The banking system has made our lives easier with safe money, keeping, and its transaction. In this era, we can send, receive, or keep the amount safe through this electronic service. There are various banks in the UAE providing several services and benefits to their customers. Customers tend to switch from one bank to another. There can be various reasons behind switching like shifting to a new place, better offers/services are provided, etc. Before switching to a new bank, the first issue that everyone faces is the complication in doing so.
Previously in the UAE, among the minorities who switched their primary bank accounts. Among those complicated ones, few of them said it took a long time to complete the process, while few stood with that the service was limited in linking automatic payments such as loan instalments and credit card payments to their new bank account. The other chunk of people responded with a lack of information which their primary bank gave on closing a bank account. So once you’ve made up your mind for switching, here are some guidelines people must follow:
- Maintain The Minimum Balance
- Be Informed
- Do Not Close Old Accounts In A Haste
- Proper Diversion Is Crucial
- Leave No Outstanding
- Withdraw & Close
1. Maintain The Minimum Balance
Bring all the activities, including withdrawal and deposit in your primary account in any bank in UAE to rest. In every account, there is a minimum balance which is to be maintained, and once you are dropping below the minimum amount, it might get charged. So you should pay attention to such and stay above the minimum.
People in the UAE should also take care that they aren’t writing checks and cancel all the automatic payments that get withdrawn from the account. As per security, you should also keep an eye to make sure that all the payments are cleared before switching the account. In UAE, this will hardly take up to three days.
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2. Be Informed
Get a head start from opening an account in UAE by reading all its features and knowing the latest discounts and offers for a new customer in the bank. If the distance is a significant factor for your switching banks, make sure that the branch is close to your home or office in UAE. Carefully go through the minimum balance requirements and account-related fees. Physical accessibility in UAE is also a matter of significant concern for keeping an eye out for current details and other features.
While switching from one bank to another one in the UAE, you will have to transfer all the information from the old bank to a new one in the UAE. Then you will need routing and account numbers from the past and the new bank while taking notes from both the institutions on how to make a switch, added with a tall glass of patience. We need to shift our funds once or twice around. This is the easiest and economical way to move money until everything works well with our bank account in the UAE.
3. Do Not Close Old Accounts In A Haste
Review the monthly expenses of the previous account to check if any automatic payments are enabled. Make sure not to close the previous account at an instant and run both the accounts parallel. The former account should be kept running until all aspects have been sorted out before making a big move. If possible, keep funding both the accounts with enough to cover the bills and switch the maximum bill payments one after the other to the new accounts as each bill comes due.
As days and week pass people in UAE will be able to shift all of their payments to the new account through online bill payments, checks from the new account and fund those payments by transferring money from the old account. List out all the expenses and e-payments by reviewing the entire year transaction in their old account. Be it the infrequent purchases or principal payments; one should take a note of all those before switching them to their new account. You can take a print of the e-statement of your account and save it for any future reference.
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4. Proper Diversion Is Crucial
Redirect your income and set up a salary transfer to the new account in UAE. Now that people know about the deposits, minimum balance, and other services of the bank in which they have opened an account, they can divert all their payments to this one. Next, you can also inform in the institution that you are working in the UAE and provide them with your bank details to shift your salary transfer to the later one. Also, remember while writing a check that it should be from the new account or use your new debit card to complete the transaction. Make sure to transfer the funds from the old account to the new one.
Keep in touch with the employer of your institution in the UAE or the people who are continually sending you money online and make sure before doing any transactions that they are updated with your new account details.
Process and schedule things accordingly to avoid any disruption in your routine. All your income sources such as social security benefits, pensions, and annuity income and investment earnings and systematic payments must be diverted to your new account in UAE.
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5. Leave No Outstanding
Balance your chequebook and leave no outstanding checks or overlooked payments in your old account. Once we link our regular payment with the new one, we will most likely be able to link our credit cards and other payments through the online banking portal. In case of loan instalments to the new account may require them to go through a different process with a lot of hassle. The time taken for this might vary from bank to bank in UAE.
6. Withdraw & Close
The final thing that would sum up the purpose of this process is the closing of the account in UAE. Withdraw everything you have in the account and apply for closure. In the UAE, you might have to pay some fee for the closure, and the process of closure might take a few days or weeks. This varies from bank to bank. After giving final instructions, make sure you get a clearance certificate of withdrawals, dues from the previous bank.
There is no disagreement on the point that the whole process takes up to one-to-two months and keep you unrest for the period in the UAE. But the positive aspects are that it will restrict the issues people had with the previous bank. Also, the switching process gives them good learning of the banking system in the UAE.
About the author
I'm a finance writer and solo-business blogger who loves to write about fin-tech tools and how to save money and keep a budget. With a passion for investing in equity and mutual funds. An alumnus of Magadh university, I am presently continuing my studies in Financial Management.
