How would you access your money, w/o having it on hand?

[o hai guyz]

I was watching this TV show where a guy got out of prison, it was the middle of the night, and the credit card in his wallet had expired while he was in there and he had no cash. So I started wondering, if you were in a similar situation, how would you get your money to you? Assuming you have money in bank accounts, PayPal, etc, how exactly would you gain access to it, without sleeping under a bridge for a week while you wait for them to mail a new card to you?

This could also apply to a situation such as: you lose your wallet in a foreign country (or some other course of events causes you to have no cash/cards on hand). How do you get to your money so you can at least pay for a hotel and food?

The best answer I came up with was to choose a bank that has branches in all of the cities you visit, and then deposit some money there, so that if necessary you can just visit the foreign branch in person and withdraw as much cash as you need. However, this isn't really a perfect strategy because I'm not aware of any bank that has a branch in every city of every country, plus if you end up stranded at night when the bank is closed then what do you do?

 

[slayerment]

Gold or Bitcoin

 

[shindig]

Gold or Bitcoin

lmfao

Can you not western union yourself money?

 

[icestationzebra]

hash coins

 

[papajohn56]

lmfao

Can you not western union yourself money?

Fastest way to get a tax audit

 

[ToddW]

Sounds like what you're talking about is not simply about accessing money but about generally failing at life.

You have no friends AND you just got out of jail...

You have more problems than just accessing the money because money obviously hasn't fixed or helped you at all.

 

[PatrickStar]

You can go in to the bank personally and ask them for money. Show ID - get money.

Some cards (Visa I think) will allow you to withdraw some amount of money in any bank branch (even different than yours) by showing ID and filling some forms.

 

[PatrickStar]

Found the link: Emergency Card Replacement and Emergency Cash Disbursement | Visa USA

 

[o hai guyz]

Found the link: Emergency Card Replacement and Emergency Cash Disbursement | Visa USA

That looks really useful, thanks for the link.

 

[music4mic]

Most banks will overnight you a card and some can even provide you the number so that you can pay for necessities. Chase and Amex both do this, for example.

 

[xiqual]

You always need an ID...

Let's up the ante:

what if some pickpocket just got your wallet, money, cards, ID...?

 

[tim2963]

This is retarded. Banks offer temporary cards and I can walk into most banks without an ID, answer a bunch of questions and get my money.

 

[PatrickStar]

You always need an ID...

Let's up the ante:

what if some pickpocket just got your wallet, money, cards, ID...?

Bank Manager can provide you with funds if you will prove him that you are trustworthy. No ID needed, but they will screen you and ask a lot of questions.
Usually branch managers have access to special funds, they can be used in such a cases (at least in Europe).

 

[charlesmartel]

Pro tip: Dirty up your clothes and find a busy street corner and a paper cup. Sit down and rock your head back and forth like you're crazy. An urban survival guy I know did this. Made something like $50 quickly.

 

[-Matt-]

If you truly have no cash that can be withdrawn via an ATM (plenty of places open 24/7 with an ATM), and no credit cards to fall back on, then really all you can do is call a friend.

Middle of the night and no one is answering? Find someplace comfortable to post up for a bit... Really nothing else you can do.

I really don't see how you could convert bitcoin to cash in the middle of the night like that, and if you didn't have cash on you when arrested then I doubt you would have had gold on you.

tl;dr: Sounds like this guy wasn't having a problem accessing his money, he just had no money to access.

 

[Kiopa_Matt]

I was watching this TV show where a guy got out of prison, it was the middle of the night, and the credit card in his wallet had expired while he was in there and he had no cash. So I started wondering, if you were in a similar situation, how would you get your money to you?

It's a good thing ATM / debit cards don't expire.

The guy didn't have any money to take out. He was trying to take it out in credit.

 

[Kiopa_Matt]

This is retarded. Banks offer temporary cards and I can walk into most banks without an ID, answer a bunch of questions and get my money.

In Canada, you don't even need to walk into the bank. I lost my wallet a while ago, so gave TD a call, and asked for a new card. I told them it's obvious I'm in Thailand due to my transaction history, they asked a couple security questions, then asked for my new address, and 72 hours later a guy was at my door with a new bank card. They system works!

 

[PatrickStar]

It's a good thing ATM / debit cards don't expire.

Not sure about US/CA, but in Europe they do expire same way as credit cards. At least I didn't seen a card without expire date.

 

[Kiopa_Matt]

Not sure about US/CA, but in Europe they do expire same way as credit cards. At least I didn't seen a card without expire date.

Yeah, Canada is different than most countries for some reason. I'm not sure if there's a federal law, or what, but Canadian banks don't offer a debit card with VISA#. We just get a bank card to withdraw from ATMs, and that's it. If you want a VISA#, you have to apply for a separate card.

Not sure why Canada is like that, because vast majority of countries nowadays offer VISA# with their debit cards.

 

[-joe-]

In the UK, I know at least 2 banks have emergency cash apps, once installed, within about 24 hours you can use it to withdraw ~£300 per day without a card. I wouldn't be surprised in that system exists in other EU countries, I'd imagine Holland would have it.