Can't Access My Money Right Now 6/12/12

So for the past 2 or so years I have been in an inner struggle -to keep savings in the bank or not. Why not? Because the bank can always close.

Even if it was just a temporary closing such as what happened during the 9/11 attacks where the stock market was closed until the 17th (source) in my opinion this would still produce some kind of civil unrest, no predicting how bad it would be.

So I struggle with this question to bank or not to bank. I am held back from withdrawing all my savings from a bank due to fear of being labeled paranoid. Besides the cash in my bug out my bag, I don't have much in the house.

Due to the recent issues of the past couple months, with the global financial crisis coming to a (again, my opinion) possible head, I have made the decision that paranoid freak or not I want some cash in hand in case there is a temporary close. You got to eat, right? Without letting on my plans to anyone, I began a slow withdraw. Except now I go to make a transfer between my online bank and my brick bank only to have a road block thrown in my face.



I have banked at this bank since the year 2003 and in 9 years I have never seen such a message. This bank was in the past year acquired by Capital One, news I did not welcome hearing as I am not a fan of anything related to Capital One.

I must say this does nothing to help my already uneasy opinion of banks, in fact it heightens my concern to not have 24 hour availability.

Furthermore every time I have ever seen a financial institution have online downtime, there is always an estimated time stated of when it should be back up. American Express will usually tell you it's a 4 hour issue and if you need assistance now or your bill is coming due the same day to call a number, and lists the number. Also in the past when a bank knows it is going down for maintenance there will be a message stating so, in the days previous. With this instance I saw nothing of the sort.

I do not like this at all. What if I was having some type of emergency? It doesn't even tell me I can call in to make transfers. Nothing.

Deep Breath. Don't forget to breathe.

This is more common on Sunday nights.

It might just be sunday night where there servers are... I wouldn't worry too much.

BTW You are paranoid. =)

No it's not Sunday anywhere in the world, but this is only an update. There's nothing to worry about, they should be back up within a few hours.

Originally posted by DrMattMaddix
Deep Breath. Don't forget to breathe.

This is more common on Sunday nights.

It might just be sunday night where there servers are... I wouldn't worry too much.

BTW You are paranoid. =)

your not taking OP seriously and it makes me angry with you, because the OP is in a very stressful situation.


OP isn't paranoid, but genuinely concerned with his/her/heir well being.

peace.


edit: i am surprised at how many people are not paranoid with all the crazy stuff going on.

reply to post by Ameilia


that stinks, i dunno what you should do.

hopefully everything will be ok.

National Australia Bank is down too.

BTW You are paranoid...

"Pseudoskeptics attack, ridicule, discredit and suppress anything and everything that challenges the materialist reductionist paradigm. Pseudoskeptics are in a state of perpetual denial and cognitive dissonance. They deny and filter out anything that doesn't fit into their materialistic reductionistic view of reality, especially anything that has to do with paranormal or conspiracies, no matter what evidence is presented, even if its documented and scientific."

PseudoSkeptics / Closed-Minded Skeptics

• Immediately judges as false and debunks anything that contradicts their paradigm.

• Are not interested in truth, evidence or facts, only in defending their views.

• Cannot think in terms of possibilities, but sees their paradigms as fixed and constant.

• Are willing to lie and deceive to discredit their opponents.

• Are judgmental and quick to draw conclusions about things they know little or nothing about.

• Scoffs and ridicules what they oppose instead of using objective analysis and examination.

LINK

It is happened to me before. It is just web maintenance

I have had this many times with my online banking whilst server / application maintenance happens.

It seems a little misleading too by stating you can't access your money as, from what I read, the intention was to make an online transfer from one account to another, not physically access your cash via an ATM or bank, which had you tried would most likely have been just fine.

Give it a while and I am sure the systems will be operational again.

The server is down for maintenance, nothing more, nothing less.

You say this downtime was not announced before, so tell me, do you announce to your frends and family when you are going to trip over a loose curbstone or cut yourself when shaving? No? So how do you expect a bank to announce to their customers when a fault is going to occur?

reply to post by Ameilia


My bank does this to me all the time, I go online to make a transfer and lest i cannot for they are updating or fixing the website

It's an irritation but don't get yourself worried about it, I'm sure the site will be back up and working within 24hrs.

