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Title 12 — Banks and BankingRelease 119-73

§342 Deposits; exchange and collection; member and nonmember banks or other depository institutions; charges

Title 12 › Chapter CHAPTER 3— - FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IX— - POWERS AND DUTIES OF FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS › § 342

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Federal Reserve banks may take deposits and payment items from their member banks, other depository institutions, and the United States. These can include cash, national-bank notes, Federal Reserve notes, checks, drafts payable when presented, and notes or bills that are due for collection. They can also, only for exchange or collection, accept similar items from other Federal Reserve banks or from nonmember banks and trust companies. Nonmember banks must keep a required balance with their district Federal Reserve bank. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System decides how big that balance must be and can consider items in transit, services the Fed provides, and other factors. Banks may charge reasonable fees for collecting or paying checks and drafts as the Board sets, but never more than 10 cents per $100 or fraction thereof. Federal Reserve banks cannot be charged those fees.

Full Legal Text

Title 12, §342

Banks and Banking — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Any Federal reserve bank may receive from any of its member banks, or other depository institutions, and from the United States, deposits of current funds in lawful money, national-bank notes, Federal reserve notes, or checks, and drafts, payable upon presentation or other items, and also, for collection, maturing notes and bills; or, solely for purposes of exchange or of collection may receive from other Federal reserve banks deposits of current funds in lawful money, national-bank notes, or checks upon other Federal reserve banks, and checks and drafts, payable upon presentation within its district or other items, and maturing notes and bills payable within its district; or, solely for the purposes of exchange or of collection, may receive from any nonmember bank or trust company or other depository institution deposits of current funds in lawful money, national-bank notes, Federal reserve notes, checks and drafts payable upon presentation or other items, or maturing notes and bills: Provided, Such nonmember bank or trust company or other depository institution maintains with the Federal Reserve bank of its district a balance in such amount as the Board determines taking into account items in transit, services provided by the Federal Reserve bank, and other factors as the Board may deem appropriate: Provided further, That nothing in this or any other section of this chapter shall be construed as prohibiting a member or nonmember bank or other depository institution from making reasonable charges, to be determined and regulated by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, but in no case to exceed 10 cents per $100 or fraction thereof, based on the total of checks and drafts presented at any one time, for collection or payment of checks and drafts and remission therefor by exchange or otherwise; but no such charges shall be made against the Federal reserve banks.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in text, was in the original “this Act”, meaning act Dec. 23, 1913, ch. 6, 38 Stat. 251, known as the Federal Reserve Act. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

References in Text

note set out under section 226 of this title and Tables. Codification Section is comprised of the first par. of section 13 of act Dec. 23, 1913. The second par., par. (3), and the fourth to eighth and tenth to fourteenth pars. of section 13 are classified to section 92, 343 to 347, 347c, 347d, 361, 372, and 373 of this title. For decision by U.S. Supreme Court that, despite faulty placement of quotation marks, act Sept. 7, 1916, placed within section 13 of act Dec. 23, 1913, each of the ten pars. located between the phrases that introduced the

Amendments

to section 13 and 14 of said act, that only the seventh par. (rather than seventh to tenth pars.) comprised the amended R.S. § 5202, and that section 20 of act Apr. 5, 1918 (40 Stat. 512) (which amended R.S. § 5202 comprised of a single par.), did not amend section 13 of said act so as to repeal the eighth to tenth pars., see United States National Bank of Oregon v. Independent Insurance Agents of America, Inc., et al., 508 U.S. 439, 113 S.Ct. 2173, 124 L.Ed. 2d 402 (1993). As the result of subsequent

Amendments

, such seventh to tenth pars. of section 13 now constitute the ninth to twelfth pars. The ninth par. amended former section 82 of this title, and the tenth to twelfth pars. are classified to section 361, 92, and 373, respectively, of this title.

Amendments

1980—Pub. L. 96–221 inserted references to other depository institutions and provisions respecting applicability to other items presented for payment, and substituted provisions setting forth items to constitute required balance to include items in transit, Federal Reserve bank services, and other appropriate factors, for provisions requiring the balance to be sufficient to offset items in transit held for the account of the bank.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

section 203(a) of act Aug. 23, 1935, changed name of Federal Reserve Board to Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Effective Date

of 1980 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–221 effective on first day of sixth month which begins after Mar. 31, 1980, see section 108 of Pub. L. 96–221, set out as a note under section 248 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

12 U.S.C. § 342

Title 12 — Banks and Banking

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73