Embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and apparatuses for determining, communicating, and/or executing hold decisions for deposit items. For example, a method is provided that includes: (a) receiving information associated with a deposit item; (b) determining a deposit amount for the deposit item; (c) determining a payee account to receive the deposit item; (d) determining a hold limit for the payee account; and (e) determining a hold decision for the deposit item based at least partially on a comparison of the deposit amount to the hold limit. In some embodiments, the hold limit is based at least partially on (a) an account balance associated with the payee account, and (b) one or more other characteristics associated with the payee account.