How to Break Up With Your Bank

• Contact your employer or Social Security. Ask them to move any direct deposits to the new institution. (Reach the Social Security Administration at 800-772-1213 or on the My Social Security page.) Direct deposit may also make you eligible for free checking.

• Stop automatic bill payments from the old account. This can be easily done via the old bank’s website if you’ve been using its online bill payment feature for sending out so-called push payments. If you have authorized a company or utility provider to “pull” payments from your account, you’ll need to contact the company and follow its procedures for stopping payment. (We recommend that you avoid the pull method in the future so that you have more control over your account.)

• Keep the old account open until all checks and payments have cleared. That will keep you from getting hit with any fees.

• Set up automatic bill paying on the new account. Also set up other account features you use, such as alerts or automatic money transfers.

• Finally, close the old account. Zero out any remaining balance by having the old bank electronically transfer the funds to your new account or by obtaining a cashier’s check or cash. There should be no fee to close accounts you have had for more than a few months.