Why I Kept One Foot In Traditional Banking Even After Going Mostly Digital

The narrative in most banking coverage is one-directional. Move to a digital bank. Save on fees. Never look back. That has not been my experience, and I suspect a lot of people quietly share my hedge.



I use a neobank as my primary account. Direct deposit lands there. Most of my spending flows through their debit card. On any given day, ninety percent of my banking happens inside that one app.



But I still keep a small account at a traditional bank. Not for sites.google.com/view/neobanksguide fees, not for interest. I keep it for the moments the neobank cannot handle.



Cash deposits, first. I get paid in cash occasionally, https://sites.google.com/view/neobanksguide and depositing it into a digital-only account is inconvenient at best.



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Wire transfers, second. My neobank can do them but slowly. The traditional bank does them the same day, no drama.



Emergency access, third. If my neobank has an outage, I want a working alternative. Digital services fail. Backup access matters.



Face-to-face problem-solving, fourth. When something complicated comes up, I want to sit across from a human. Chat support is fine for straightforward issues. It is not fine for edge cases.



Keeping this second account costs me nothing. The interest I give up by keeping a few hundred dollars there is measured in single dollars per year. That is a small price for the assurance.