Published on October 10th, 2018 | by William Charles

Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank

Just reposting this for those not aware of this resource.Yesterday we posted about the easiest way to close bank accounts, I thought it would properly be helpful to build a reference list with the ways you can close an account with each bank. This will require your contributions, so please put them in the comments below. You might also find the following bank pages helpful:

Picture idea via Amol

I’d also recommend never relying on your account being automatically closed after zeroing a balance. Sometimes even if this has worked for other people it won’t work for you and you might be caught paying inactivity fees.

Contents

1 1st United Bank
2 Alliant
3 All America Bank/Redneck Bank
4 Amalgamated Bank
5 Amboy
6 Andigo Credit Union
7 Associated Bank
8 Astoria Bank
9 Bank of America
- 9.1 Personal
- 9.2 Business
10 BB&T
11 Bank Of The West
12 Bank & Trust
13 BB&T
14 BBVA
15 Blue Hills Bank
16 BMO Harris
17 BMT (Bryn Mawr Trust)
18 Bridgeview Bank
19 Cambridge Savings Bank
20 Capital One 360
- 20.1 Checking
- 20.2 Savings/Money Market
21 Chase
22 Christian Community Credit Union
23 CIT Bank
24 Citi
- 24.1 Checking:
- 24.2 Savings:
25 Citadel Credit Union
26 Citizens Bank
27 City National Bank (WV)
28 Columbia Bank (NJ)
29 Columbia Bank (WA, OR, ID)
30 Dollar Bank
31 Discover
32 Elements
33 FCB South County Bank
34 Fidelity Bank
35 Fifth Third
36 First America Bank
37 FirstBank
38 First Citizens Bank
39 First Federal Bank
40 First Merchants Bank
41 First National Bank
42 First National Bank of PA
43 First Niagara
44 First Tennessee
45 Five Star Bank
46 Flushing Bank
47 Fulton Bank
48 Hancock Whitney
49 Hanmi Bank
50 Home Savings Bank
51 HomeStreet
52 HSBC
53 Huntington
54 Iberia Bank
55 Incredible Bank
56 KeyBank
57 Lakeland Bank
58 LegacyTexas Bank
59 LevelOne Bank
60 Marcus By Goldman Sachs
61 Memory Bank
62 MidFirst Bank
63 Mountain America Credit Union
64 M&T
65 Nationwide
66 Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU)
67 NBKC
68 Northpointe
69 Northshore Credit Union
70 Northwest
71 NYCB Family Of Banks
72 Ocean First
73 Old National Bank
74 Orion Federal Credit Union
75 PeoplesBank
76 Pinnacle Bank
77 Pinnacle Bank (Texas)
78 PNC
79 Popular Community
80 Provident Bank
81 Quorum FCU
82 Radius Bank
83 Regions Bank
84 Republic Bank
85 Ridgewood Savings Bank
86 Salem Five
87 Sandy Spring Bank
88 Santander
89 Seacoast Bank
90 SEFCU
91 SFGI
92 S&T Bank
93 SunTrust
94 Synovus
95 Talmer Bank
96 TCF Bank
97 Tech CU
98 TD Bank
99 TIAA Direct
100 UFB Direct
101 Unify
102 Union Bank
103 Union Bank & Trust
104 United Bank
105 USAA
106 U.S Bank
107 Valley National Bank
108 Varo Money
109 Webster Bank
110 Wells Fargo
111 Westfield Bank (MA)

1st United Bank

Secured message: 1

Alliant

Secured message: 1,

All America Bank/Redneck Bank

Secured message: 1 (zero balance)

Amalgamated Bank

Letter: 1
Live chat: 1, 2
Phone: 1
Message: 1
Will close if balance is at $0 for thirty days: 1 (not backed up by this datapoint)

Amboy

Secured message: 1

Andigo Credit Union

Secured message: 1,

Associated Bank

Automatically after a few months of zero balance: 1 (somebody else reported they were hit with a charge for this)
In branch: 1
Phone: 1
Secured message: 1 (balance was $0), 2,

