Is Saturday a Business Day?
Usually no. In the U.S., "business days" in a shipping estimate, a bank hold or a contract normally means Monday to Friday. But that is a habit, not one law. Several federal rules write their own definition, and two of them count Saturday.
| Where the deadline comes from | Does Saturday count? | Official text |
|---|---|---|
| Bank deposit holds (when your money must be available) | No, never | 12 CFR 229.2(g) |
| Mortgage and home-equity cancellation (right of rescission), Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure timing | Yes | 12 CFR 1026.2(a)(6) |
| Canceling a sale made at your home (FTC cooling-off rule) | Yes | 16 CFR 429.0(f) |
| Bank error and unauthorized-transfer claims | Only if the bank is open that Saturday for substantially all business | 12 CFR 1005.2(d) |
| Other loan rules in Regulation Z | Only if the lender's offices are open that Saturday for substantially all business | 12 CFR 1026.2(a)(6) |
| Federal court deadlines stated in days | Every day counts, but a deadline can't end on a Saturday | Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a) |
| A contract, a store policy, a shipping promise | Whatever the document says; Monday to Friday if it says nothing | The document itself |
Applies to: U.S. federal rules, worked on the 2026 calendar. Last updated: October 2026.
Does Saturday count as a business day? Why the answer changes
A business day is a counting rule. It isn't a description of who is open. A bank can unlock its doors on Saturday morning, a carrier can drop a box on your porch, and Saturday can still be skipped in the count that decides your deadline.
So the useful question is narrower: which rule is counting? Find the rule that sets your deadline, then read its definition. The sections below quote each one and say what happens when a deadline lands on a Saturday.
Banks: deposit holds never count Saturday
Definition. Regulation CC, which caps how long a bank may hold your deposit, says a business day is "a calendar day other than a Saturday or a Sunday" and the federal holidays it lists (12 CFR 229.2(g)). It adds a second word, banking day: the part of a business day when an office is open for "substantially all of its banking functions" (229.2(f)).
Saturday. A banking day has to be a business day. Saturday never is one, so Saturday is never a banking day either, even at a branch that is fully staffed. A deposit made on a day that isn't a banking day "may be considered deposited on the next banking day" (229.19(a)(5)).
Exceptions. Note the word may, and the phrase "not later than" in the availability rules (229.10). Regulation CC sets the slowest a bank is allowed to be. It doesn't stop a bank from posting a Friday deposit on Saturday. That is why one bank's "next business day" can show up on a Saturday while another's waits for Monday. Both can be inside the rule.
The Federal Reserve's own holiday schedule differs from the federal-office calendar on Fridays before a Saturday holiday; that difference is covered on bank business days and not repeated here.
Same bank, same Saturday, a different answer
Regulation E, which governs electronic transfers and your error claims, defines a business day another way: "any day on which the offices of the consumer's financial institution are open to the public for carrying on substantially all business functions" (12 CFR 1005.2(d)). No weekday list. No Saturday ban.
Put the two side by side. If your bank runs full service on Saturdays, that Saturday is not a business day for holding your check, yet it can be one for the clock on an electronic-transfer dispute. Teller lines alone don't settle it; the test is "substantially all" business. When an error claim's timing matters, ask the bank which days it treats as business days under Regulation E, and get the answer in writing.
Mortgages and home-equity loans: Saturday counts
Definition. Regulation Z has a general definition, a day the creditor's offices are open for substantially all business. Then it switches. For the right of rescission and for Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure timing, a business day means "all calendar days except Sundays and the legal public holidays specified in 5 U.S.C. 6103(a)" (12 CFR 1026.2(a)(6)).
Saturday. It counts. A three-day cancellation window that crosses a weekend loses only Sunday. You may cancel "until midnight of the third business day" after the last of the triggering events (1026.23(a)(3)), and a mailed notice counts when it is mailed (1026.23(a)(2)). A Saturday at the post office is a Saturday that counts.
Exceptions. The Saturday-inclusive meaning applies only to the sections Regulation Z names. Everywhere else in the regulation, the lender's own open days decide.
Sales made at your home: Saturday counts
Definition. The FTC cooling-off rule defines a business day as "any calendar day except Sunday or any federal holiday" (16 CFR 429.0(f)).
Saturday. It counts. The buyer may cancel "at any time prior to midnight of the third business day after the date of this transaction" (429.1). If you count that window Monday to Friday out of habit, you will think you have a day more than you do.
Exceptions. The rule covers sales made somewhere other than the seller's place of business, such as your home, your workplace or a hotel room, with minimum prices of $25 at your home and $130 elsewhere (429.0(a)). Whether your purchase is covered is a separate question from how the days are counted.
Court deadlines: all days count, but none can end on Saturday
Definition. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure don't use business days for periods stated in days. You exclude the trigger day and "count every day, including intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays" (Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a)(1)).
Saturday. In the middle of a period, Saturday counts like any day. At the end, it can't be the last day: "the period continues to run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday."
