My goodness! I have spent a week trying to figure out how to put money into my Arizona bank account from Pennsylvania. I am signed up for automatic debit for most of my bills, and I had to have the cash in account to avoid overdraft!
Last week I attempted a Western Union wire, but they wanted to charge me $75 to wire $1000 to my bank account! I was not going to pay a 7.5% service charge. Then I went into several large bank branches, which all told me that I had to have an account with their bank to wire money….but there is a 10 day waiting period before I can take money out of a new account.
Finally, Mom came home from the Shore, we put my cash into her bank account and then wired to to my account.
It’s so funny how most people take money OUT of their bank accounts….and here I am running all over the place trying to find a way to get it IN!
I found myself having to overnight money orders to my bank a few times. Wiring it is a pain. If you’re traveling somewhere without a branch of your bank, just buy money orders and do a deposit by mail (ask your bank for their info).
I’m a bit surprised as a travelling dancer that you don’t have a bank account with branches all over the U.S. to help out in situations like this. Not saying it would have to be your primary bank, but an account with BofA or someone similar would make life easier, and the ATM / wire transfer fee savings alone make it worth doing.
I travel for work and keep an account that has branches in all the cities I frequent for this very reason. Only keep cash in it when I hit the road, and with online banking I can transfer money around if I need to in a pinch.
Tomhorn hit the nail on the head. My everyday account is with a bank that doesn’t have a heap of branches thus I did use my second account with a more national bank whenever I couldn’t get to my bank’s actual branch. If you travel a lot outside of your own state (or city) for work purposes, it is best if you go with a more national bank that has many branches.
Or at least a bank that accepts payments via easier methods. Here in Australia, Australia Post which is the main postal service that has post office branches all over everywhere incl. the smallest of towns can accept bank deposits for certain banks.