Astoria Bank

Phone: 1
Secured message: 1, 2

Bank of America

Personal

Secured message/chat: 1, 2, 3, 4 (didn’t work)
Over the phone: 1, 2, 3
In branch: 1
In app: 1,

Business

Phone: 1

BB&T

Chat: 1,
Secured message: 1, 2, 3 (didn’t work)
Phone: 1, 2, 3 (business account)
In branch: 1 (business account. Other methods didn’t work)

Bank Of The West

Secured message: 1, 2,

Bank & Trust

Phone: 1
Secured message: 1,

BB&T

Phone: 1,
Secured message: 1, 2, 3,

BBVA

Secured message: 1, 2,

Blue Hills Bank

Notarized letter or in branch: 1
Close automatically with zero balance after a few months: 1

BMO Harris

In branch: 1
Live chat: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, (live chat no longer an option)
Phone: 1, 2, 3, 4,
Secured message doesn’t work: 1,

BMT (Bryn Mawr Trust)

Branch visit: 1,

Bridgeview Bank

Phone: 1,

Cambridge Savings Bank

Secured message: 1,

Capital One 360

Checking

Chat: 1, 2, 3,
Phone: 1, 2

Savings/Money Market

Click close account button (found here): 1
Chat: 1, 2,

Chase

Thanks to reader Andrew for the following thresholds:

Under $50: Secure Message (tell them if you want the balance transferred to another account, or if you want a check mailed). 1, 2,
Under $5,000: Through phone call (again, any balance remaining they will mail or can transfer to another account).
Under $100,000: Via written request, including the name as it appears on the account, full account numbers, full social security number, current address and phone numbers and how you want to receive the balance remaining (mail or transfer to another account). Note, that if your balance is over $1,000, the letter must be notarized.

Secured message: 1 (business banking might not work), 2 (this was for savings and they transferred funds to checking to close), 3 (doesn’t work for business), 4,
Phone: 1,

Christian Community Credit Union

Call: 1,
Secured message: 1

CIT Bank

Secured message: 1,

Citi

Checking:

Chat: 1, 2, 3, 4 (downgrade), 5, 6, 7,
Secured message: 1, 2, 3 (downgrade), 4, 5, 6,
Phone: 1, 2, 3, 4,

Downgrade to basic checking:

Phone: 1

Savings:

Chat: 1, 2

Citadel Credit Union

Secured message: 1, 2,

Citizens Bank

Phone: 1
Letter: 1
Secured message: 1, 2 (didn’t show as closed but was closed), 3,

City National Bank (WV)

Fax: 1,

Columbia Bank (NJ)

Phone: 1, 2,
Mail: 1, 2,

Columbia Bank (WA, OR, ID)

In branch: 1,

Dollar Bank

FAX, Mail, or In-Branch: 1

Discover

Secured message: 1, 2, 3,

Elements

Chat: 1,
Phone: 1,
Secured message: 1,

FCB South County Bank

Closed automatically after zero balance for 10 days: 1

Fidelity Bank

Online if balance is zero: 1

Fifth Third

In-branch only: 1, 2 (business account)
Letter: 1
Phone: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Secured Message didn’t work: 1
Secured message did work: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,

First America Bank

Secured message: 1,

FirstBank

Chat: 1

First Citizens Bank

Cannot close by phone, have to go in branch or fax in form: 1

First Federal Bank

Cannot be closed by phone if the account has a balance: 1
By phone: 1

First Merchants Bank

In branch only, will also be auto closed after 4 months of $0 in account: 1

First National Bank

Must close in branch.

First National Bank of PA

SM: 1

First Niagara

Mail: 1
Phone: 1, 2

First Tennessee

Phone: 1
Secured message: 1, 2, 3

Five Star Bank

Automatically closed if requested by phone and balance is zero for 10 business days: 1

Flushing Bank

Phone : 1 (had to call the branch they opened the account with)
Secured message: 1, 2,

Fulton Bank

In branch: 1, 2, 3,
Secured message: 1 (didn’t work), 2 (didn’t work)

Hancock Whitney

Fax: 1
Phone: 1 (zero balance), 2 (secured message wasn’t allowed), 3, 4, 5 (zero balance)

