Can I Close My Bank Account While Traveling?
Some people love travelling whereas some are born for travelling. It happens that some things may go wrong with our bank. If the same thing has happened to you. And if you have already made your mind to close your bank account while you are travelling. Then I am here to help you out. Once you decide to close the bank your bank account the next thing that will spark in your mind is.
Can I Close My Bank Account While Travelling?
And I am here today to answer the same question.
The answer to the questions is yes as well as no. And in some cases, you should not close your bank account until you have completed your travel.
Let us discuss some facts and try to draw the fact full answer to the question.
When Can Close Your Bank Account on the Go?
Let us start with Yes. There are certain conditions which should be met if you want to close your bank account while you are travelling, I will explain all of them one by one.
Your Bank Should Allow to Close Remotely
The first condition to this is your bank should allow you to close the account without your physical presence in the branch of the bank. Well, there are some banks that allow you to close the account without personally going to the branch. But this is not the case with all the banks. There are some banks that have the protocol of closing the account.
What does this protocol?
The protocol is that the customer or the account holder has to personally come to the branch of the bank. If this condition is not met then you will not be allowed to close.
You will have to verify this by contacting your bank. All the contact details of your bank can be found online on the internet. But if you are lucky enough then you be permitted to close the account without giving a visit personally. So that you can continue travelling.
There Should be No Negative Balance
If your bank allows you to close the bank account without having to personally visit the bank.
Then congratulations!
So the next condition you have to meet is there should be no negative balance in your bank account. If you have any negative balance then you have to first clear it. And then you can proceed with the process to close the account. No matter which bank of the world you have your bank account. Every bank requires you to clear the negative balance before you can close the account.
No Outstanding Dues Please!
Just like the negative balance if you have any kind of dues in your bank account. Like, say you have a current account (checking account) and you have taken an overdraft from the bank. Then this is a due which you are liable to pay to the bank.
In such a case as well you have to first clear.
And if you are planning to close a loan account. Then there are high chances of getting rejected. There is almost no chance your bank will allow you to close the account while you are on the move.
No Legal Complications
If there are some legal complications on your bank account. Like, say, it has been misused for some reason. Then your bank will not allow you to close the account. I have observed in such cases the bank will freeze your bank account. If this has happened with any bank account. Then the account holder will not be able to withdraw any money from the bank account.
In this scenario no matter what channels the account holder uses. He will not be allowed to withdraw any money from the account.
Once the legal complications are cleared the bank account will function normally as it did before. If you want to learn more about such cases while closing the bank account then refer to Account-closers.com. Select your country on the website and refer to the account closing guides to close your bank account.
In What Cases You Should Not Close Your Account While Traveling?
Ok, I had mentioned that I will explain to you when you should not think of closing your bank account while you are travelling. Let me do it now.
If you Don’t have an Alternative Bank Account
If you don’t have an alternative bank account to use. Then you should seriously drop your plan to close the account. Because if you close your only bank account while you are far from home and travelling you will face a lot of difficulties.
If you still decide to do it then you will have to withdraw all the funds you have in your account. And carry the money in cash with you. But it gets really complicated to carry the cash while you are on the go. And this is the reason why I told you that you should not close your bank account if you don’t have an alternative account to use.
Debit Card of your Alternative Account Should be Useable
Ok so now let us assume that you have an alternative bank account and your bank allows you to close the account without visiting their branch.
And this is the reason you have completely ready to close down the account you don’t want.
But there is one more important thing to take into consideration.
And that is about the debit card.
Even if you transfer all your funds to your alternative bank account. But the debit card of your alternative account should be usable.
This will not be a problem if you are travelling domestically in your own country. But you should make sure that our debit card which is linked to your alternative account works in the country you are travelling.
So these are the things you should know and take into consideration if you are planning to close your bank account on the go. For more details I recommended you contact your bank, the will be able to provide you with the proper instructions curated for their customers.