Banking

I'd be inclined to use a credit card over a debit card when over the road, in case your card details are stolen.

Fraudulent charges can be reversed, but a debit card gives a thief access to actual cash in the account. Charges can be reversed on a debit card but it doesn't help you in the short term if they've drained your account.

 

I also use a local ( state) bank I do all my banking on line and run otr.
If need cash I just get it at Wal-Mart when I do my shopping you can get up $100 cash back.

 

That's why you use the debit card to grab cash and use cash

 

Yep, and many banks offer secured cards which is is great way to go also. Thief s can only get as much as you have it secured for.

Also you can as I do have a separate account.
My direct deposit go to one and I transfer what I need to the account that's linked to my debit card, I rarely keep any more than a couple hundred in that one.

 

Heck even the bank in the Caymans was great until they changed the banking laws here in the states. Rotten SOBs

 

Cash is king on the road. I pull $150 out of every paycheck, and I budget $25/wk in groceries. That keeps me well fed, even eating out, and in good coffee. Anything left over every other Friday gets dumped into my personal savings account. For anything extra like scale tickets, I use debit, and that's carefully recorded. My direct deposit goes into that account, and we have a separate checking account that bills are paid out of, with actual paper checks. We transfer the funds as soon as the check is written, rounded up to the nearest $5, and it's otherwise ignored.

 

Debit cards stolen - Once reported it can take a month or longer to get the money back. Make sure your bank knows you travel the US. For example I live in NC, but I used my debit card in GA, they froze the account till I called them.

Credit cards - Make sure your bank knows you travel the US. For example I live in NC, I might get an E-Mail if I use the card out of state, if I do not respond they do not pay the bill. I got out of a taxi in Dallas TX and before I got out of the taxi I got the E-Mail. I had to respond to it to release the funds.

ATM fees can be around $4-$5 per transaction. The Bank may charge you, plus the ATM will charge you.

You can get Credit cards and pre load them.

For on the road or business I would open a separate account and just transfer from your personal to the business. This keeps the amount that can be taken down to a lower amount.

Bills can be paid on line. I suggest you take a screen shot of the confirmation screen and save it. If you use the Bank sending out checks to pay your bills, note that it may take a week or two for the bank to pay the bill. They do not pay as soon as you say so. My father got jammed on this. Bank send out the payments only twice a month.. he showed late several times till we figured it out.

I would also suggest if you pay your bills and do your banking while on the road look into a Cloud based backup for your files. If your laptop is stolen or it breaks down your personal files are still in the cloud and can be accessed again.

 

@Chinatown thank you for your service.