Remote account cancellation by customers

13/03/2025

In general, you can close your current or payment account at any time and your bank must fulfill your request within a maximum period of 24 hours from the request provided that there are no linked contracts for whose management it is necessary to maintain it.

However, the entity may require that the cancellation be made in an office, in person, although this requirement, in many cases, may be impossible or very difficult to comply with.

In these cases, if this requirement is not included in your contract, you could use alternative methods. The bank will incur a bad practice if it forces you to use a procedure that you had not agreed.

Classic alternative means include sending a letter, with the original signature of the holders, sent by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt or by burofax, to the branch where the account was opened.

Currently, due to the increase in distance relationships between entities and their customers, the entity should make it possible to cancel an account as simple, at least, as opening it.

Therefore, from the point of view of good banking practices, institutions should offer non-face-to-face alternatives for the cancellation of accounts, in particular when the client has electronic banking and operates remotely. These options could go through the management through the digital platform of the entity or by the sending of a letter with an electronic signature, having to be, in any case, accredited the identity of the client. 

This seems to be the orientation of the new Community legislation (Directive (EU) 2023/2673 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 November 2023Opens in a new window)Abre en ventana nueva, by allowing consumers to exercise their right to withdraw from distance contracts within a few days of their conclusion (withdrawal), requiring institutions to ensure that their interfaces offer a prominent and accessible withdrawal function, very easy to find.

“Disclaimer: Please note that this is a translation of the original in Spanish that has been obtained using eTranslation (the machine translation tool provided by the European Commission), with the intention of giving you a basic idea of the content in English until a human translation becomes available. The Banco de España accepts no liability whatsoever in connection with this translation.”