As used in this subpart, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) Account means an account on the books of a Federal Reserve Bank. A subaccount is an informational record of a subset of transactions that affect an account and is not a separate account.

(b) Actually and finally collected funds means cash or any other form of payment that is, or has become, final and irrevocable.

(c) Administrative Reserve Bank with respect to an entity means the Reserve Bank in whose District the entity is located, as determined under the procedure described in §204.3(g) of this chapter (Regulation D), even if the entity is not otherwise subject to that section.

(d) Bank means any person engaged in the business of banking. A branch or separate office of a bank is a separate bank to the extent provided in the Uniform Commercial Code.

(e) Bank draft means a check drawn by one bank on another bank.

(f) Banking day means the part of a day on which a bank is open to the public for carrying on substantially all of its banking functions.

(g) Cash item means—

(1) A check other than one classified as a noncash item under this section; or

(2) Any other item payable on demand and collectible at par that the Reserve Bank that receives the item is willing to accept as a cash item. Cash item does not include a returned check.

(h) Check means a check or an electronic check, as those terms are defined in §229.2 of this chapter (Regulation CC).

(i) Item.

(1) Means—

(i) An instrument or a promise or order to pay money, whether negotiable or not, that is—

(A) Payable in a Federal Reserve District1 (District);

(B) Sent by a sender to a Reserve Bank for handling under this subpart; and

(C) Collectible in funds acceptable to the Reserve Bank of the District in which the instrument is payable; or

(ii) A check.

(2) Unless otherwise indicated, item includes both a cash and a noncash item, and includes a returned check sent by a paying or returning bank. Item does not include a check that cannot be collected at par, or a payment order as defined in §210.26(i) and handled under subpart B of this part. The term also does not include an electronically-created item as defined in §229.2 of this chapter (Regulation CC).

(j) Nonbank payor means a payor of an item, other than a bank.

(k) Noncash item means an item that a receiving Reserve Bank classifies in its operating circulars as requiring special handling. The term also means an item normally received as a cash item if a Reserve Bank decides that special conditions require that it handle the item as a noncash item.

(l) Paying bank means—

(1) The bank by which an item is payable unless the item is payable or collectible at or through another bank and is sent to the other bank for payment or collection;

(2) The bank at or through which an item is payable or collectible and to which it sent for payment or collection; or

(3) The bank whose routing number appears on a check in the MICR line or in fractional form (or in the MICR-line information that accompanies an electronic item) and to which the check is sent for payment or collection.

(m) Returned check means a cash item returned by a paying bank, including an electronic returned check as defined in §229.2 of this chapter (Regulation CC) and a notice of nonpayment in lieu of a returned check, whether or not a Reserve Bank handled the check for collection.

(n) Sender means any of the following entities that sends an item to a Reserve Bank for forward collection—

(1) A depository institution, as defined in section 19(b) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 461(b));

(2) A member bank, as defined in section 1 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 221);

(3) A clearing institution, defined as—

(i) An institution that is not a depository institution but that maintains with a Reserve Bank the balance referred to in the first paragraph of section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 342); or

(ii) A corporation that maintains an account with a Reserve Bank in conformity with §211.4 of this chapter (Regulation K);

(4) Another Reserve Bank;

(5) An international organization for which a Reserve Bank is empowered to act as depositary or fiscal agent and maintains an account;

(6) A foreign correspondent, defined as any of the following entities for which a Reserve Bank maintains an account: A foreign bank or banker, a foreign state as defined in section 25(b) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 632), or a foreign correspondent or agency referred to in section 14(e) of that act (12 U.S.C. 358); or

(7) A branch or agency of a foreign bank maintaining reserves under section 7 of the International Banking Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 347d, 3105).

(o) State means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or a territory, possession, or dependency of the United States.

(p) Clock hour and clock half-hour.

(1) Clock hour means a time that is on the hour, such as 1:00, 2:00, etc.

(2) Clock half-hour means a time that is on the half-hour, such as 1:30, 2:30, etc.

(q) Fedwire Funds Service and Fedwire have the same meaning as that set forth in §210.26(e).

(r) Uniform Commercial Code and U.C.C. mean the Uniform Commercial Code as adopted in a state.

(s) Terms not defined in this section. Unless the context otherwise requires—

(1) The terms not defined herein have the meanings set forth in §229.2 of this chapter applicable to subpart C or D of part 229 of this chapter (Regulation CC), as appropriate; and

(2) The terms not defined herein or in §229.2 of this chapter have the meanings set forth in the Uniform Commercial Code.

[45 FR 68634, Oct. 16, 1980, as amended at 46 FR 42059, Aug. 19, 1981; 51 FR 21744, June 16, 1986; 53 FR 21984, June 13, 1988; 57 FR 46955, Oct. 14, 1992; Reg. J, 59 FR 22965, May 4, 1994; 62 FR 48171, Sept. 15, 1997; Reg. J, 69 FR 62557, Oct. 27, 2004; 77 FR 21858, Apr. 12, 2012; 79 FR 72111, Dec. 5, 2014; 79 FR 72111, Dec. 5, 2014; 83 FR 61517, Nov. 30, 2018]