Hanmi Bank

Closed after a week of zero balance: 1,

Home Savings Bank

In branch: 1

HomeStreet

E-mail: 1, 2 (written request scanned in)
Mail: 1

HSBC

Chat: 1, 2,
Phone: 1 (some good advice as well), 2, 3,
Secured message: 1, 2, 3,

Huntington

Chat: 1, 2 (no longer an option), 3 (it’s an option again, under contact us), 4 (didn’t work)
Branch: 1
Phone: 1 (balance must be $0), 2, 3,
Secured message: 1, 2 (no longer an option)

Iberia Bank

In branch only: 1

Incredible Bank

Call: 1,
Chat: 1,
Secured message: 1,

KeyBank

Secured message: 1, 2, 3
Phone: 1 (was told it couldn’t be done over SM), 2, 3, 4

Lakeland Bank

Closed after zeroing balance: 1,

LegacyTexas Bank

Phone: 1
Closed with zero balance after ~ 2 months: 1
Secured message: 1,

LevelOne Bank

Fax or mail: 1 (also has some useful details)

Marcus By Goldman Sachs

Phone: 1,

Memory Bank

Live chat: 1, 2,
By phone: 1,
Secured message: 1, 2,

MidFirst Bank

Secured message: 1,

Mountain America Credit Union

By phone: 1
Chat: 1,
Secured message did not work: 1,

M&T

You have to have a balance of $0 to close via phone.

In person: 1, 2
Mail: 1
Phone: 1, 2, 3
Secured Message: 1, 2, 3, 4 (more info), 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,

Nationwide

Secured message: 1, 2

Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU)

Secured message: 1,

NBKC

Secured message: 1 (after zeroing out)

Northpointe

Phone: 1

Northshore Credit Union

Must close in branch and it’s a long process: 1

Northwest

Must send in a letter or go in branch: 1
Secured message: 1,

NYCB Family Of Banks

In branch: 1

Ocean First

In branch: 1
Mailed letter: 1
Secured message does not work: 1

Old National Bank

Phone: 1 (balance must be $0)
Secured chat: 1, 2,

Orion Federal Credit Union

Secured message: 1 (with zero balance. Sent via e-mail on 4/3/20)

PeoplesBank

Send secured message: 1

Pinnacle Bank

Chat: 1 (didn’t work: 1), 2 (didn’t work)
Phone: 1,
Closed in branch: 1

Pinnacle Bank (Texas)

In branch: 1
Closed after 30 days of no balance: 1

PNC

Chat: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Secured message: 1 (via Travel with Grant), 2, 3, 4,

Popular Community

Secured message: 1,

Provident Bank

Secured message: 1,

Quorum FCU

Phone: 1 2,

Radius Bank

Secured message: 1

Regions Bank

Secured message: 1, 2, 3,

Republic Bank

Secured message: 1,

Ridgewood Savings Bank

In branch or write a letter: 1,

Salem Five

Secured message: 1 (after zeroing balance)

Sandy Spring Bank

Secured message: 1,

Santander

Phone: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,

Seacoast Bank

Phone: 1, 2

SEFCU

Phone: 1,

SFGI

Reduce balance to $0 and wait 60 days: 1

S&T Bank

Direct message: Didn’t work
Phone: 1

SunTrust

Chat: 1,
Phone: 1, 2
Secured message: 1, 2, 3

Synovus

Branch visit required: 1

Talmer Bank

In branch or notarized: 1
Notarized in branch: 1

TCF Bank

Phone: 1,

Tech CU

Secured message: 1

TD Bank

Secured message: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Phone: 1, 2,
Notarized letter: 1

Business

In branch: 1

TIAA Direct

Phone: 1, 2 (lots of useful information)
Secured messsage: 1 (with $0 account balance), 2,

UFB Direct

Secured message: 1

Unify

Secured message: 1, 2,

Union Bank

Mail: 1 ($2 fee was charged)

Union Bank & Trust

Secured message: 1,

United Bank

Secured message: 1,

USAA

Automatically closes with $0 statement balance: 1,

U.S Bank

Phone: 1, 2, 3
Mail: 1

Valley National Bank

Secured message: 1,

Varo Money

E-mail: 1,

Webster Bank

Secured message: 1, 2,

Wells Fargo

Secured message: 1, 2, 3 (business account), 4, 5 (business account), 6 (business account), 7 (business account), 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 (personal)
Closed with zero balance: 1 (business)

Westfield Bank (MA)

In branch or notarized signature: 1,

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Leave a Reply

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Brandon

M&T Bank – Sent them a secured message and they responded with they needed a signature from me. You can mail them a signed request, but you will be charged a $4 mail closing fee and a $10 official check fee. You can also close the account in branch for I assume no fees.

