Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

The **Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta**, commonly called the Atlanta Fed, is one of the 12 regional Reserve Banks that, together with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, it serves the Sixth Federal Reserve District and carries out regional central-banking functions, including contributing economic information to national policy discussions, supervising certain financial institutions, and providing payment and lending services.^[1][2]

District and organization

The Sixth Federal Reserve District includes Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, as well as parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The Atlanta Fed’s branch offices are in Birmingham, Jacksonville, Miami, Nashville, and New Orleans.^[1] The branches extend the Bank’s presence across a large and economically varied region, with communities that include major metropolitan areas, rural areas, and coastal economies.

The Atlanta Fed is part of a system with both national and regional responsibilities. It is not a commercial bank serving the general public in the way that a retail bank does. Instead, it performs central-bank functions within the Federal Reserve’s institutional structure, working with the Board of Governors and the other Reserve Banks.^[1] The Reserve Banks operate under the supervision of the Board of Governors, including in areas such as bank supervision.^[3]

Each Reserve Bank has a nine-member board of directors divided into three classes. Member banks in the district elect Class A directors, who represent member banks, and Class B directors, who represent the public. The Board of Governors appoints Class C directors to represent the public and selects the Reserve Bank board’s chair and deputy chair from among them.^[4] Directors provide information about economic conditions in their districts and perform governance functions for their Reserve Banks.^[4]

History

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta opened on November 16, 1914.^[5] Its establishment followed the creation of the Federal Reserve System under the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. The choice of Atlanta as a Reserve Bank location and the organization of the Sixth District were decisions made during the formation of the new system; neither was predetermined.^[6]

The Bank’s regional role developed in an area whose economy, at the time of the Reserve System’s formation, was strongly shaped by agriculture and the cotton trade. The Atlanta Fed’s historical account describes its early work as closely connected to the region’s banking and business conditions.^[6] Over subsequent decades, the district’s economy and the Bank’s responsibilities changed, as did the technology used to provide Federal Reserve services.

For much of its history, the five branches performed operational work such as processing cash and checks. As paper-check use declined, the Federal Reserve consolidated check-processing operations nationally, leaving Atlanta as the system’s remaining check-processing site. The Birmingham and Nashville branches ended their cash operations in 2006 and 2011, respectively.^[7] The branches’ role subsequently placed greater emphasis on regional outreach and economic information gathering.^[7]

Monetary policy and regional information

The Atlanta Fed contributes to national monetary-policy work through the Federal Reserve’s shared structure. Monetary policy decisions are made at the system level, particularly through the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), rather than independently by an individual Reserve Bank.^[8] The FOMC includes the seven members of the Board of Governors, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and four other Reserve Bank presidents serving on a rotating basis. Atlanta is part of the group that shares one rotating seat with the St. Louis and Dallas Reserve Banks.^[8] Reserve Bank presidents who are not voting members attend meetings and participate in discussions.^[8]

A key regional contribution is the collection and communication of information about business, labor, and community conditions. The Atlanta Fed’s Regional Economic Information Network, or REIN, was launched in 2008. It draws on surveys, meetings with business and community leaders, and information from Atlanta Fed staff and branch directors to develop a picture of conditions across the Southeast.^[7] The Bank describes this work as a connection between local economic experience and national policy discussions.^[7]

The Bank also publishes economic research and data tools. **GDPNow** is a model-based nowcast of U.S. real gross domestic product growth for the current quarter. It updates as relevant economic data are released and is intended to provide an estimate before the government’s official GDP estimate is available; the Bank states that it is not an official forecast.^[9] The Atlanta Fed’s **Wage Growth Tracker** measures nominal wage growth for individuals observed in the Current Population Survey 12 months apart, using the median percentage change in their hourly wages.^[10] These resources are analytical products, not Federal Reserve policy decisions or official government statistics.

Banking supervision and lending

The Atlanta Fed performs supervisory responsibilities for financial institutions assigned to its district, under delegated authority and oversight from the Board of Governors.^[3] Supervision involves assessing institutions’ operations, risks, and resources; examiners may require corrective action where appropriate.^[11] The Federal Reserve’s supervisory remit is one part of a broader U.S. regulatory framework in which responsibilities are divided among federal and state agencies and can depend on an institution’s charter, activities, and corporate structure.

The Bank also administers access to the Federal Reserve’s discount window for eligible depository institutions in its district. Its work includes establishing borrowing relationships, ensuring collateral arrangements are in place, and extending credit under applicable Federal Reserve policies.^[12] The discount window is a central-bank lending facility for eligible institutions; it is distinct from ordinary consumer or business lending by commercial banks.

Payment services

Federal Reserve Banks provide payment services to financial institutions and the federal government. The Atlanta Fed participates in this systemwide work, which includes services supporting electronic funds transfers, check processing, cash, and securities-related payments.^[1][13] These services form part of the financial infrastructure through which institutions transfer funds and settle transactions.

The Federal Reserve’s payment services include Fedwire and FedACH, as well as the FedNow Service, an interbank payment system that supports instant payments. FedNow operates alongside the Federal Reserve’s other payment services.^[13] The Atlanta Fed also conducts research and outreach on payments through its Payments Forum, which examines developments in the payments landscape and related questions of safety, efficiency, and access.^[14]

Leadership and public role

A president and chief executive officer leads the Atlanta Fed, while a first vice president and chief operating officer is responsible for operational leadership. The president is one of the Reserve Bank presidents who participate in FOMC deliberations, with voting status subject to the committee’s rotating-seat arrangement.^[8] As of the Bank’s 2026 presidential-search information, Cheryl Venable was serving as interim president and CEO while a search for the next president was underway.^[2][15]

The Atlanta Fed’s regional responsibilities do not mean that it independently sets interest rates for the Southeast. National monetary policy is determined through the FOMC and the wider Federal Reserve framework. The Bank’s distinctive functions are its district-level supervision and services, its contribution of regional evidence and analysis, and its participation in national policymaking through the Federal Reserve’s shared institutions.^[1][8]