How Long Does It Take to Close a Bank Account?

There are benefits to using more than one bank account, but that does not mean that you should keep an old bank account open. It is better to close a bank account you are no longer using than to leave it open because of several dangers associated with an unused bank account. Even if your bank account has a positive balance the bank will actually start charging you service fees for keeping the account open if you have no transactions for a specific period of time (often one year).

Closing a bank account is a fairly straightforward process than can be done several ways. You can go into the branch and request that they close the bank account. You can send a letter to the bank requesting the account be closed. Or you can phone the bank’s customer service number and request that the account be closed.

There are a couple of things that you need to do before requesting the bank close your account. If you have direct deposit from your payroll set up to go into the bank account you are planning on closing, switch your direct deposit to a different account before closing the old bank account. It may take a full payroll cycle before your direct deposit is transferred to the new bank account. You don’t want to send your paycheck to a closed bank account. If the bank account is closed, the funds will be returned to your employer. Your employer will have to print a manual pay check, which could delay your payday by several days.

The second thing you should do before closing a bank account is make sure that all the checks you have written on the account have cleared. Or you could leave enough funds in the account to cover the outstanding checks and ask the bank to close the account when the account balance is zero. If a check is presented for payment after you close the account it will be returned unpaid by the bank and you will be charged a NSF fee by the payee. You could also be accused of fraud for writing checks on a closed bank account.

Once you have changed your direct deposit and made sure all the outstanding checks have cleared, you are ready to request the bank close the account. How long does it take a bank to close an account?

It just takes a few minutes if you close the account in person or by phone. If you close the account in person, the bank will give you the remaining funds in the account right away. If close the account over the phone, the bank will mail you a check for the remaining funds.

Sending a letter to the bank requesting an account be closed could take up to a week for the bank to close the account. How long it actually takes will depend on how long the postal service takes to deliver the letter and how long the bank takes to process the request. The quickest ways to close a bank account is in person or over the phone.