• Bank reserves are the minimum amounts of cash that banks are required to keep on hand in case of unexpected demand.

  • Excess reserves are extra cash that the bank keeps on hand and refuses to lend.
  • Bank reserves are kept in order to prevent panic that could arise if customers discover that the bank does not have enough cash to meet urgent needs.
  • Bank reserves may be held in on-site vault or sent to a larger bank or regional Federal Reserve banking institution.
  • Historically, the reserve ratio for US banks has been set at zero to 10%.