A plastic bank card is just a tool that helps you perform operations with funds that are in your account. After its expiration or blocking, the account owner's obligations do not cease. For example, it continues to charge service fees. Therefore, it is worth spending a little time and closing the bank card if the cardholder does not intend to use it further.
Types of bank cards
The most unpleasant surprises you can expect are from an unclosed credit card. This type of card allows you to borrow money at interest within a certain amount. This amount is called the credit limit and becomes available every time the next debt is repaid. Even if the owner of such a card did not have the slightest intention to use it (came by mail, issued by a bank, etc.), it still gives access to the credit limit set on it.
A debit card allows you to manage exclusively the funds of its owner. Salary and pension cards belong to this type.
Since these types of cards are fundamentally different, the procedures for closing each of them also have their own characteristics.
Closing a credit card
To close a bank card with a credit limit, you need to perform several mandatory steps.
1. Reset balance. Closing the card will be refused until the bank receives the entire debt in full, including interest on the loan and other charges. Therefore, you need to pay all amounts that the card owner owes the bank on the day of its closure. You also need to remember to withdraw all your own funds, if they are on the card.
2. Block the card. It is best to do this before handing over the card to a bank employee. There are known cases when unscrupulous Bank employees made purchases via the Internet using other people's bank cards without completing the closing procedure completely.
3. Disable paid ones. These include SMS notifications, mobile banking and others.
4. Submit an application to the bank to terminate the bank account agreement and hand over the card. You should make sure that the operator accepted the application and destroyed the card by cutting the magnetic strip.
5. Receive notification of bank account closure and a certificate of no debt. Such documents are not issued immediately, but it is worth waiting for them. Only in this case can you be sure that the process is completed and the bank can no longer have any claims.
Closing a debit card
Since the debit card account contains only personal funds, closing the bank card in this case is easier:
1. You need to make sure that all funds have been completely withdrawn from the card account. If not, then withdraw money through an ATM or bank cash desk or transfer it to another current account.
2. Disable all paid services. By the way, this step can be combined with writing an application to close the card.
3. Block the card through the operator or through the Internet banking system.
4. Take the card to the bank and terminate the service agreement. For this, as in the case of a credit card, an application is written, the form of which will be provided by a customer service specialist. The card must also be destroyed in front of the client. Some do not require the return of plastic, and you can dispose of it yourself.
5. Receive confirmation from the bank that the account is closed.
We must not forget about automatic reissue. If you plan to close a card whose validity period is coming to an end, you must notify the bank of your refusal to renew it at least 45 days before the expiration of this period.
Many provide the opportunity to conduct most of these transactions via the Internet or by calling a contact center. You can find out what rules apply in a particular bank from a call center specialist or on the official website.
“Wealth does not bring great fortune, but modest needs.”
Epictetus
IN recent years Almost everyone uses plastic cards. Even many pensioners have ceased to be afraid of them.
Banks issue additional cards for children, family members, just cards in different currencies for one account. We receive them when we get a job, or as a gift when opening a deposit or just an account. As a result, they accumulate and no longer fit in your wallet.
Yes, you can buy a business card where you can put your cards, but the fact is that they all charge money for service. And, often, not small ones.
This is especially true for those cards that are not used. They usually accumulate debt. After all, if you don’t use the card, then there is no money on it, but they still charge it for servicing and then the balance goes into the minus.
The way out of the situation is to close the extra cards.
Why is this necessary?
There may be several reasons for closing a debit card:
| When opening an account or receiving a loan, banks simultaneously issue cards | They can give them as a gift, making the first year's service free. Cards can also accumulate when moving from one place of work to another. As a result, too many of them accumulate, the year of free service ends and if the card is not needed, then it becomes necessary to close it. |
| Changes regarding salary cards | There are several options here:
The bottom line is that when you leave the salary project, the card, if the employer has not blocked it, ceases to be serviced at a preferential rate and switches to a standard one. As a result, it turns out that the card is actually not needed, but you have to pay for it. It is better to close such a card. |
| Change bank | Anyone can simply change the bank whose services they use and which offers more favorable conditions according to cards. For example, why use a card from a bank that charges high interest for cash withdrawals and transfers, when there are banks that do not charge this interest at all. |
In addition, it is necessary to close credit cards. If the card has expired and there is no desire to issue a new one and continue to use the loan, then you also need to write an application to the bank. Otherwise, the card will be automatically reissued and even if you do not use it, money for services will be charged.
To avoid this, you need to come to a bank branch and write an application. In which you indicate your desire to close the card account and repay the loan in full. The bank must calculate the amount required for complete closure. After payment, the card will be closed, and along with it the account.
It is imperative to ask the bank for a certificate stating that the account and cards are closed. You can usually get it a month after closing, otherwise problems may arise.
Having a certificate of card closure in hand, you can always prove that you have no debts to the bank and it has no claims
Detailed instructions
It must be remembered that closing a card is not just blocking it, it is also closing the card account. There is a rule according to which, when an application is received to close a card account, all those cards that were opened to it are automatically blocked.
