CIBC closed bank account without notice!

barmadrid wrote: ↑ After signing in to CIBC online I noticed that my account was not available.

Call center could not give the reason for that and told that I have to visit a branch!

Could this be due to not having done a transaction for long time or maybe not having enough balance to cover the monthly fees?

Appreciate your input...until verifying with a branch later.

Yes if you had no activity for 6+ months
Make a transaction with your debit card

I thought they were just supposed to charge inactivity fees until the bank account runs dry.

How can they close it if you have money in it?

All banks usually "freeze" the account when it's inactive for 6 months (no transaction ). All you have to do is go to the branch and reactivate it at the counter.

They may charge you inactive fee.. all banks are different in the charge.. usually they waive it if you are a client with good banking relationship

barmadrid wrote: ↑After signing in to CIBC online I noticed that my account was not available.

Call center could not give the reason for that and told that I have to visit a branch!

Could this be due to not having done a transaction for long time or maybe not having enough balance to cover the monthly fees?

Appreciate your input...until verifying with a branch later.

ITs most likely not having enough balance to cover the monthly fee. IF the balance is near 0, and fees keep deducting... eventually they close the account.

ayufan wrote: ↑ All banks usually "freeze" the account when it's inactive for 6 months (no transaction ). All you have to do is go to the branch and reactivate it at the counter.

They may charge you inactive fee.. all banks are different in the charge.. usually they waive it if you are a client with good banking relationship

Just an fyi to everyne... They only freeze an account @ 2 years when it becomes dormant.
Some banks may have internal classification for 'inactive' accounts... but that really only to notifying staff that an account hasn't been used in a few months (or whatever time they use to classify this).

barmadrid wrote: ↑ After signing in to CIBC online I noticed that my account was not available.

Call center could not give the reason for that and told that I have to visit a branch!

Could this be due to not having done a transaction for long time or maybe not having enough balance to cover the monthly fees?

Appreciate your input...until verifying with a branch later.

Why would the bank want to keep your account open given that its in the negative, plus you don't use the account

Wait.. for about 2 months now my cibc has only had mortgage/loans + me adding money come into the account but no purchases. Are the automatic mortgage and loan payments considered transactions

Jagmin wrote: ↑ Wait.. for about 2 months now my cibc has only had mortgage/loans + me adding money come into the account but no purchases. Are the automatic mortgage and loan payments considered transactions

Yes

After 6 months CIBC will inactivate the account. You can re-activate it by doing a transaction at either a teller or a bank machine. Eventually the account will be suspended. If you have a reason to keep the account, setup an automatic deposit for every 5 or 6 months for $10.

Happened to me too in January. Had to have the bank teller transfer a dollar over into the closed account to reopen it. I've set up an automatic transfer of $1.00 every month to keep it open.

40Niner wrote: ↑Happened to me too in January. Had to have the bank teller transfer a dollar over into the closed account to reopen it. I've set up an automatic transfer of $1.00 every month to keep it open.

When they closed your account did you have money in it?
If yes, how can they close your account if you have money in it?

wra45mon wrote: ↑ When they closed your account did you have money in it?
If yes, how can they close your account if you have money in it?

Oh yeah! I had just over ten grand in that account and they suspended it. Reason given was that there was no activity for 6 months.

40Niner wrote: ↑ Oh yeah! I had just over ten grand in that account and they suspended it. Reason given was that there was no activity for 6 months.

It wasn't closed. It was suspended. To me, closed would mean you don't have an account with them anymore.

ds2chan wrote: ↑ It wasn't closed. It was suspended. To me, closed would mean you don't have an account with them anymore.

Nevertheless, it would be a shock to have that happen.

What's the use in suspending an account that has money in it? I don't get the logic.

wra45mon wrote: ↑ What's the use in suspending an account that has money in it? I don't get the logic.

Just an additional security feature I would guess. I imagine the teller would have to confirm identity and reactivate the account manually.

40Niner wrote: ↑ Nevertheless, it would be a shock to have that happen.

Oh yeah, I don't doubt that. I was just trying to point out that there is a difference with closing and suspending an account.

I would be so anxious trying to get through to the bank if this would have happened to me. I hope they wouldn't actually just close an account if there were money in it. What would happen to the money?

If you have funds in the account, the account would normally just go dormant and a simple transaction with your card or a quick call would activate the account immediately or within a few days. That being said, if it’s a chequing account the monthly fees will keep stacking and if your balance is drained you run the risk of it closing down for inactivity and being overdrawn. Most banks charge a dormancy fee too after 2 years of inactivity. But they mail out letters when the account is about to reach this point and later on in the cycle.

Unless the bank is exiting you or divesting you for shady practices with the account. In that case I assume the bank closes your account on you and sends you a cheque.

For the bank to normally close your account, you would have had to ignore it for 10 years. In that scenario the dormant account would be closed and funds would be given to the bank of Canada. There’s a process to reclaim unclaimed funds but it’s a pain in the ass if it’s come to this point.

Omg typos

I use online banking so when I logged in to check my balances I saw one account that did not have one. I thought Oh well maybe they haven't updated it yet. After a few more anxious days without a balance I had to go to my branch to see what was up. After the teller told me what happened she then moved $1.00 over from my other account to unsuspend it. The teller was new and I caught her trying to move the $1 from my LOC account which I've not used.
:-/