Do you keep an account back home, and why?

I kept mine and I'm glad. It handles the lingering home-country direct debits, receives the odd payment in that currency without conversion, and is a genuine safety net if a new-country account ever has issues. Low cost, high peace of mind.

OP here — 'lingering direct debits and a safety net' is basically my reasoning too, I just wanted to know if it was inertia or sense. Sounds like sense, as long as the account is genuinely free to keep open.

One caution: some home banks quietly require you to keep a registered address there, and being honest that you've emigrated can change your account status or tax reporting. Worth understanding their rules rather than just going quiet on them.

We kept ours for family reasons — sending money to relatives, paying for things back home, and my parents can transfer to me in the same currency easily. For anyone with ongoing home-country ties, it's very practical.

Also useful if you ever move again or move back — closing and reopening banking is a pain, and a dormant-but-alive account keeps that door open. I treat mine as cheap optionality.

Just watch for dormancy fees or inactivity closure — I kept mine 'open' only to find they'd shut it after a year of no activity. A tiny recurring transaction keeps it genuinely alive if you want it as a backup.

For me a multi-currency account largely replaced the need — it holds my home currency without a separate home bank. But if you have real ongoing ties back home, the actual local account still does things the apps can't.

We kept ours mainly for the pension and a couple of investments that had to stay domestic. If anything is legally or practically tied to a home-country account, that alone can settle the question.