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I used to have 90% of my money in a bank Moved to a foreign country during covid Meantime, the debit card expired, 3 months later when I try to login to mobil

I used to have 90% of my money in a bank Moved to a foreign country during covid Meantime, the debit card expired, 3 months later when I try to login to mobile app/internet banking, can't do anything without the debit card. Call the bank to send new one 3 month waiting Call them multiple times: we can send new one but we'll cancel the one 'in-flight. Do you want to do that or wait another week?' Eventually I requested a new one, two times 1 year waiting The last phone call the staff admited they could be getting stolen I've requested multiple times to send the card by Fedex or DHL they refused to do anything that didn't follow "their process" A debit card sent by untracked letter! Meantime they refuse to give me any alternative access to the account, move any money or make any transactions. Lesson learned, don't trust _ONE_ bank with your savings/banking needs! Can't be safe unless you have multiple bank accounts, crypto, and some nice friends.

zeroth32 4y ago
Been there, now II have 15 cards from 6 different banks. There is also problem with deposit insurance. In EU deposit in single bank is insured upto 100k euro. If bank bankrupts, you loose anything over that. So it is better to spread deposits across multiple banks, each with 100k euro deposit. And by aware that many banks are owned by the same group, and use just different brand as front. Insurance is per bank license, not per bank brand.
- seunosewa 4y ago
  How often do banks go bankrupt in EU? It must be rare.
  - zeroth32 4y ago
    Just six months ago, some banks connected to Russia bankrupted (Sberbank...). They were normal EU banks, incorporated in Austria and Netherlands, with EU bank license. There is also Cypriot bail in in 2013...
- christophilus 4y ago
  I wouldn’t keep over 100k in a bank, anyway. I’d at least put it in a decently compounding mechanism like an infinite banking whole life policy (assuming Europe has such policies) and make it work for me.
- sidewndr46 4y ago
  It's similar with FDIC insurance. Each account is insured to $250K only. You have a lifetime limit of some amount of payout as an individual from the FDIC.
makeitdouble 4y ago
> Lesson learned, don't trust _ONE_ bank with your savings/banking needs! This is generally a good advice, as a bank typically has your money and lose nothing being slow or painful. On moving to foreign countries while keeping banking access, it's such a world of hurt. Some banks will straight stop your account and flag it the minute they understand you've been out of the country for any specific length of time (from 1 full month to 6 months depending on the bank). Many banks will just not allow a foreign resident to keep an account. Citibank in Japan has the funniest rule: you have to receive in person a letter sent to your residency address every month if you intend to keep your account alive. Failing to do so for whatever reason automatically locks the account and you have to come to them to prove you still meet their requirements.
- zinekeller 4y ago
  > Citibank in Japan has the funniest rule: you have to receive in person a letter sent to your residency address every month if you intend to keep your account alive. Failing to do so for whatever reason automatically locks the account and you have to come to them to prove you still meet their requirements. While this is annoying and is excessive to what's required in law (it must be done at least yearly, and most banks do not try to annoy foreign residents more than what's legally required), Japan does require all Japanese-domiciled bank that they verify that the owner is either a Japanese national or a long-term resident in Japan. In fact, most Asian countries do have a "must be a citizen or resident" or even the much more stricter "must be a resident" requirement. At least it's not India, according to Mastercard and Visa India even prohibits foreign long-term residents from maintaining an account in their country of nationality (and therefore we must always certify that upon our knowledge we do not send cards, even debit, to India).
  - csunbird 4y ago
    > India even prohibits foreign long-term residents from maintaining an account in their country of nationality That is very, very excessive... Do you know what the official reasoning is for that?
    - 4y ago
trashtester 4y ago
> Can't be safe unless you have multiple bank accounts, crypto, and some nice friends. You are never 100% safe. You could be killed by a car, a falling plane or a meteorite an hour from now. Or an artillery shell or nuke just after the start of an unexpected war. Or that painful spot that you have could turn out to be terminal cancer, which could kill you within 3 months. Also any currency and any set of stocks can go to near-zero faster than most imagine. A natural disaster can happen that simultaneously wipes out your house (if you have one) and your insurance company. (This is actually the reason I'm insuring my house with the same company that holds my mortgage, so at least I don't have to pay the mortgage if they're wiped out in such an event.) The real question is how much risk are you willing to accept, and what costs are you willing to pay to mitigate the risks. And of the above, I think the main risk driver was to go abroad (paired with being unlucky about covid's timing). Going abroad while depending on a domestic bank with a log-in method that would soon expire was adding to the risk. The combination of the above put you into a small subset of the population, meaning you and people like you didn't have leverage when the disaster struck. But you _were_ unlucky. And if luck is bad enough, you're never completely safe.
- betwixthewires 4y ago
  I don't think its that deep man. There's a huge difference between getting locked out of your bank account, something everyone knows happens, at a place we are all told is the best place to put our money, completely avoidable and way more common than it should be, and getting hit by a meteorite. It wasn't luck. It was someone's decision making that he was subject to with no recourse.
- b112 4y ago
  This is actually the reason I'm insuring my house with the same company that holds my mortgage, so at least I don't have to pay the mortgage if they're wiped out in such an event. I like this logic. My only concern would be that, in many cases an insurer might have a clause to pay cash or rebuild, their choice. Or some other conflict which may cause issue with the mortgage holder (many mortgages can force sale in certain circumstances). But I like your premise, and will poke at it here.
- 4y ago
kuschkufan 4y ago
This info would be even more useful if you would name that bank.
- PaywallBuster 4y ago
  ABN AMRO Not that it makes a difference, I see their facebook page have 1.6 stars
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
jack_pp 4y ago
I'm surprised stories like this aren't posted more in crypto threads to counter the general HN hate
thedougd 4y ago
https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/assistance/filecomplaint.html https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/assistance/filecomplaint.html File a complaint with their regulator and let them know you have.
- PaywallBuster 4y ago
  That was an EU bank I did contact a regulator body once I got access to my account 1. It was difficult to use unless native 2. They're basically doing mediation, will ask feedback from me and the bank and end with the bank follow their "procedures" so my problem for "being away" Anyway, now I'll make sure to have multiple bank accounts across multiple jurisdictions
2-718-281-828 4y ago
why don't you tell us what bank you are talking about?

