NOW vs. DD checking account: beware a withdraw delay on your accounts

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

I saw one post say there are two kinds of checking accounts, demand deposit accounts and NOW accounts. NOW accounts offer a slight interest. Banks want you to have a NOW account. Here is why: the small print says they can delay AT THEIR DISCRETION any withdrawals.

At some banks, they can hold your money for an extra 60 days. At my bank (Bank One) it is 7 days.

I freaked out my bank by coming in and asking what the potential holding time was. No one wanted to say anything. "No one at this branch is authorized to answer that question". I finally found the answer in a pile of brochures they gave me. They wanted me to have the phone number for year 2000 questions. What confused them was my refusing that number, and instead insisting on knowing their policies.

I think everyone should go to their bank and ask about the withdrawal policies. If the bank has a potential delay of 60 days, switch to a demand deposit account or take your money to a different bank.

This is an excellent way to show banks that we are watching this unfolding drama very carefully.

If you have a spouse who does not want you to do anything dramatic, you can at least talk him or her into switching to a different checking account that offers a faster escape route.

Bye the way, I have taken cash out of my accounts by 5 different methods:

1) a withdrawal from savings account

2) cashing a large check

3) cashing a paycheck and asking for a few hundred back

4) many withdrawals from the ATM machine

5) as a coin order, getting boxes of conventional coins and hundreds of individual 1 dollar bills.

My conclusion: 4 is too bothersome, banks are nervous on 2 and 3, so I recommend 1 and 5 as the easiest routes to cash removal.

-- David Holladay (davidh@brailleplanet.org), October 13, 1998

Answers

Obviously, delayed withdrawal is but "the first line of defense". When TSHTF, which could certainly come April 1999 when people panic over what happens in states that roll over to fiscal year 2000 and decide that they are going to go to their bank and withdraw all of their money, there are all kinds of secondary lines of defenses. Like, "Sorry we are fresh out of cash, come back tomorrow" -- only by then a "bank holiday" has been declared. David, thanks for your "guide to getting cash" is much appreciated! (Best used by 1/1/1999, I'm sure!!!)

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), October 13, 1998.

Getting cash is easy. Simply go to a place where cash is king.

ANY CASINO!

Cashing a $5000 check in Las Vegas or another casino won't even make them blink an eye, they have $5000 bundles in the drawer.

What you do with it is your business.

Brad

-- Brad Waddell (lists@flexquarters.com), October 14, 1998.


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