If the Fed wants the federal funds rate to fall, it will buy government securities from a bank. It pays for these securities with a check drawn on itself. When the selling bank presents the check for payment, the Fed increases the reserves in the account of the bank, and, thus, the total reserves in the banking system increase. This action differs from banks’ purchases and sales of securities to each other because the Fed action represents a net addition of reserves to the banking system rather than a redistribution of existing reserves among the banks.