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There are a few good reasons to move your money from one bank account to another. The simplest reason is that you’ve moved, and your old banking company doesn’t have a location near where you now live. This may make it difficult to deposit cash, talk with a professional banker, etc. Another good reason to move your money into a different account is that you’ve gotten married and want to combine finances with your new spouse. Their bank may be more convenient for many different reasons, so moving your money into that account, or just starting a whole new, joint, account may make more sense than keeping all your money in the old account.
Another very good reason to move money into a different bank account is that the new account may offer you much better interest on your money. Most savings accounts will collect a small percentage of interest on the money you have stored in it, but some banks offer much higher rates than others. If you manage to open a bank account that will give you a great deal more growth on your money, then transferring it all to that account is a smart investing move.
As you mature and achieve seniority in your job, you might have considerably different means at your disposal than when you were first starting out. When one of these big changes in location or finances occurs, it’s sometimes for the best to open up a new bank account and move some, or all, of the money from your old account into the new one. However, this isn’t quite as easy as it sounds, and there are some particular reasons you may want to consider doing it anyway.
How to move money from one bank to another
Perhaps the simplest and least involved way is the oldest method: Write a check. Once you’ve opened the bank account you want the money in, all this method requires is writing a check from your old account and depositing it in your new account. Just be certain not to get the two confused! The only real downside to this method is that it will usually take a few days for the money to be available for use in the new account.
If you’re writing a check to transfer money between two bank accounts you own, then your name goes in the “Pay to the Order of” line on the check. However, if the new account is in someone else’s name (such as a spouse), then you need to put their name on that line and they will need to be the ones to deposit the check. Once the check is properly filled out, simply deposit it like you would any other, in person or via electronic deposit, and you have successfully moved money from one bank to another!
Newer methods of transferring money
The information age has given us other options to move money around, for example, bank-to-bank transfers. The exact details of how to move money with this method will vary depending upon your banks’ websites unique layouts, but the basics are all the same. This method still takes up to three business days to clear but may finish a day or two faster than the check method.
The steps of a bank-to-bank transfer usually follow this order: first, log in to your online bank account, the one you want to transfer money from. Somewhere in your options, there should be a button or link marked “transfer” or possibly “pay and transfer.” Clicking on that should bring up an option to add other bank accounts you can send money to, and once you’ve got your new account’s information entered in, allow you to easily transfer money into that account.
Adding a new bank account to make transfers to has a few steps of its own, to verify that you really should have access to the account. The bank will make two or three small deposits (under a dollar) into the new account and ask you to verify the exact amounts while logged in to your old bank account. The deposits may take up to a day to show up in the new account, but once they do and the process has been completed, you have an easy way to transfer your money!
A third option to move money from one account to another is to use a third-party to move the money, namely, the Automated Clearing House network, or ACH. ACH is one of the best and most trusted payment systems in the United States. To transfer money using ACH, you will need to create an account with the system either online or in-person at the bank you want to transfer money from. Once that is done, you just need the basic information of the account and its owner (yourself in this case) you want to transfer money to, and the money will be in the new account in two to three business days.
Finally, there is the option to move your money via a wire transfer. Wire transfers have the benefit of allowing you to move money in just one day, but they will cost you a little money as well, usually between $10 and $35. Wire transfers can be made from your old bank, either online or in-person, with just the basic information on the new account and its owner (the account’s routing and account numbers, owner’s name, etc.)