Banking

Typically, the average person has two active bank accounts – one for checking and one for savings. Your checking account is where most of your living transactions take place: direct deposits and withdrawls. The savings account is normally for building a pool of currency over time for a specific purpose, or in case of emergencies. You can open any additional accounts if you choose to, but depending on your situation, you might need the approval of your bank. Some require a certain amount of money to be deposited before making the account active.

There's nothing keeping you from opening accounts at different banks. Some people might want to keep business funds separate from personal funds, and alternating between banks helps them to better organize. Others may want to open a joint account with a spouse or partner, and doing so at a different bank keeps them from having to change a system they're already comfortable with. Whatever your reasoning, be sure to adhere to bank policies and do your best to avoid overdraft penalties.

Overdraft occurs when you don't have sufficient funds (NSF) in a particular checking account to cover a transaction, resulting in your balance ending up in the negative. For example, if there is $100 in your checking account and you make purchases totaling $110, your available balance would read -$10.00 until more funds can be deposited. And if you were to deposit another $90 into the account, your available balance would read $80. The $10 difference is due to the overdraft. Some banks charge an additional overdraft penalty fee if you don't bring your account balance back to $0 or higher within a number of days. There are two alternatives to overdraft. One is when your attempted transaction is denied when you run out of money (check bounces, debit card rejected). The other is getting overdraft protection, which opens any secondary accounts to be accessed for reserve funds if needed. Typically, your savings account can be tied to your checking account for overdraft protection.

A bank will not normally close an account until it has provided you with at least 14 days notice. If there is an issue with your account, you will most likely be made aware of it well ahead of time. In which case, the bank will allow you to fix the problem or close the account yourself. Even if there is a rare case in which your bank does happen to close your account without your notice, it would be due to a court order.