federal Reserve at: www.federalreserve.gov
See IAACU’s holiday schedule here: https://www.iaacu.org/member-services/about-iaacu/events