If you don’t use a bank account then you should close it. There are so many reasons that will back this statement of mine. But the major reason why should do it.
You are paying for the account even when you are not making use of it. So you have an account that you have parked. Then you are simply paying the bank.
And eventually, after a few months of inactivity, the account will turn inactive or dormant. And in such cases, you again have to pay the bank to get it back activated. You can also visit us for
Accountants Bolton
This is why there is no meaning in keeping the bank accounts you don’t use. You are simply burning the money by doing it.
So what it actually takes to close a bank account?
This is what I will tell you. But this depends and changes on the bank with which you hold your account.
It Will Cost You Time
Just like you have spent time to open the account you now also have to spend time on closing it. The amount of time you will spend will be less if your bank allows you to close the account online.
Like for example, if you hold an account with Bank of America. Then you can close your Bank of America account online.
This is because when you are allowed to close it online.
All you have to do is send a secure message to the bank using the online banking service. And then the bank will get it closed for you.
Here again, there are a lot of things to be taken into consideration. Like your account balance should be zero before you send the message to the bank.
If not then you will have to instruct the bank. On how you want to receive the remaining balance of your account. All these things will take or cost you time.
It May Cost you Money
There are two different ways in which closing an account will cost you money.
The first one is very common and that is the account closing fees.
These days the banks charge money for getting an account closed. This is not the case with 100% of the banks. But most of the banks charge the customers.
This charge is somewhere between $10 to $20.
And if your bank charges this then there is no way you skipping this charge. You will and must have to pay it to the bank.
There are two ways of paying for it. You can instruct the bank to deduct it from your account. If not then you can pay it in cash.
If you are closing the account online and your bank charges for closing an account. Then you will leave a sufficient balance in the account and then send your secure message.
The second one is when your account’s status is inactive.
The first case applies when your account is active. But if your account’s current status is inactive. Then you will have to pay extra charges to the bank.
Why?
That is because you will have to reactivate your account first. And you will have to pay the penalty to the bank for the time your account was inactive.
When?
This applies when you had not maintained any fund balance in your account. In such cases, the charges for not maintaining the funds will pile up.
So you will have to clear those charges, and get your account up and running again. And then you can submit your request to the bank to close that particular account.
You, Will, have to Wait
And the last thing on my list to share with you is, you will have to wait for the bank to completely close your account.
Your account will not be closed as soon as you request the bank to do it. It takes time, the bank has to follow certain steps before it does it for you.
The banks have their own checklist of events which has to happen before closing any account.
This is the reason why you will have to wait.
How long to wait?
You will have to wait Somewhere around 2 to 3 business days. And once your account is closed the bank will send you a bank letter in the form of an account closing certificate.