Kyle

I filed CFPB complaint over their lack of options to close an account. They didn’t need a signature to open it so why do they need one to close it. All of a sudden they had no problems closing it for me.

I didn’t have luck getting $20 in fees reimbursed after they changed the terms of the account and slipped it in the electronic statement that they were doing that.

Missjenniferd1

This happened with me with m&t a few years back and i raked them over the coals on twitter, and my account was closed within an hour… Not sure how they found my account by my twitter name, but it was handled in short order, lol!

Joe

Citi has allowed me to close a citigold checking by chat in the past.

I tried this past week via chat and was told I had to call in to close a citigold account.

Jeremy

U.S. Bank will not do it over Secured Message. They’d rather do it over the phone or through U.S. Mail.

TCW

I tried to get an address to send a letter and was told mail is not an option. Have to call instead. (My wife hates calling in, and the account is in her name. More precisely, I opened accounts for both of us to get two bonuses; closed mine via phone but wanted to do hers via letter to save her the trouble of calling).

John

That is why I always request an address when I open a new bank account, just in case it’s necessary.

US Bank
P.O. Box 1800
St. Paul, MN 55101-0800

But I closed mine over phone.

Willy Brandt

This is not true, I closed my account via secure message 3 months ago. The guy said they don’t normally do it, but since I had a zero balance it wouldn’t be a problem

The Man

You can close PNC accounts via chat for those who sign up for their bonuses.

I did this in Jan. 2016 after my $400 bonus posted.

Jay

Doesnt the account need to be open 6 months before closing to avoid a ETF? Or did you wait 6 months to close?

Jasen

Can someone confirm this info about the ETF for PNC?

William Charles

Added, thanks.

Julie

Confirming that chat session still works to close account, did it this morning with no issues. After logging in, click on Customer Service tab, “Chat online now” button is at the top of the screen.

James

I’ve closed citi and BoA accounts in person at a branch. Cashed out at the teller and spoke with a banker for 5 minutes and got the paper work as a proof of closure. Seems easier than secure message or through the phone and less chance for any possible fee disputes.

William Charles

Added data point, most people find it easier to close over phone/chat/secured message so they don’t need to go in branch.

Drew R

PNC allowed me to close my checking account via live chat.

Shaun

I closed a PNC Virtual Wallet account via live chat and it took about 8 minutes. Very easy.

Jasen

Is this “live chat” the same as: Message Center – General Questions? I can’t seem to find the option to talk to a rep via live chat on online banking website. Any help to guide me where to go for this. Thank You

Paul

Bofa- chat
Chase- secure msg
Citi- phone, if I remember correctly, when attempting to close through chat, they told me I had to call

William Charles

Added data points, thanks.

Victor

My experience closing, how I got the funds and how easy it was. Note that before closing, I always first confirm with the bank that there will be no early termination fee (if I have had the account open longer than the min).
Chase – secure message, ACH’d the remaining balance (easy)
CapitalOne 360 – called, ACH’d the remaining balance (easy)
Nationwide – secure message, ACH’d the remaining balance (easy)
Amboy – secure message, ACH’d the remaining balance (easy)
SunTrust – sent 2 secure messages, mailed me a check for outstanding balance (okay)
Discover – sent 3 secure messages, keep getting reply that there is an error in their processing (hard)
FirstCitizens – it was a nightmare, avoid these folks if possible, had my funds locked up for 2+ months, eventually got a check (hard)
Homestreet – you have to mail a letter to the branch (hard)
Everbank – called, they offered me another 6 months at 1.6%, so I kept it open

William Charles

Thanks for the amazing data points, Victor. Added them all

Dillon Welch

I was able to close my BofA Business Checking account over the phone.

