Your insured deposits are still there. You just can't reach them.

What stops working

• Banking and payment apps
• ATMs
• Online bill pay and transfers
• Automated phone banking

Is it my card or a bank outage?

• It's probably your card if only your card fails, at one ATM or one store, while the bank app works and other people's cards work. Call the number on the back of your card or use your bank's official app or website for help. Don't use a phone number from a text or email you weren't expecting.
• It's probably an outage if the app, ATMs and phone banking all fail at once, or news and your bank's own official channels say there's a problem. Ready.gov says a power outage may "Close retail businesses, grocery stores, gas stations, ATMs, banks and other services."
• Not sure? Try one other ATM on a different network, or check your bank's official website or social account. We don't run a live outage tracker.

For the first 30 minutes, see Bank app or ATM down? What to do.

What usually keeps working

• Cash you withdrew before the outage
• Your deposits. Deposit insurance is for bank failure, not outages: FDIC says it protects your money "in the event of a bank failure," to at least $250,000 at each FDIC-insured bank. NCUA says each credit union member has at least $250,000 in total coverage.
• Paper records of your accounts and bills
• Branches that open with limited service

First 24 hours

1. 1Use home cash for essentials and hold off on everything else.
2. 2Write down your balances, due dates, and recent transactions if you can still see them.
3. 3Don't spend your day going from ATM to ATM. Use the cash you have.
4. 4Look for official updates from your bank, not social media rumors.

Days 2 to 7

• If a bill comes due while you can't pay, contact the company when you can and ask what they'll do about it. Don't assume a fee will be waived, and don't assume it won't.
• Keep receipts and a written log of cash spent.
• Watch for scams. Never give your PIN or password to anyone who calls or texts you. Ready.gov says not to click links in texts or emails from people you don't know.

What documents to keep on paper

Ready.gov's Emergency Financial First Aid Kit groups the records to gather into four sets: household identification, financial and legal documents, medical information, and household contacts. Ready.gov's Build a Kit list includes "Important family documents such as copies of insurance policies, identification and bank account records saved electronically or in a waterproof, portable container." A paper set means:

• ID: copies of driver's licenses, passports (the first two pages), birth certificates and Social Security cards
• Money and home: your bank's phone number, account type, and key bill due dates; insurance policies; your lease or rental agreement, or your mortgage or deed paperwork
• Health: copies of health insurance cards and a list of your prescriptions. Ask your pharmacist what to do if a refill falls during an outage.
• Contacts: a sheet of key phone numbers for family, work and your landlord or building

Don't write down passwords, PINs or full account numbers.

Keep the set together in one place you can grab. Our Shop lists a fire-resistant file box and a fire-resistant document pouch. SentrySafe says the pouch is not waterproof, so keep a copy saved electronically too.

Before an outage

• Keep a cash reserve at home in small bills, sized to your own weekly spending. Work out your number in ten minutes with How much cash to keep at home, then see cash boxes in the Shop →
• Consider a second account at a different bank so one bank's outage doesn't cut off everything.
• If you get benefits or pay by paper check, Ready.gov notes a disaster can disrupt mail for days or weeks. Ask about direct deposit now.

Apartment notes

• If you pay rent or building fees through an online portal, ask management now how to pay if the portal is down, and keep a written record of what you paid and when.

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