Exceptions. A statute, local rule or court order can set a different method. State courts have their own rules.
Banking law that names Saturday outright
The Expedited Funds Availability Act, the statute behind Regulation CC, says it plainly: "the term 'business day' means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday" (12 U.S.C. 4001(3)). Its scope line reads "for purposes of this chapter," so it governs check-hold timing, not every banking question.
Shipping, refunds and customer service
No federal rule defines business days for a store's processing time or a carrier's transit estimate. The seller's policy decides. Delivery and counting are different things: USPS lists "no surcharges for … Saturday delivery" for Priority Mail, yet a seller who "ships within 2 business days" can still skip Saturday when counting its own handling time.
Two traps show up again and again. A tracking page that says "next business day" after a missed Friday attempt may mean Saturday or Monday, depending on the service; the page alone doesn't say which. And a request made on Saturday often counts as received on Monday, so "2 business days" ends on Tuesday, not Monday.
Weekday holidays move these counts too, and organizations don't all close on the same ones. Regulation CC's list includes the second Monday in October. A private company may stay open that day. Check whose holiday list applies before counting across one.
Worked examples on the 2026 calendar
1. Refinance signed Friday, October 9, 2026 (right of rescission)
- Day of signing: Fri Oct 9. It doesn't count.
- Day 1: Sat Oct 10. Saturday counts under 12 CFR 1026.2(a)(6).
- Skipped: Sun Oct 11 (Sunday) and Mon Oct 12 (Columbus Day, a 5 U.S.C. 6103 holiday).
- Day 2: Tue Oct 13. Day 3: Wed Oct 14.
- The right to cancel runs until midnight, Wednesday, October 14, 2026, assuming the notice and disclosures were delivered at signing.
Count it Monday to Friday by mistake and you get Thursday, October 15: one day past the real deadline.
2. Purchase at home on Thursday, November 12, 2026 (FTC cooling-off rule)
- Day 1: Fri Nov 13. Day 2: Sat Nov 14, because Saturday counts under 16 CFR 429.0(f).
- Skipped: Sun Nov 15.
- Day 3: Mon Nov 16. The notice must go out before midnight, Monday, November 16, 2026.
The Monday-to-Friday habit says Tuesday, November 17. Too late.
3. Cash deposited with a teller on Saturday, October 10, 2026 (Regulation CC)
- Sat Oct 10 is not a banking day, so the bank may treat the deposit as made on the next banking day.
- Mon Oct 12 is the second Monday in October, which 12 CFR 229.2(g) excludes from business days.
- Next banking day: Tue Oct 13, if the branch is open that day.
- In-person cash must be available not later than the business day after: Wed Oct 14, 2026 at the latest.
A bank may release it sooner. It can't legally make you wait longer.
4. A 10-day federal court period triggered Wednesday, October 7, 2026
- Exclude Wed Oct 7. Count Thu Oct 8 as day 1.
- Sat Oct 10, Sun Oct 11 and Columbus Day, Mon Oct 12, are counted in the middle (Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a)(1)(B)).
- Day 10 is Sat Oct 17. A period can't end on Saturday, and Sunday is out too.
- The deadline becomes Monday, October 19, 2026.
Business days vs calendar days
Calendar days count every date. Business days skip whatever the governing rule skips: usually Saturday, Sunday and holidays, sometimes only Sunday and holidays. Court rules sit in between, counting calendar days but pushing a weekend or holiday deadline forward. To count a range on the ordinary Monday-to-Friday basis, use the business days calculator.
Questions
Do business days include Saturday?
Not by default. They do for mortgage rescission and Closing Disclosure timing under Regulation Z, and for the FTC cooling-off rule, because both define a business day as every day except Sunday and federal holidays.
Is Saturday a business day for banks?
Not for deposit holds: Regulation CC rules Saturday out even when a branch is open. For electronic-transfer error claims, Regulation E looks at whether the bank is open for substantially all business that day.
If my deadline falls on a Saturday, do I get until Monday?
In federal court, yes, unless Monday is a legal holiday. Under a contract or policy, only if it says so. Under the rescission and cooling-off rules, Saturday is itself a business day, so the deadline can simply be that Saturday.
Is Sunday ever a business day?
Not for bank holds, mortgage rescission, the cooling-off rule or a court deadline's last day: each of those rules excludes Sunday by name. The open-for-business tests in Regulation E and in Regulation Z's general definition don't name weekdays at all, so they turn on whether the institution actually operates that day.
Sources: 12 CFR 229.2(f)–(g), 229.10, 229.19(a) (Regulation CC); 12 CFR 1005.2(d) (Regulation E); 12 CFR 1026.2(a)(6), 1026.23(a) (Regulation Z); 16 CFR 429.0(f), 429.1 (FTC cooling-off rule); Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a); 12 U.S.C. 4001(3); 5 U.S.C. 6103(a); USPS Priority Mail service page. Regulation text as published in the eCFR, current to October 8, 2026. This page explains how days are counted; it is not legal advice.