‘Houston, we have a problem.’…(we have been frozen out of our bank account!)
On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 was about 180,000 nautical miles from Earth when a malfunction caused what seemed to be catastrophic leaks in Apollo 13’s gas tank to leak. Thankfully, they had a brilliant team back home who helped them.
Sometimes, life can feel like a Hollywood movie. For example, if you were in a country far away from your home base and there was a malfunction with accessing your bank accounts. No access to your finances…not as catastrophic as oxygen deprivation, but pretty scary nonetheless.
When you are in that position you hope the team back home will do everything they can to help you sort the issue. But, in the case of your bank, do not hold your breath. Sometimes things only happen in the movies. Being frozen out of your bank account can be a Houston moment.
Our Experience With Banks Since Leaving New Zealand
Since leaving New Zealand we have experienced several instances when access to our online banking and our ability to use our debit cards have been interrupted. You go to the ATM but are unable to draw out cash.
On each occasion, this has been because our banks have arbitrarily chosen to freeze our accounts in the name of security. In the ongoing ‘war against everything’, banks now set their security triggers to such a sensitive degree that it is possible that at some point through an extended time away from your country, you will be locked out of your online banking and your card will be blocked.
Banks care about you enough to shut you out of your accounts but not enough to seek to contact you to discuss the situation. They figure that at some point you will notice that you have no access to your account and then you will be happy to wait on the phone to hopefully sort the situation out.
We have noticed that banks are becoming even less helpful than they previously have. We have found that banks expect you to require every detail you have ever shared with them when confirming your identification. That also includes transaction history; what payments have gone in and out of your account.
The risk of being frozen out of your bank account is real and something that needs to be planned for.
How to Prepare Yourself
As far as I am aware, nothing can prevent this from happening to you. However, there are definitely things that you can do to mitigate the risk or prepare to respond to the situation should you encounter it
1. Before you leave your home country, contact your bank and inform them you are going overseas. Be sure to tell them all the countries you will visit. Make note of the time/date of the call, the name of the bank representative and ask for a call reference number. Believe me, you might be glad you took these steps.
2. Confirm with your bank what forms of identification they have on file. Ensure you have a copy of all the identification documents the bank has. You may have opened the account with your previous passport or driver’s license. If you need to establish your identity by telephone with the bank they will ask for document numbers and dates of those old documents.
3. If your bank allows, set up an online PIN number. This supposedly helps, but we found even when we had this in place the bank still required all the additional information.
4. Regularly take a screenshot of your online banking transaction history. The bank will most likely ask you for this information as well.
5. Think about where you will store this information. Of course, you would have access to it, either by cloud storage or on your device. It might also be worth leaving a copy of all your identification documents with a trusted person whom you can easily be contacted.
6. Keep your cards separated in case you lose your wallet/bag. This means you will always have other card options and access to money.
Other Things To Consider
Where will your mailing address be? Banks will not usually mail cards and correspondence to an overseas address. It might be best for you to ask a relative or friend in your home country to allow you to have all bank correspondence mailed to their address.
You then have to devise ways for those items to be mailed to your overseas location. In regard to Paraguay, we have found Paraguay box (an import service from the US & Europe) to be particularly useful and much more cost effective than an international DHL courier. Essentially Paraguay doesn’t have a mail service and quite often you don’t even have a street number!
Document and Card Expiry Dates
This can easily catch you off guard. Passports, licenses, and credit/debit cards, are all subject to expiry dates. It is so easy to forget that an expiry date is looming. The next minute, your document or card has expired.
It is advisable to use some method to track expiry dates. You might keep a spreadsheet or record them in your calendar. The important thing is, do not forget!
Hope For the best, prepare for the worst (we are talking about banks here!)
Access to your money was once a given, however it has quickly become a tug of war with banks who take it upon themselves to arbitrarily freeze bank accounts without notice.
Have Multiple Options
Have as many bank accounts and payment facilities as possible. If one gets closed down at least you have other options. For example, consider opening a Remitly and Wise account as well.
By taking all of the above precautions you will at least have the necessary information to hopefully jump through the many hoops you may be required to if your bank decides that freezing you out of your account seems like a fun thing to do. The risk of being frozen out of your bank account is something that needs to be planned for.
Please comment below if you have any other tips that have worked for you!
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