Comment by vanviegen
5 days ago
Having to change IBAN is a hassle, and shouldn't have been necessary. In fact, I think some countries (Germany?) actually got that right, and allow you to take your IBAN with you when switching banks. Like keeping your phone number when switching telco.
Why is that so much of a hassle? In the US switching banks is just updating some numbers and reconnecting. The entire process can just be done online. In the US the only annoying part can be older companies that still do the account verification via a deposit and withdrawal, so it takes one whole day instead.
Also I don't think I would actually want it done automatically. Some banks have better saving rates, some banks offer higher interest on checking, some banks are much better for taking cash out internationally, some banks have more ATMs/branches around where I live, etc. I have a few different banks I move money around in.
Because there are about two dozen companies that do direct debits from that account. Some of them may be automatically informed of the change, but for most I'd have to figure out how to update my payment info. Similarly, friends and family might hold on to account numbers to send money back and forth. (Though that's probably less of a thing now, with all those apps for sharing convenient payment requests.)
Yeah, the Dutch banks really fucked us over by putting the bank code in the IBAN, so IBANs can't be moved to another bank.