Is it ok to leave a bank account empty?my friend is from Thailand and he is here for a few months to work during his school break. he opened a checking account at M&T so he could receive his payments (i don't know how this works). the problem is, he's going back to thailand before he receives his last paycheck, so he can't close the bank... | |
Most banks will classify an account inactive if there is no activity on it for over 3 months.
if you account should happen to have zero balance (and are accruing monthly service fees), the bank's database software are usually programmed to automatically close your account, and charge-off the negative balance (meaning they're restore the balance to zero, and send you a bill for what the negative amount was before the charge-off).
Due to the collections list shared by most banks, you may need to settle a charge-off or else other banks will not offer to open an account for you.
The course of action would be to ask a M&T representative and seek advice on what your friend should do, as every bank's standard procedure is different.
Some banks require a minimum balance and some banks don't. It depends on the bank. Most banks will keep the account open as long as it has a balance (e.g. $1 balance). Some banks will close an account if the balance is at zero or is less then their required minimum. He will need to contact them from Thailand once he takes the money out and no longer needs the account, in order to close it. He may be able to request a closeout over the phone or by mail.
My suggestion is for your friend to call the institution and ask the following:
1) Is there a monthly service charge and how much he needs to keep in the account for it to remain open?
2) If he needs to close the account and can't go in in person, what options are available? Can it be closed over the phone or by mail? Will it automatically close if the balance is at zero?
3) Is there a phone number that can be called from overseas? Some banks have a separate phone number for international calls for one or two reasons. A) most 800 numbers don't work when trying to call from another country. B) customers calling from overseas may be able to call collect and the institution pays for the call.
Hope this helps.
Not a good idea. Especially because in most cases banks do require a minimum balance because they will close it anyway or they will continue to charge the individual for having the account a monthly fee. Also if a bank is required to close the account because of a negative amount it can effect the persons credit as well as be reported to other banks and make it very difficult to open another account for a few years.
It is necessary to keep some minimum balance in a account: otherwise it will become a non remunerative account and Bank will send a notice and in course of time close the account