Drew

Confirmed, I just did as well.

HORACE

US BANK???

Rubic

Yesterday I just closed my Citi Savings account via SM. Last month I downgraded my Citigold to Basic checking with a phone call — Citi wouldn’t proceed with the downgrade via SM or chat.

William Charles

Added those data points, thanks.

After I got the bonus from Huntington bank and Fifth Third bank, I transferred all the money in there and never used it again. Interestingly, six months passed, they closed my accounts. I don’t have to bother myself to close them.

William Charles

Problem is some financial institutions have an inactivity fee, so I wouldn’t do that for all of them.

Bill

Depending on the institution, reducing your balance to $0 may incur additional charges. If those additional charges are not paid, that could result in negative information posted to Chex, thereby stopping you from opening other accounts.
I seem to remember that while Huntington offered a bonus on their Asterisk Free checking, Fifth Third required a minimum balance in the account to avoid fees.

You guys are right. But my Fifth Third bank account monthly fee got waived because I am a college student. I was just stating that some financial institutions will close your account if it is inactive for a period time which may be useful to add into the list since you don’t have to waste the time to do it.

Andrew

Plus better to close faster so you can churn them again.

jay

my experience:

Citizens bank: Phone
TD Bank: secure message and/or phone
First Niagara: Mail
Huntington: Chat
Citadel CU: Secure message
Nationwide: Secure message
US Bank: Phone
Capital One checking: Phone
Capital One Saving: Online/self
Santander: Phone
M&T: In Person and/or Mail

William Charles

Thanks, amazing data points added them all. Are capital one for capital one for capital one 360?

jay

For 360

Paul

UFB Direct – Repeatedly deposit money orders and then transfer the balance out. They’ll close it for you. 😉

Gary

Same goes for plenty of banks, but don’t do that if you ever want to have a relationship with them again. Many people don’t like getting blacklisted.

William Charles

Thanks for the data points, added them.

Will, BofA no longer has chat, I was unable to find any way to secure message them, about anything, either.

The phone option was not bad. They have the “we’ll call you back” option.

Here are more DP https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credit-card-programs/1814914-bank-america-online-chat.html

John

I was not able to close my Key bank account via SM. I was required to call in.

Carlos

Hey guys how about a list of banks who send out 1099’s on the bonus and allowing us to tell you guys who we have received them from.
Could be helpful for those who need to file a tax return and dont know if they are getting one.
I know PNC never does, but Ocean first does.
Chase and T&D not sure about.

William Charles

You’re required to pay taxes on bank bonuses regardless of whether you receive a 1099 form as far as I know, so I don’t really wanna put such a list together as it may mean people don’t pay taxes on those bonuses and then run into trouble at a later date.

Carlos

Makes sense lol.

FlyerDad

Closed my Citigold savings account through online chat.

Dave_B

Just closed a checking account at Key Bank. I did it over the phone, talking to a customer service rep.

They said that the process would take 5 business days. As a monthly maintenance fee was scheduled to be charged during those 5 days, the rep said that she’d void out the fee when it posted.

Be sure to ask for this if there’s a monthly fee coming up. It was implied that otherwise the account, after starting the closing process, would have had the fee charged and would have gone negative, which would have prevented the closing process from finishing.

BMO Harris, closure via online chat was no problem.

William Charles

Added, thanks.

Don L

Thanks, JW.

Closing BMO via chat worked for me too.

eChat button on the lower right hand portion of the screen

Chuck

I closed BBT a year or two ago via SM online.

Tom

jay, you were lucky. I tried to close Huntington by chat, no. Sent a letter to their main office, no. Both times i was told I had to go to the local branch to close the account, so I did. The rep didn’t ask one question why I was closing and was very professional.

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John

Anyone have experience closing Igo Bank MM/checking min bal. to avoid fees $25K out of NY. They are very fussy.
Also, I may be dumb but, what does the “1 and 1,2” mean after a comment of how to close? Great info. Thanks so much.

William Charles

Those are data points and hyperlinks, you can click them for more information/date & time.

John

Great …thanks

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