I have opened accounts at a new bank, and my old bank says I have to go see them in person in order to close my old accounts. The account only has a few dollars in it now, all of my items have cleared the account, but they say it is 'policy' that I have to go see them in person and won't even take a signed and notarized letter telling them to close it.

Are they allowed to do that? Please help.

Write a check for the exact amount left in your account and skip going in. Your account will go to a $0.00 balance and probably automatically close a few days later. There is no need to make a trip in to your old bank. Enjoy your new bank!

I hope to enjoy it more than my last bank, but they are saying they won't close it unless I come in. Isn't there a rule that they would have to? There is a monthly fee if I go below my minimum balance so if it isn't closed then the account will overdraw when the fee posts and they said they will charge me a fee for being overdrawn then. Doesn't seem legal

Write the check and send a letter instructing them to close the account, with a copy of your letter to the CFPB complaining about them.

This is ridiculous. Are they going to come to your home and drag you to the bank? What if you had moved to another state or country?

No, more likely they'll just leave the OP's account open with zero balance, and then charge an inactivity fee or two, before closing and adding a charge-off fee and sending to collections.

And they're probably *hoping* the moved out of state and will just skip going into the branch.

+1 on CCing the CFPB, that way when the OP's soon-to-be-former bank denys the letter ever existed, it will help the OP nail them to the wall.

I think that your old institution is behaving badly, but if I were in your shoes I'd ask myself whether refusing to accede to their request out of principle is worth the risk of a hassle should the old bank start debiting the account for service fees.

A banker with a customer who wishes to sever business ties for whatever reason ought to have to common sense to make a reasonable accommodation such as has been suggested in this thread. It's simply bad business to keep an unhappy customer from leaving unless there's something you can do to mend fences.

I wouldn't let the bank off easily, though. Once the account is closed, I'd document any correspondence and phone calls about the matter and file a complaint with the bank's primary federal regulator (and state regulator, if it's a state-chartered institution).

I personally would complain to the regulators about this. It is just beyond the pale on behavior.

Full disclosure: I'm a banker. But no, jeez, I think it's absurd to suggest that your next stop after one unpleasant exchange (really, just failing to get the response you wanted) is to go straight to a regulator or straight to the CFPB. Treat them the way you would any other business: If you don't like the answer the first person gave you (possibly, some new part-time teller or some customer service rep who could be misinformed or simply afraid of being fired), then call back and ask to speak to a manager. Let them know over the phone that you disagree with their policy and think it is unnecessary, and let them know that you will be instructing them in writing to close the account. If they don't give you the answer you want, the next step is to for that person's boss. Ask them if they would like an advance copy of the letter you'll be writing to their regulator. If still they spit in your face, first consider whether you are truly right or wrong. Have you agreed in writing to close your account in person? Probably not. Have you ever expressed a security concern on your account, or gone through a divorce, or given the bank any reason to think that it could be someone else trying to close your account? Failing all that, sure, go write a regulator. But people should really try dealing with their problems through their bank before looking up some .gov website.

Sounds like my old bank. New management refuses do provide balance or any other information to any person not on name line 1 of a joint account. However, if you come in to close your account, they close the accounts and give you money for any account you are a signer on also. TRUE STORY. They closed a business account that a person was a signer on and gave them the money that belonged to the owner. Said that was fine. Needless to say, the business account didn't reopen with them.

I agree with "Full disclosure" AP above with one exception. I would not go up 3 steps...I'd go to the branch manager or person otherwise in charge at that location and be done with it.

If I had to drive to my previous bank I would waste an hour of my time and gas and would also need to use my lunch hour or leave early...so why whould I do that?

Thankfully, the account closed the next day I left a 0.00 balance.

Full disclosure here again. The comment about lunch & gas is another good illustration of the symptoms of our weakened society here, which has this new and entirely unfounded mindset that a government entity like CFPB will take care of all our personal problems and as a bonus, will force private enterprise to be better at customer service. Why is it any bank's problem that you don't want to drive or use gas or use your lunch hour to close an account? All that is irrelevant. Concerns about personal convenience do not yield a sufficient reason to complain to a federal regulatory authority. Going down that path means complaining about being open 8 to 5 or closing early on Saturdays. If you don't like their hours or how convenient they are - go somewhere else.

There is also no reason a bank should make it easy to close an account non-face-to-face, when there is so much identity theft and account takeover and regulatory pressure to prevent it.

Plus, staff at some banks are instructed to try to "save" accounts from closing, so they might be wanting to have the "Is there anything we can do to keep your business?" conversation. But in the end, banks are in business to make money. They are not public resources. If you are closing an account, getting that done is your problem. You are no longer a source of income for the bank and therefore the bank should spend nothing (in time or expense) helping you leave.

Weakened society? Really? Where did I mention the CFPB or complaining to a regulator?

It was about the inconvenience that the bank will place on any customers, not only me and my example or the original anon's example.

Compl101, I don't believe the anon above your last post was speaking to you directly. (S)he just stated that your gas and lunch scenario is a good illustration of an attitude all too prevelant in society today.

yea, it's inconvenient to go close the account in person but it is what it is. Sure you could vent to the CFPB or the bank's regulator but I'd cite that as an example of the ridiculous levels of litigous actions society has become all too fond of.

As stated above, banks are businesses. And you can always take your business elsewhere. You just may have to do a bit of legwork to do so.

It is ironic how many people state "banks are businesses and take yours elsewhere if you don't like the service" when the point of this thread is that he is trying to take his business elsewhere and the bank is making it difficult to close his account and do so...

I'd write a check to zero my account out, and if they try and hit me with penalties for negative balance or any other frivolous reasons, then i'd be discussing a letter with regualtors or CFPB.

It wasn't mentioned, but i wonder if the banks disclosures or account terms and conditions mention you must come in person to close an account.

Actually the original poster was advised to check their account opening docs by another anon above.

Community banks tend to be more likely to accomodate customers while it has been my experience that bigger banks have more stringent procedures they want followed.

And while I'm not advocating for the demands being put on the original poster, I am saying that I understand where it's coming from and don't view it as an unreasonable or reportable requirement for closing an account.

TR, while I see your point, I respectfully disagree. My take on much regulation we have seen, especially recently, is that it is to correct something that at least a segment of bankers saw as "reasonable".

My question to this bank would be, if a customer wants to leave so badly as to offer a notarized letter to close the account (as indicated by the OP), why on earth wouldn't you let them go? They definitely wouldn't help marketing, and they are probably not going to be a "good customer" going forward.

Absolutely agree that the OP should be accomodated.
Do not agree that the incinvenience to the customer warrants a report to CFPB orthe regulator.