America's birthday—Independence Day—falls on a Tuesday this year, offering Americans an early-week respite to eat hot dogs, shoot off fireworks and commemorate the 247 years since the original 13 colonies that made up the early republic declared independence from England.
Because it's a federal holiday, major governmental entities—post offices, courthouses and state offices—will be closed to mark the day. But the Fourth of July is also a banking holiday, meaning a cessation of activity in the stock market and nearly all commercial banks across the United States.
It's unusual timing. Of the 11 Federal Reserve holidays, five—Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Columbus Day—always take place on a Monday.
Holidays that take place on fixed dates, however, will always result in a closure of federal offices and—typically—the banks that service them. That means they can't pick and choose: If the Fourth of July falls on a Tuesday, for example, the business week still formally kicks off that Monday and does not resume until Wednesday.
Among the closed banks are:
- Bank of America
- Bank of New York/Mellon Bank
- Citibank
- Citizens Bank
- Comerica Bank
- First Republic Bank
- Goldman Sachs Bank
- HSBC Bank
- JPMorgan Chase
- Key Bank
- M&T Bank
- PNC Bank
- Synovus Bank
- TD Bank
- Truist Bank
- US Bank
- Wells Fargo
Besides the banks that are closed, there are also smaller institutions like credit unions and money lenders, which rely on other infrastructure in the financial sector to remain up and running.
True Americans, however, understand that the ceaseless thrum of U.S. commerce never truly stops, as some businesses around the country remain open to cater to those who ran out of beer, require bandages for their burn wounds or forgot beans for their barbecue.
And while physical banking locations will be closed, automated teller machines (ATMs) as well as online banking modules will still be available to handle all of your financial needs. Zelle, a financial app developed by the commercial banking industry to handle simple transactions and money transfers, will be readily available on Independence Day.
Because cryptocurrency exchanges are decentralized networks not beholden to federal holidays observed by the rest of the financial industry, they will also continue to be up and running on July 4. This also might be the best time to engage: Some research shows cryptocurrency prices tend to see increases on holidays.
