Bank closed my account with no explanation - is this legal?

Personal Finance

Got a letter from Wells Fargo saying they're closing my accounts in 30 days. No reason given, just "we've decided to end our relationship." Ive been with them for 8 years, never overdrawn, nothing weird. I deposit my paychecks via direct deposit and pay bills, thats it. Called customer service and they literally cant tell me why. Is this even legal? What do I do? I have autopay set up for everything.

Joshua Anderson

3 Answers

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Unfortunately yes, completely legal. Banks can close accounts for basically any reason and dont have to tell you why. It sucks but thats how it works.

Common reasons they do this:

Too many transfers (looks like structuring even if innocent)

Receiving payments from flagged sources

Too many overdrafts historically

Profitability (you dont make them enough money)

Something in ChexSystems from years ago

Sometimes just random risk algorithms

What to do now:

Open a new account somewhere else ASAP - credit unions are usually less trigger happy

Update all your autopays and direct deposit immediately

Request your ChexSystems report (free annually) to see if anything is on there

Keep documentation of account closure in case it affects you later

This happened to my brother randomly too. Never found out why. Just moved to a local credit union and hasnt had issues since.

Jessica Brown

Banks can close accounts for any reason without telling you why. Its in the terms you agreed to. Probably algorithmic - too many Zelle transfers, or receiving payments from flagged sources, who knows.

Megan Clark

Same thing happened to my friend with Chase. Never got an explanation. Just move to a credit union, they tend to be less trigger happy with closures. And pull your ChexSystems report to make sure nothing weird is on there.