Go find an ATM, if that is down as well, then worry a bit more.

This is a test. This is only a test. When the bank fails as planned you will not receive a polite notice, but only a gateway timeout. Please do not bother showing up in person. The doors will be chained and the guards will have orders to shoot anyone who thinks they have some right to collect Federal Reserve Notes that were never theirs to begin with..

I have dealt with ING in the past and they are really good. If the site is down, it's just that. Just give it another day or two. They are usually pretty fast.

Bank locally.

Keep adequate cash on hand.

It ain't rocket science.

You know, you can "walk" to your bank at 9 am in the morning and get money. It's an extinct invention called a "bank teller". You can write a "paper" check to yourself for cash.

Or just freak out.

My bank does this once a month or so. It is an update.

Your money is insured an safe.

Now serving number 23..............

If you do pull your money from the banks, what are you going to do with it?
Under the mattress?
In the back yard?

Are these options safer than a bank?

I have had savings with ING before and it's just maintenance. However, I think it's a good idea to keep a small stash of cash on hand. If the power goes out for more than a few days you won't be able to access your ATM machine, go online, etc...Having cash would help buy food and other needed items. It doesn't hurt to be prepared.

Is this an online-only bank? I bought and sold some stock through them a few years ago, but never signed up for their checking because they may offer better rates, but you're more susceptible to this type of maintenance issue. You know, you can always call the customer service number if you're concerned. If you don't have the number written down, you can always do an internet search for the number.

Honestly, if you are truly this concerned and have given so much thought to the "what-ifs" here, maybe you need to keep more money at home with you. I know people say that your money does nothing for you sitting in your house, but honestly, it doesn't do a hell of a lot at the bank all the time, either It doesn't really matter where you bank, either, because if anything sudden happens (i.e., major sun activity, EMP, etc.), everything accessible about your money will be gone.

First off, the service has now been restored. So, good.

Originally posted by wdkirk
You know, you can "walk" to your bank at 9 am in the morning and get money. It's an extinct invention called a "bank teller". You can write a "paper" check to yourself for cash.

Or just freak out.

My bank does this once a month or so. It is an update.

Your money is insured an safe.

Now serving number 23..............

Secondly, if you didn't mean to come across as rude and sarcastic, you are coming off as very rude and sarcastic Wdkirk. Also you are wrong. I can't walk to a teller and make a withdraw with a paper check. I guess you aren't familiar with this bank (or maybe you didn't read the original post) but this is online only. This means I can only access my savings via online and don't have the option you are suggesting.

Originally posted by disgustingfatbody
Bank locally.

Keep adequate cash on hand.

It ain't rocket science.

This is good advice.

It is also what I am trying to do exactly. I do have a local brick bank for regular stuff, my online bank is for savings and earning, pathetic amount that it is with these low rates, interest on that money. I am working on the "keep adequate cash on hand" bit right now. I used to be in the camp of 'carrying cash is stupid, use credit or debit' but I no longer believe that to be true. Now I've joined your camp and think everyone should determine what is adequate for their family needs and make adjustments.

Also thanks to others who stated keeping cash on hand is simply being prepared and a good idea. I actually do appreciate hearing that from you.

Originally posted by samkent
If you do pull your money from the banks, what are you going to do with it?
Under the mattress?
In the back yard?

Are these options safer than a bank?

I really don't know Samkent. I can only make a best guess. And I finally concluded that, at least for me, I would feel safer having money in both places, being covered on both ends. If I can't access my money online or at a brick bank for a few days due to a temporary close, lack of power, or whatever, then this way I'd be covered having cash at home. If my house was robbed and the money at home stolen, well that would surely suck rotten eggs, but I'd have cash in the bank to cover me.

I can also state that it doesn't do my brain any good to wake up to this:

EU discuss limiting ATM withdraws Irish Times

EU: movement of money, people can be limited Yahoo/AP

Preview of coming attractions, perhaps?