If the borrower then writes a check to someone who deposits the $90, the bank receiving that deposit can lend out $81. As the process continues, the banking system can expand the change in excess reserves of $90 into a maximum of $1,000 of money ($100+$90+81+$72.90+...=$1,000), e.g.$100/0.10=$1,000. In contrast, with a 20% reserve requirement, the banking system would be able to expand the initial $100 deposit into a maximum of ($100+$80+$64+$51.20+...=$500), e.g.$100/0.20=$500. Thus, higher reserve requirements reduce artificial money creation and help maintain the purchasing power of the currency in use.
Deposits that are components of M2 and M3 (but not M1), such as savings accounts and time deposits such as CDs, have no reserve requirements and therefore can expand without regard to reserve levels. Furthermore, the Federal Reserve operates in a way that permits banks to acquire the reserves they need to meet their requirements from the money market, so long as they are willing to pay the prevailing price (the federal funds rate) for borrowed reserves. Consequently, reserve requirements currently play a relatively limited role in money creation in the United States.
Source: Wikipedia > Reserve Requirement
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