The sequence of closing a card is as follows:
- The card owner must come to the bank branch and write an application to close the card account.
- If the card is not blocked, then withdraw the available cash from it or transfer it to another account. If the card is blocked (for example, its validity period has expired and the client does not want to receive a new one), then the bank itself will transfer the funds to the account specified by the card owner.
- Pay off all existing card debts.
- Give the card to the bank. Make sure it is destroyed.
- After some time, receive a certificate stating that the card account is closed.
If you want to completely sever relations with the bank, you can write an application to terminate banking services. Then all accounts, including card ones, will be automatically closed.
What to pay attention to
Important points
Often several cards are opened for one account. When closing a card account, you must hand over all open cards to the bank. If additional accounts were opened for the card account, they will also be closed.
The location where the account is closed may vary. Most often, this is the bank branch where the card was opened.
It is important to remember that account closure must end with the issuance of a certificate. You definitely need to get it.
What is needed
Thus, to close a card and card account, you need to take the card itself and come to a Sberbank branch. In addition to the card, you need to have a passport with you. An agreement to open a card can also be submitted to the bank, but this is not mandatory.
At the branch, write an application to close the card account and, if necessary, to transfer money from it to another account.
Give the application to the employee along with the card and make sure that he destroys it. Next you have to wait from 30 to 45 days, then come back to the bank and get a certificate. To obtain a certificate, you only need a passport.
How to close a Sberbank salary card
Waiver of periodic payments
When dismissing an employee, the employer is obliged to inform the bank about this. However, even if he does this, the bank will block the card, but will not close the account.
As a result, cash Cards will continue to be charged for monthly and annual maintenance. And if there is no money on the card, then the balance will become negative, i.e. there will be a debt to the bank.
Even if the card expires and is not reissued, the account will still remain open and money will be charged for its maintenance.
Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to cancel the monthly service, for example, cancel the mobile banking service for which funds are debited, because it is valid even after the card is blocked. After that, go to the bank and write an application to close the account.
If the employer does not inform the bank about the employee’s dismissal, and the employee himself does not refuse further servicing of the card, then the money for SMS information and annual maintenance will be debited, but at a different rate, since the card has already been withdrawn from the salary project.
Many banks also charge for reissuing a card if it has expired. In this case, if a refusal to reissue is not written, the money for it, as well as for the annual service, will be written off
After dismissal
Several years ago, when Sberbank received notice of the dismissal of an employee participating in salary project, his card was automatically blocked and a new one was not issued. And only at the request of the client it was possible to transfer the card from a salary card to a personal one, to a different service tariff.
However, today, the card is not blocked, but automatically becomes personal and is serviced at a more expensive rate. In addition, while the card was a salary card, its maintenance was free for the employee, since it was paid for by the employer. When it becomes personal, the entire burden of maintenance falls on the owner.
Funds will begin to be debited from the card, and if there is no money on it, a debt will accumulate. Therefore, after dismissal, if you decide not to use the card, you need to come to the bank, write an application to close the account and hand over the card.
Blocking or cancellation
What is the difference between blocking a card and canceling or closing it? The fact is that each card has an account. She cannot exist without him. The money is actually in the account.
Blocking is the termination of the validity of only the card itself. At the same time, the account in which the money is actually located and to which the card is opened continues to exist and work. You can transfer funds to it.
In addition, the bank can write off funds from it to pay for annual or monthly maintenance. You can withdraw money from it by coming to the branch.
A card can be blocked for several reasons:
- when carrying out suspicious transactions, the bank can do this itself for security purposes;
- upon expiration of its validity period;
- at the request of the owner due to loss, theft and other reasons.
In this case, the money remains in the account and can be used.
Canceling a card means terminating the validity of not only the card, but also the account associated with it. In this case, the account can no longer be used; it will be closed.
You either need to withdraw money from it yourself, before writing an application to the bank, or they will be transferred to another account specified by the owner.
IN a huge number cases, instead of returning a no longer needed plastic card to a credit and financial institution, people, cutting the card in half, and sometimes without even doing this, simply throw it in the trash. Experts say that such actions can bring a lot of trouble to the user of banking "plastic" "primarily because scammers can gain access to it. As for the latter, it is usually not difficult for them to completely empty someone’s card account using the Internet.
It should be clearly understood that a credit account in a banking organization itself credit card- this is far from the same thing. Thus, it is very naive to expect that as a result of the card being destroyed and thrown away by you, any debt to the credit institution will be eliminated. From a legal point of view, the real owner of the plastic card is the credit and financial company, while the client himself has the status of just a card holder.
In fact, employees of a banking organization are in the process of closing bank card, as a rule, cut it in half in front of users. However, such actions are symbolic. Citizens themselves naively believe that they can easily repeat a similar procedure at home. However, many of them forget that they are unlikely to be able to close the account properly at home on their own.
