I heard that banks aren't allowed to close for three consecutive days. Is that true? If so does the rule apply to credit unions?
That is an old urban myth as far as we can tell, and the question is generally "more" than three days as long holiday weekends are common. Certainly there is no federal law regulating this. There can be state laws which will control where you live.
Most banks and credit unions do not like to close for longer periods than three days because even with ATMs, debit cards and internet banking, many customers wouldn't be served if they couldn't meet and speak with a customer service representative. Some things must still be done face to face. That said, in some instances you can find only limited services available and in times of crisis there may be no services available. Hurricane Katrina is one instance where some banks were either closed for a few extra days, or only branches out of harms way were open. Still, in many of these kinds of scenarios, services available over the telephone, internet or with a debit card are open because of the banking industry's off-site and redundant backup practices.
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That is an old urban myth as far as we can tell, and the question is generally "more" than three days as long holiday weekends are common. Certainly there is no federal law regulating this. There can be state laws which will control where you live. 