Jim,
What if the banks were closed for a Bank Holiday by the President, for let's
say one week. Question: Could one still use their credit card? Or is the
system
intertwined? Keep up the great work you do and service you provide the world.
- David V
JWR Replies: In the event of a national banking crisis and bank "holiday", I predict that all bank doors will be closed and that every form of electronic money will be inoperative (ATMs, debit cards, credit cards, et cetera.) You might be able to write checks at some local businesses, but don't depend on being able to do so. There is even a smaller chance that some "Mom & Pop" stores will manually run a credit card slip for later processing, but that would be horribly naive of them. Nearly all merchants now use "Point of Purchase" (POP) electronic processing via a phone line to confirm credit card purchases, but the POP systems will surely be "down.")
If you can afford to, I recommend that you keep at least $1,000 in greenbacks on hand at all times.
