In the next couple months I’m going to move to another state. I’m going to need to close my Credit Union account that I’ve had since I was a teenager and start an account in my new town.
But a thought occurred to me: Should I just withdraw all my money in cash form, and travel on an airplane with thousands of dollars? I feel kind of self conscious about doing so. Is there a better way to do this? :o
The credit union can issue you a check. Take that to the new bank and open your account.
If you’d prefer, you could open the new account first and then ask your credit union to wire the money.
If you’re going to open a credit union account, they have shared branching. You can leave the money where it is. Open the account, use shared branching to transfer the funds, and then close the old accounts.
You should be able to set up an online access account at two banks and wire or transfer money yourself between the two. I do it between my brokerage account, my MMF and my bank account regularly.
Move first, then open the new account. Like **John Mace **is saying.
In your new location, look for these new machines called “Automated Tellers”. They give you money from your bank. Take that money to a new bank and open an account. Transfer the rest of your funds from your old bank to your new bank via another new technology called “on-line banking” 
Given that little thing called “asset seizure” I will never travel with large amounts of cash.
It’s probably not a good idea to travel with big bucks. Wire transfer, go to your credit union and talk to them, they will know the best route to take
I thought a cashier’s check was the standard way to deal with this kind of situation?
Bank wire makes the most sense for any amount over $1000, and ask your new bank or credit union to waive any silly incoming wire fees and to credit you the amount of the outgoing wire fee from your credit union.
Assuming the old CU is in the network, you could log into their online banking and send the funds to yourself with Zelle for free. There may be daily transfer limits at first.
Or, just ask your new bank. This is hardly a unique situation and your soon to be new banker has probably done it six times this week alone.
What’s the service charge for such transfers? Suppose, for example, you have $50,000 and transfer it to a different bank in a different state? How much do you end up, net, with at the receiving bank? What’s the difference in charge between ‘wire’ and cashier’s check?
This is a very silly thread so far.
My primary bank is a CU from a town in a state I haven’t lived in since 1994. There is exactly zero requirement to close your old account. Just call and tell them your new address once you have it and you’re done. I’ve moved 3 times to two different states since I opened tht account. It still works as good as it did when the nearest branch was 2 miles from my house. It’s now 2600 miles by car from my house to the nearest branch of my CU.
If you want to change banks, here’s how:
Move to the new place. Open a checking account with a bank. Maybe a national one, maybe a local one. Maybe a bank, or a CU, or a whatever. Doesn’t matter.
Write a check written on your old CU account for some amount of money to open the new account.
Keep using the old account for any checks you need to write, such as rent, etc.,
Later, after you’ve satisfied yourself with their service, website, app, etc. write a check from your old CU account for whatever the remaining balance is and deposit it at your new account. After that check clears, call the old CU and say “see my zero balance? Close my account please.” Done.
Yes, there are apps for that so you can make the transfer quicker. My vote is you want it to go slowly. The last thing you want is to open a new account, zap 100% of your money across, and have something go wrong. Your new bank knows that 99% of frauds are associated with new accounts. Your old bank knows that 99% of frauds are associated with electronic transfers. Why start that way?
Take it all out in cash or in a cashiers check before you leave you r old town? Maybe in 1940. That was obsolete advice by 1960.
Typically in the US these days wire transfers cost $20 to $30. Size of the transfer doesn’t matter that I’ve seen.
Cashier’s checks cost $0, $5, or at a real rip-off outfit like Bank of America $10.
Depending on your balance size and the features of your particular account type a small number of these things may be included for free.
Yes, LSLGuy; that’s about what I figured. I can wire largish funds from U.S. to Thailand with essentially no fees except the currency conversion, which will be at the best (“TT”) rate.
But recently I transferred a largish sum within Thailand, with different banks and different provinces and was surprised to pay a 0.1% fee. A draft or cashier’s check would have had a similar fee.
Personal checks are almost unheard of here. I pay utility bills at a 7-Eleven. A standard way to transfer sums of up to $1000 is to use an ATM machine, take a photo of the receipt, and Message the photo to recipient! For much larger sums, it is common to meet up with a bag full of banknotes!