Any excess of bank balances at the Fed above the amount required as reserves.

Any excess of actual reserves above required reserves.

Total monetary reserves in excess of required reserves. See monetary reserves and reserve requirements.

Amount of reserves held by an institution in excess of its reserve requirement and required clearing balance. Also see reserves.

Amount of reserves held by an institution in excess of its reserve requirement and required clearing balance. Essentially, excess reserves are the bank's actual reserves minus its required reserves.

Excess reserves are bank reserves in excess of the reserve requirement set by a central bank (in the United States, a Federal Reserve Bank; in Canada, the Bank of Canada). Holding excess reserves is generally considered costly and uneconomical as no interest is earned on the excess amount. Therefore, many banks minimize their excess reserve amounts by putting them to more productive use.