zeroth32 4y ago

Been there, now II have 15 cards from 6 different banks. There is also problem with deposit insurance. In EU deposit in single bank is insured upto 100k euro. If bank bankrupts, you loose anything over that. So it is better to spread deposits across multiple banks, each with 100k euro deposit. And by aware that many banks are owned by the same group, and use just different brand as front. Insurance is per bank license, not per bank brand.

seunosewa 4y ago
How often do banks go bankrupt in EU? It must be rare.
- zeroth32 4y ago
  Just six months ago, some banks connected to Russia bankrupted (Sberbank...). They were normal EU banks, incorporated in Austria and Netherlands, with EU bank license. There is also Cypriot bail in in 2013...
christophilus 4y ago
I wouldn’t keep over 100k in a bank, anyway. I’d at least put it in a decently compounding mechanism like an infinite banking whole life policy (assuming Europe has such policies) and make it work for me.
sidewndr46 4y ago
It's similar with FDIC insurance. Each account is insured to $250K only. You have a lifetime limit of some amount of payout as an individual from the FDIC.

makeitdouble 4y ago

> Lesson learned, don't trust _ONE_ bank with your savings/banking needs! This is generally a good advice, as a bank typically has your money and lose nothing being slow or painful. On moving to foreign countries while keeping banking access, it's such a world of hurt. Some banks will straight stop your account and flag it the minute they understand you've been out of the country for any specific length of time (from 1 full month to 6 months depending on the bank). Many banks will just not allow a foreign resident to keep an account. Citibank in Japan has the funniest rule: you have to receive in person a letter sent to your residency address every month if you intend to keep your account alive. Failing to do so for whatever reason automatically locks the account and you have to come to them to prove you still meet their requirements.

