Speaker 1: How to switch banks without turning into a big, old, complicated mess.
Speaker 1: If you wanna get your finances in order, make sure you're subscribed to our YouTube channel. Personally, I've been with the same bank for over 12 years. And while that may seem like a meaningful commitment, I think I'm just lazy. This topic is inspired by our friend, Evan. He asks, Hey far news. I opened up my first bank account in college. I never looked back, but now [00:00:30] I'm tempted to switch because of the competing savings rates that I see everywhere. Is it wise to make the switch? Will it be worth it? What do I need to know before making a move? Okay, let's begin. First question. Do you really need to make this switch over to a new bank? I'd say probably yes. If you're paying high monthly fees and you're not happy with customer service, but if the only thing that is giving you FOMO is the fact that another bank down the street is offering [00:01:00] a better savings rate.
Speaker 1: And by better, I mean, wow. A whopping 0.2% from 0.1%. I'm not sure if that's reason enough because savings rates are pretty much me at most banks at the moment. And even if you find a sweet rate somewhere else, there's no guarantee that they have to keep that rate forever. So how else might a new bank serve your needs better? Does the new bank have, for example, far fewer and lower fees, a better ATM network, a slicker website and app, [00:01:30] make sure the move will be worth it because switching accounts while a hundred percent doable will take time and it will take effort. Now, if you're still nodding yes to switching banks. And the next step is to make a list of all the people in places you have been auto paying from your bank account. This includes, but is not limited to your landlord credit card, issuers, student loan company, your gym, also what websites or apps have your bank account set as the default payment method, places like peer tope, payment apps like Venmo and PayPal, as well as retail [00:02:00] websites and mobile apps.
Speaker 1: Now this list might also include the external savings and investment accounts that you've been automatically contributing to on a regular basis, such as your retirement accounts, your kids' college savings accounts, rainy day savings accounts on a separate list. Take note of any automatic deposits that you have been receiving in this bank account. Most importantly, your paycheck, these lists are super important because without them things, I'll be honest, may fall through the [00:02:30] cracks. What you don't wanna happen is you forget to reroute things like setting up an auto payment from your new bank to your monthly water bill months, go by you forget, and you get a late statement from the water company. Now, next step, go ahead and open up the new bank account online. You are ready. Now, once you're set up there, go back to your other bank account, the one you're ditching and begin transferring some not all of your money over, make sure to meet any minimum balance requirements.
Speaker 1: Now, [00:03:00] a lot of the newer hip banks don't require a minimum balance, but always safe to check. So you don't get slapped with a fee. Now, the reason you don't wanna transfer all of your money over to this new bank is because you may need to wait for some old checks to clear, or perhaps that water bill is due tomorrow. And you wanna get that payment to go through now all the while, start going through your list of billers and accounts and start rewriting them to, and from your new bank account, [00:03:30] the transition may take some time may be even up to a few months before all is ironed out, but then you can be glad that your money has a happier home for CNET I'm Farish Torabi.
