If You Snooze, You Get Frozen Out

Pro tip: don't try to send a copy of the deposit slip via text.

My brothers and I have a rainy-day account with combined checking and savings of $48,000. We haven't used it since 2021, but now we needed to tap those funds.

Yesterday I tried to move everything to the checking account, but, according to the online banking screen, the accounts were not "set up" for transfers.

A call to customer service revealed that the checking account was classified as dormant because there had been no activity for a year. (Posted interest doesn't count.) In dormant accounts funds couldn't be transferred in or out, nor would checks written on them be honored.

How could the checking account be re-activated? I would have to write a letter--email communications wouldn't do the trick--or we could make a deposit of any size. Obviously the latter was the easiest choice.

The last hitch came when I tried to text a copy of the deposit slip to my brothers. Repeated attempts failed. Apple, I'm guessing, blocks pictures of financial documents. I sent the information without an image, and it went through quickly. My brother made a cash deposit of $10 to the dormant account, and 12 hours later it's still "pending" (at least it's in process).

A word to the wise: there's no such thing as a "sleep well" investment. Even FDIC-insured bank accounts need to be monitored and used occasionally to see if they're functioning properly.