Now That Christmas Eve Is a Federal Holiday, Will Banks Be Open Throughout the Day?

In most cases, the world feels like a ghost town on Christmas Day because of so many businesses being closed. But what about Christmas Eve? The day before Christmas isn't an official holiday, per se, but it is observed by many as a holiday in itself, sometimes even on par or held higher than Christmas Day. So, are banks open on Christmas Eve in 2025?

It's hard to say how much banking someone might have to do on the day before Christmas, but for some people, Christmas Eve is just another day, and they might need to head into a physical bank instead of doing it all digitally. And, with banks closed on Christmas Day and the days both falling right in the middle of the week in 2025, it's a fair concern.

According to the Federal Reserve, Christmas Day is listed as a federal banking holiday, but Christmas Eve is not. So yes, banks will be open on Christmas Eve in 2025, and they should also reopen the day after Christmas, since it does not fall on a Sunday. But that doesn't mean banks will be open during their usual business hours.

Different bank locations might operate under limited hours on Christmas Eve. For that, you will have to check with your local branch directly. But, unlike Christmas Day, when banks are closed in observance of the national federal holiday, Christmas Eve does not hold as much weight. If Christmas Eve were on a Sunday, it would be closed, purely because banks are, for the most part, closed on Sundays anyway. For 2025, that's not the case.

On Dec. 18, 2025, Donald Trump put out a notice per the White House that said Christmas Eve would be considered a federal holiday in 2025, and that federal employees could take the day off to observe it. This isn't exactly new, since Trump did the same thing during his first term as president. And, technically, it doesn't make Christmas Eve an official federal holiday.

The Hill reported that, in order for Christmas Eve to be an actual federal holiday on par with Christmas Day it would have to pass through Congress first. Trump's executive order puts into place an official observance of Christmas Eve and does refer to it as a federal holiday, but that doesn't mean it will stay that way after 2025.

The executive order also says, "The heads of executive departments and agencies may determine that certain offices and installations of their organizations, or parts thereof, must remain open and that certain employees must report for duty."

So yes, Trump decreed that federal employees should have the day off on not only Christmas Eve but also Dec. 26, the day after Christmas. But if their respective employers believe they are needed at work, then they can make that call.