zinekeller 4y ago
> Citibank in Japan has the funniest rule: you have to receive in person a letter sent to your residency address every month if you intend to keep your account alive. Failing to do so for whatever reason automatically locks the account and you have to come to them to prove you still meet their requirements. While this is annoying and is excessive to what's required in law (it must be done at least yearly, and most banks do not try to annoy foreign residents more than what's legally required), Japan does require all Japanese-domiciled bank that they verify that the owner is either a Japanese national or a long-term resident in Japan. In fact, most Asian countries do have a "must be a citizen or resident" or even the much more stricter "must be a resident" requirement. At least it's not India, according to Mastercard and Visa India even prohibits foreign long-term residents from maintaining an account in their country of nationality (and therefore we must always certify that upon our knowledge we do not send cards, even debit, to India).
- csunbird 4y ago
  > India even prohibits foreign long-term residents from maintaining an account in their country of nationality That is very, very excessive... Do you know what the official reasoning is for that?
  - 4y ago

trashtester 4y ago

> Can't be safe unless you have multiple bank accounts, crypto, and some nice friends. You are never 100% safe. You could be killed by a car, a falling plane or a meteorite an hour from now. Or an artillery shell or nuke just after the start of an unexpected war. Or that painful spot that you have could turn out to be terminal cancer, which could kill you within 3 months. Also any currency and any set of stocks can go to near-zero faster than most imagine. A natural disaster can happen that simultaneously wipes out your house (if you have one) and your insurance company. (This is actually the reason I'm insuring my house with the same company that holds my mortgage, so at least I don't have to pay the mortgage if they're wiped out in such an event.) The real question is how much risk are you willing to accept, and what costs are you willing to pay to mitigate the risks. And of the above, I think the main risk driver was to go abroad (paired with being unlucky about covid's timing). Going abroad while depending on a domestic bank with a log-in method that would soon expire was adding to the risk. The combination of the above put you into a small subset of the population, meaning you and people like you didn't have leverage when the disaster struck. But you _were_ unlucky. And if luck is bad enough, you're never completely safe.

betwixthewires 4y ago
I don't think its that deep man. There's a huge difference between getting locked out of your bank account, something everyone knows happens, at a place we are all told is the best place to put our money, completely avoidable and way more common than it should be, and getting hit by a meteorite. It wasn't luck. It was someone's decision making that he was subject to with no recourse.
b112 4y ago
This is actually the reason I'm insuring my house with the same company that holds my mortgage, so at least I don't have to pay the mortgage if they're wiped out in such an event. I like this logic. My only concern would be that, in many cases an insurer might have a clause to pay cash or rebuild, their choice. Or some other conflict which may cause issue with the mortgage holder (many mortgages can force sale in certain circumstances). But I like your premise, and will poke at it here.
4y ago

kuschkufan 4y ago

This info would be even more useful if you would name that bank.

PaywallBuster 4y ago
ABN AMRO Not that it makes a difference, I see their facebook page have 1.6 stars

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

jack_pp 4y ago

I'm surprised stories like this aren't posted more in crypto threads to counter the general HN hate

thedougd 4y ago

https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/assistance/filecomplaint.html https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/assistance/filecomplaint.html File a complaint with their regulator and let them know you have.

PaywallBuster 4y ago
That was an EU bank I did contact a regulator body once I got access to my account 1. It was difficult to use unless native 2. They're basically doing mediation, will ask feedback from me and the bank and end with the bank follow their "procedures" so my problem for "being away" Anyway, now I'll make sure to have multiple bank accounts across multiple jurisdictions

2-718-281-828 4y ago

why don't you tell us what bank you are talking about?