In order to properly close a bank card, experts recommend, first of all, visiting a financial institution and submitting an appropriate application with a request to close the card account and cancel the bank card. At the same time, it is extremely important to remember that closing the card and closing the account on it must be carried out simultaneously. There are known cases when the card was returned by the user to the banking organization, but the credit account remained not closed. Thus, the bank continued to charge all kinds of fines and penalties, which the user subsequently still had to repay.
Unfortunately, in most cases, the holder of a bank card who wants to close it is forced to personally visit the exact branch of the banking organization where the corresponding card account was opened at one time. In fact, this may not always be convenient. There are also those banks whose clients have the opportunity to contact almost any office of the company in order to return a plastic card. Among such financial institutions one can name, for example, the Bank of Moscow. Users of this bank have the opportunity to close their card accounts within a period of no more than 45 days. After the procedure, it is advisable for the client to collect a certificate from bank employees confirming that the account was closed and the card was cancelled. Obtaining a certificate is not prerequisite However, according to the specialist, it is best to do this anyway.
Some credit and financial institutions are ready to forgive clients and their “amateur activities” regarding plastic cards.” Thus, according to Valentina Kuzmina, director of the payment cards department of Promsvyazbank, the user himself has the right to do literally whatever he wants with his “plastic” - even destruction and throwing the card in the trash. However, you should remember the need to take measures to prevent access to the bank card by any unauthorized persons.
Getting a debit card is a simple matter. Credit institutions are doing everything to simplify and speed up this procedure. But it may be a little more difficult to part with a card that has become unnecessary.
Sometimes plastic cards I have to close it only because the wallet swells to a completely indecent size. And the fee for servicing many cards is a significant amount. At the same time, cunning bankers are constantly coming up with new cards, with more attractive commissions, cashback (by the way, we recommend reading how to use a credit card with cash-back) and various bonuses.
Still, do you need to close your debit card? Of course yes! Throw it away and forget it - no best strategy regarding unnecessary cards. Even if you have raked out the rest of the money from them, banks will continue to provide you with their paid services and as a result you will end up owing them some amounts. You can, of course, simply block your debit card by contacting the call center, but the accounts won’t go anywhere, and in a year or two, collection agencies may start calling you.
How to properly close a debit card?
So, the correct process is as follows: you contact the bank with an application to close the card and receive a certificate of closure of the card account. This is exactly what we did with several “test” cards, and not all of them went smoothly.
1. The first bell rang when I closed my Instabank account. The first free year of service was ending and it was time to get rid of the card.
There were no problems during registration - the courier brought it to our office. To close, as it turned out, it was necessary to come in person to the VPB Bank office, and only to the central one - on Kantemirovskaya Street, which is a long way from almost everywhere.
2. It was even more fun with the Uralsib bank card. The PIN code for the plastic card was forgotten and lost as unnecessary, but some funds remained. Of course, 200 rubles is a small amount, but it played an almost fatal role.
It turned out that it is impossible to withdraw money from Uralsib using a passport. To be precise, it is possible, but you must additionally identify yourself by entering a PIN code. It is also impossible to close a card account with a remaining balance. All that remains is to reissue the card. But there were no unnamed cards at the branch, and re-issuing a registered one costs money and takes several days.
However, we found a way out - we transferred these two hundred rubles to the phone number attached to the plastic. However, the next day the amount was still in the account and it was impossible to close the card. And after 4 days too. Only a week later the card account was reset and the plastic card was safely closed.
This story prompted us to collect certain statistics on largest banks Russia. Find out the procedure for closing debit cards, find out which banks have simplified this process for clients, and which, on the contrary, have tried to make it more difficult. Let us clarify that we are talking specifically about debits - with credit cards the story is different.
Closing of debit cards in some Russian banks
To collect information, we called 20 largest banks and asked their employees a series of questions. We were interested in how to submit an application for closing a plastic card, how to close a card with the withdrawal of the balance of funds without the card itself in hand, how you can get a paper confirming the closure of the account, and how long it takes.
1. Holders of Binbank and Rosselkhozbank cards will have to contact the office where they issued this card, which is sometimes inconvenient. But Rosselkhozbank, JSCB Rossiya and Alfa-Bank immediately issue a document on closing the account, that is, the client will not need to come back for it after a month and a half, as in many other credit institutions.
2. Raiffeisenbank does not issue such certificates at all. Employees motivate this by the fact that they have free account management. But they can issue a receipt for the delivery of plastic.
3. MDM Bank and VTB24, as it turned out, do not issue money without a card. However, they can issue it, but only 30 and 45 days after writing the application, respectively. In these banks, apparently, it will be faster to reissue the card and only then close it.
4. In Sberbank, according to the call center employee, they can issue funds without plastic, but if the card account is maintained in this branch. If you go to another branch, you will have to wait 3 days.
Read about it on our website.
5. Of those surveyed, Citibank found the most relaxed conditions - here you can submit an application without a visit, by fax. Funds are withdrawn at the cash desk on the day of application (of course, you can’t get away with a fax here), a certificate is issued a few days later, according to the contact center employee - within a week.
We can only wish that other banks would also think about how to simplify for clients such an essentially elementary operation as closing a debit card.