Increasingly, participants in the fed funds markets do not hold balances at the Federal Reserve (e.g., commercial banks that do not belong to the Federal Reserve System). In this case, the fed funds transaction is settled in immediately available funds–fed funds on deposit at the lending bank that may be transferred or withdrawn with no delay. A federal funds broker, typically a commercial bank, matches up institutions using a telecommunications network that links federal funds brokers with participating institutions.

Upon maturity of the fed funds loan, the borrowing bank’s fed funds demand deposit account at the lending bank is debited for the total value of the loan and the borrowing bank pays the lending bank an interest payment for the use of the fed funds. Most of these fed funds transactions are for more than $5 million (they averaged around $40 million in the 2010s) and usually have a one- to seven-day maturity? LO.1