Current opinions on separate banks for checking and savings?

Submitted by conanmagnuson t3_10q81jz in personalfinance

I've read on here a few times that people recommend having two separate banks for security reasons. Is this still considered best practice from a fraud prevention standpoint or is it primarily a psychological tool to instill better saving practices? I personally have no problem saving and would love to have all of my funds in one place if it's not increasing risk substantially. Thanks-

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petrock85 t1_j6og7my wrote

You could temporarily lose access to money at a particular bank. You will probably get the money back sooner or later, this could be a problem if all your money is in one place and you need to make an important payment.

Fraud is one way this could happen, but not the only one. Fraudulent withdrawals can usually be reversed but not always immediately. If you want to be very careful, you'd have one account that is only used for the most important payments and nothing else.

It is also possible that the bank will decide to close your account if they deem you suspicious. While they will usually return your money, you will be unable to access it while waiting for them to do so.

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Opposite_Channel t1_j6ok68h wrote

Dont put all your eggs in one basket. Not to mention if you ever need a loan youll have more options as youll have history with multiple lenders.

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conanmagnuson OP t1_j6p1l5n wrote

This is an interesting point I hadn’t considered, thanks.

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Opposite_Channel t1_j6pg036 wrote

Its making me think if i should open an account at my local credit union. 🤭

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Fubbalicious t1_j6og3lt wrote

Using two separate banks won't stop you from being victimized by fraud, but it can help mitigate it's impact if you don't put all your eggs in one basket.

In regards to better saving practices, I'm not really following. You should save regardless of whether you have one account or multiple.

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conanmagnuson OP t1_j6p1i1l wrote

It’s more of an intentional friction thing if your savings isn’t directly attached to the account you spend from.

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Interesting-Dish8894 t1_j6onfew wrote

I don’t believe the eggs in one basket theory when it comes to this. I have savings and checking at one bank and have for several decades. Sure fraud can happen but not concerned about it. My debit card is not something I ever use for purchase. I’m not one of those dumbasses that gives companies access to my accounts to automatically withdrawal money for bills either

My password online gets changed annually or whenever a data breach could cause an issue and its 30 plus random characters and the password is only used for that account. Nobody has my PIN numbers or passwords or online over the phone bank password. My money is insured by government as well.

It also isn’t a joint account

But do whatever you think you need to do to sleep at night

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