The notice arrives without warning and almost always without a reason — “in accordance with the terms of service”. Then the chain reaction: incoming payments bounce, standing orders fail, suppliers start calling, and the balance is not always available straight away. Panicking is pointless, and so is arguing: the decision comes from a risk unit and is almost never reversed. The plan that works is different — preserve the data, recover the money, and move settlement somewhere the decision is made on documents.
Why the bank closes an account and says nothing
- An automated monitoring flag fired. A jump in turnover, a payment from a new counterparty, a run of identical amounts, a transfer at an unusual hour. The system raises a flag, a reviewer confirms it, and the decision goes out without a conversation.
- Activity drifted away from the application. One thing was declared at opening; something else runs through the account — different amounts, different recipients, a different line of business. For a bank that is a reason to close, not to ask.
- The concern was a counterparty, not you. One payment from a company under review is enough to put your whole account back on the desk.
- The bank revised its risk policy wholesale. A segment is judged too expensive to service, and clients in it are closed as a list. Your paperwork has nothing to do with it.
- A request went unanswered. The bank emailed a document request, it landed in spam or in the mailbox of someone who left, and the silence was recorded as refusal to cooperate.
- Ownership changed and the bank was not told. A new beneficial owner, a new director, a reorganisation: to compliance that is a new client nobody announced.
What to do in the first 24 hours
- Download statements for the whole period. Access to the portal disappears at closure, and archived copies later cost both money and time.
- List every recurring debit. Rent, payroll, subscriptions, taxes, contractual payments — everything that leaves automatically has to be re-pointed at new details by hand.
- Warn counterparties before their payment bounces. A returned incoming transfer looks far worse to the payer than an email saying “our details have changed, here are the new ones”.
- Send a written request. A phone call leaves no trace; a letter goes on file and forces the bank to name its deadlines.
- Do not break the balance into transfers to personal cards. A burst of payments “to self” at the moment of closure is exactly the pattern that gets money held pending review.
What to demand from the bank in writing
- The termination date and the date after which payments stop going through.
- How the remaining balance is returned: where, on what details, what needs signing.
- What happens to incoming payments that arrive after that date — returned to sender or stuck.
- The documents that would allow the decision to be reviewed, if that option exists at all.
- The contractual ground for closure — the next provider will ask you to quote it.
Bank or payment institution: what actually differs
A payment institution runs on the same European payment rails: an account with its own IBAN, SEPA and SWIFT transfers, details in the company’s name. The difference is not the plumbing but the review. A bank scores a client against a model built for mass service, and anything atypical falls out of it. A payment institution looks at documents and at how the business is actually structured: a complex ownership chain, cross-border settlement or an unusual vertical is a subject for discussion rather than an automatic no.
The second difference is predictability. Terms are stated before signing and are not rewritten afterwards, and a question about the account is settled in writing with a named contact instead of a general call centre.
What a business account costs
- account opening — 1,000.00 EUR;
- internal payments — 10.00 EUR;
- incoming and outgoing SEPA — 10 EUR + 0.30 %;
- incoming SWIFT in euro — 50 EUR + 0.35 %;
- account closure — 100.00 EUR, reactivation — 100.00 EUR.
That is the company column. For a private individual the figures are different and also published: opening 10.00 EUR, maintenance 3.00 EUR a month, internal transfers free, incoming SEPA 1 EUR + 0.35 %. Whenever a comparison table shows “an account for ten euro”, it is almost always the personal column, not the corporate one.
Documents to prepare
- corporate documents in their current version;
- a recent register extract, not a scan from three years ago;
- ownership structure and beneficial owners — a one-page chart beats a pile of documents;
- licences and permits where the activity requires them;
- a description of the business: what you sell, to whom, where money comes from, whom you pay;
- statements from the closed account — they answer half the questions about the origin of turnover.
A closed bank account is not a black mark in itself. What looks bad is trying to keep quiet about it when statements get requested anyway.
How to lower the risk of it happening again
- Announce changes in advance: a new line of business, a large contract, a change of beneficial owner.
- Keep payment references meaningful and the contracts behind them to hand.
- Answer requests on time, from one address that somebody actually reads.
- Keep personal spending off the corporate account — company cards exist for that.
- Hold a second account in reserve: it costs little and removes the “payments have stopped” scenario entirely.
Frequently asked questions
How long does opening an account take
Timelines are individual: they depend on how complete the pack is and how complex the structure is. Exactly one thing speeds it up — documents collected in full the first time.
Will the new provider recover the money from the closed bank
No. The bank returns the balance itself, to the details you give it. The new account exists so that those details have somewhere to point.
Does closure affect taking payments from customers
Yes, if acquiring settled to that account. Payout details are changed separately, and it is best done at the same time as opening the new account.
Can I apply with a new company instead
You can, but if the same beneficial owners and the same business stand behind it, the review will see that. Swapping the legal entity without explaining the history does not close the question.
Settlement runs through a business IBAN, customer payments through a merchant account, and the technical side is covered under payment processing.