In US banking, a business day is any Monday to Friday that is not a Federal Reserve holiday. Saturdays, Sundays and the 11 federal holidays the Federal Reserve observes are not business days for the payment systems, so a payment, deposit hold or “3 to 5 business days” promise does not move forward on those days. When a holiday falls on a Saturday, the Friday before it is still a business day for payments, because the Reserve Banks stay open.
What is a business day in banking?
What are business days for your bank? They are the days on which the payment systems between banks run. FedACH, the Federal Reserve’s ACH service, which carries many direct deposits and bank transfers, settles payments on business days only, according to the FedACH processing schedule. The Fedwire Funds Service treats Saturdays, Sundays and holidays observed by the Federal Reserve Banks as non-business days, and every other calendar day as a business day.
The Federal Reserve holiday schedule sets two weekend rules:
- A holiday on a Sunday closes the Reserve Banks on the Monday after, for example on Monday, July 5, 2027.
- A holiday on a Saturday does not close them on a weekday. The Reserve Banks are open the Friday before; only the Board of Governors closes. Friday, June 18, 2027 (Juneteenth falls on Saturday, June 19) is therefore a business day for payments.
The federal government handles Saturday holidays differently. Federal offices close on that Friday, as the Office of Personnel Management explains. If a deadline depends on a federal agency, that Friday is a day off.
Business day vs banking day
Regulation CC, the federal rule on how fast banks must make deposited funds available, defines both terms in 12 CFR 229.2:
- A business day “means a calendar day other than a Saturday or a Sunday” and other than a list of federal holidays (New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day). If one of the fixed-date holidays falls on a Sunday, the next Monday is not a business day either.
- A banking day “means that part of any business day on which an office of a bank is open to the public for carrying on substantially all of its banking functions.”
So banking days are a narrower idea: a business day on which your bank’s office is actually open for its normal work. If a bank closes a branch on a business day, that day is not a banking day for that office. Under 12 CFR 229.19, a deposit made on a day that is not a banking day, or after the bank’s cut-off hour, can be treated as received on the next banking day, and funds-availability holds are counted from there.
One detail: the holiday list in the regulation, as published on eCFR in October 2026, does not name Juneteenth (June 19), which became a federal holiday in 2021. The Reserve Banks close on Juneteenth, so no ACH or Fedwire payments settle that day. If a hold on your deposit runs over June 19, ask your bank how it counts the day.
Does Saturday count as a business day?
No, not in banking. Saturday is excluded by the Regulation CC definition above, and FedACH and Fedwire do not settle payments on Saturdays. Under that definition, a Saturday is not a banking day either, even if your branch opens that morning, because a banking day has to be part of a business day. A deposit you make on a Saturday can be treated as received on Monday, or on Tuesday if Monday is a holiday.
Some things do move on weekends. Card payments and transfers between two accounts at the same bank can post on a Saturday, depending on the bank. The Federal Reserve’s FedNow Service for instant payments runs 24 hours a day, every day, including weekends and holidays, when both banks offer it. For weekend branch hours, check your own bank.
What “3-5 business days” means
“3-5 business days” means the money or package should arrive no earlier than the third and no later than the fifth business day after the day it was sent. The sending day is not counted, and weekends and holidays are skipped.
Take a transfer started on Monday, November 23, 2026, the week of Thanksgiving:
| Business day | Date |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tuesday, November 24 |
| 2 | Wednesday, November 25 |
| — | Thursday, November 26 (Thanksgiving Day, skipped) |
| 3 | Friday, November 27 |
| 4 | Monday, November 30 |
| 5 | Tuesday, December 1 |
So “3-5 business days” from November 23 means between Friday, November 27 and Tuesday, December 1, 2026. Without the holiday, the window would have ended on Monday, November 30. A request made after the sender’s daily cut-off time usually counts as made on the next business day, which can push the window back by one more day.
The business days calculator does this count for any date, using the same Federal Reserve calendar.
Other meanings of “business day”
Outside banking, the term depends on who uses it:
- Shipping and retail. A seller’s “business days” are the days it processes orders, and a carrier’s are the days it moves packages. Some count Saturdays; some skip holidays the Federal Reserve does not observe, or work on ones it does.
- Contracts and legal deadlines. A contract, lease or court rule can define a business day in its own terms. Read the definition in the document; it decides the count, not the bank calendar.
- Federal agencies. Deadlines set by a federal agency can follow the federal government’s holiday calendar, including the Friday before a Saturday holiday; check the agency’s rule.
How many business days are in a year?
By the Federal Reserve calendar, 2026 has 251 business days, 2027 has 252 and 2028 has 251. The number changes with how many weekdays the year has and how many holidays fall on a weekend. The bank holidays by year page compares the years, and the 2027 bank holidays page shows business days per month: