This is probably worth considering in general, but dealing with financial lockouts on the road is a particular kind of dumpster fire.
TL:DR: I deposited a check and things went weird (not an NSF scenario). My bank got spooked and locked not just that one account but all of my access for two weeks.
I scrambled to open new accounts elsewhere and move direct deposits over. Soon (like 12 hours) after completion my bank said “oopsie!” and restored my access to the accounts this morning. Having pre-existing accounts at other locations would have been stressful because one institution could not bogart my funds.
I just ensure that I have enough cash on-hand for emergencies as all banks, without notice can just take all your funds at any point for literally any reason all at the same time and you have no choice.
Agreed. I normally have cash but I knew this check was coming in so I delayed taking a distribution from my retirement account. Bit me in the butt… :-(
This is the truth. I always have multiple bank accounts and multiple credit cards. This saved me recently because one of my banks (a fintech) recently announced they were pausing and were closing down accounts because the bank they are piggy backing on was no longer going to work with them. It was easy enough to move my direct deposits back to my main brick and mortar and I was already using another fintech bank as my auto bill pay so nothing changed there.
