Closing everything and leaving a bank

[FIRE47]

I have been with this bank since I was a child however due to subpar rates, fees as well as bad service and broken promises that were never resolved over a year and a half of effort on my end I have decided to finally pull the plug.

Unfortunately the bank won't let me close the primary account online and I can only do so at the branch but that is another story.

I have the following with the bank - 4 bank accounts, 2 credit cards, a LOC, a HELOC, a conventional mortgage (this is the only thing that will have to remain for now) and 2 investment accounts with most of my life savings.

I am wondering what closing all of this over a month or two will do to my credit score? The only credit I currently have outside of this bank is our premium rewards card but I am just a second card holder on that account.

[2Birds1Stone]

Your length of credit history may suffer, but the rest of the accounts being closed don't mean jack.

I would leave and never look back. You can always keep the CC account open if you're really worried about a credit score....

[FIRE47]

Your length of credit history may suffer, but the rest of the accounts being closed don't mean jack.

I would leave and never look back. You can always keep the CC account open if you're really worried about a credit score....

Not really worried - I continue to have less and less need for credit as time goes on but didn't want to throw the score through the floor either.

I'll be glad to be done with them - 20 year customers with every product imaginable and they still can't be bothered to resolve my issues.

Essentially they sold me on their mortgage instead of a competitor which had made an identical offer by throwing in hundreds of dollars of their brand of rewards points for me to use as a I saw fit. The value of the points varies depending on what you redeem them on but anywhere from maybe $500 on useless junk to around $1,000 if you use them to deposit to an investment account in their name. Well over 1.5 years later I still don't have the points I was promised. I gave up about 6 months ago as it just wasn't worth my time anymore fighting with them - I was in contact with multiple people through both the credit and personal banking departments at both the branch and corporate levels and have the paperwork to show I am entitled to them, no one seemed to care.

[chasesfish]

I'm sorry about your experience.

Slowly and methodically move your stuff.  If one of the credit cards has no annual fee, leave that open to protect your credit score for now.  They can't require you to have accounts in order to maintain your loan/credit card.

[frugaliknowit]

Emotionally, I here you:  "I'm outta here".

However, if you really wanna "slap this bank", leave any lines of credit without annual fees open, but don't use them (it will cost them money and your credit score will be higher than otherwise).

[FIRE47]

Emotionally, I here you:  "I'm outta here".

However, if you really wanna "slap this bank", leave any lines of credit without annual fees open, but don't use them (it will cost them money and your credit score will be higher than otherwise).

I'll leave everything without a fee open then. A few savings accounts with nothing in them, downgrade the main account to the useless (but no fee) option.

I'll still need access to the online banking to deal with the mortgage for 4 more years anyways.

[patchyfacialhair]

Willing to share the name of the bank? Obviously it's not essential for us to know but I'm curious how they offered rewards points randomly. I'm not a banking guru or expert but it seems like that kinda thing would be regulated especially in the context of a mortgage...perhaps the original dude/dudette that offered it put their foot in their mouth and the bank couldn't make you whole for regulatory reasons. Doesn't excuse their actions but maybe provides a little more context.

[FIRE47]

Willing to share the name of the bank? Obviously it's not essential for us to know but I'm curious how they offered rewards points randomly. I'm not a banking guru or expert but it seems like that kinda thing would be regulated especially in the context of a mortgage...perhaps the original dude/dudette that offered it put their foot in their mouth and the bank couldn't make you whole for regulatory reasons. Doesn't excuse their actions but maybe provides a little more context.

Really don’t care why tbh - at least they could have given me an explanation, basically just given the run around, told don’t worry they are coming etc. In any case someone could have made it right in some way or at the very least apologized for their mistake if nothing else.

Not giving the name or the bank last thing I need is them suing me into the ground which I’ve seen happen over public postings unfortunately.

[FIRE@50]

I would caution you to check their fee sheet before closing accounts. You may be getting discounts that you don't realize because you have multiple accounts/products. When I refi'd my mortgage several years ago, I suddenly had a monthly fee applied to my savings account because my mortgage was no longer with my bank. I hadn't realized/forgot that my savings account had the minimum balance provision waived because of the mortgage. I put $300 in the savings account and the fee was waived, but I have since closed the account. I too had to walk(proud to say that MMM inspired me to walk and not drive there) into the branch and wait in line to close it. I was given a funny sales pitch by the banker that went something like, "You don't have to keep $300 in the account. The monthly fee is only $5." No thanks, just move my money to my checking account please.

[Mezzie]

I got a negligible ding for leaving an evil bank -- maybe 20 points off my credit score? I had accounts elsewhere, though, for a comparable period of time, so I'm not sure how that figured in. 

[Trying2bFrugal]

Emotion and banking are two different things.

Like others stated, just suck up their services for free without transactional benefit towards bank.

I had a bank account where i do most things and all my savings goes to credit union, but all current transactions and free cashiers cheque, yearly cheque book quota were all used. Just never pay a penny if u decided to slap.

Dont close accounts if they are long enough to go credit worthy. Otherwise just close them and move on.