How To Close Your FNB Bank Account PERMANENTLY


Are you tired of FNB (First National Bank) and you’re ready to make the switch to a new bank in South Africa? If yes, then here is the easiest way to close an FNB bank account.

You can close your FNB bank account by emailing premier@fnb.co.za, by giving FNB a call on 087-575-9404, or by using the FNB secure chat feature. Before FNB can close your bank account, you can’t have a negative or positive balance in your account, and you can’t have any automatic or recurring payments pending.

Many people make the mistake of trying to close an FNB account while payments are still going off, and while they still have a negative or positive balance.

To help, I’ve created a checklist you can use to make sure you don’t miss anything, so make sure you keep reading.

Close FNB Bank Account Checklist

Closing a bank account should be simple, however if you don’t go through this check-list, it can turn into a long frustrating process.

Swop over any debit orders and payments to a new bank account.

Once you’ve asked them to cancel your account, the process will take an at-least a week. If a debit order comes through during that time, your account will be in areas and this will delay the entire process.

So make sure you swop over all life insurance, loan, mortgage, cell phone contract and even car payments over to your new bank before attempting to close your FNB bank account.

Swop over or cancel any automatic card payments that are attached to your debit card.

Best way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to cancel the debit card. Report it as lost or apply to get it cancelled on the online banking platform. This way you won’t get caught with any unexpected card payments such as a Netflix subscritpion.

Withdraw or transfer your positive balance on your account.

As shown in this hellopeter complaint post, FNB won’t close your account if you have a positive balance. Even if it’s just R2.23 cents… so make sure you empty your entire balance.

That said, make sure you keep enough money in your account to cover any payments, or FNB fees that are due, otherwise you’ll be stuck this the next problem.

Settle the negative balance on your account.

This goes without saying if you owe FNB money they won’t close your account until you settle it.

Are there any outstanding bank charges that still need to be paid?

Look in your bank statement to see what day of the month FNB usually charges account fees. Try to cancel your account only once these charges go through at the earliest moment possible. This will avoid any delays caused by “Outstanding fees.”

What Happens If You Don’t Close Your Bank Account?

You’ve contacted your bank, and you’re just not coming right with closing your account. So what happens if you just leave it open and not use it?

If you don’t close your bank account then you will have to keep paying your bank monthly maintenance fees, and after some time you will also get a letter from the bank stating your account is dormant.

So those are the two things that will happen. Here’s are the consequences of each.

  • If you don’t pay back your bank accounts monthly maintenance fee, they will more than likely send your information over to a debt collector which will have a huge negative effect on your credit score.
  • Once you receive the ‘dormant letter’ from your bank, you could get a penalty depending on your bank’s T&C’s. I’m not entirely sure what FNB’s T&C’s are when it comes to this however if you want to find out then contact their customer service portal.

I know closing a bank with FNB can be a mission but just to avoid all this unnecessary grief just try to stick it out and get it over with. At least then you won’t have to worry about any consequences later down the line.

Will Closing a Bank Account Affect Your Credit Score

A lot of people think that when you close your bank account, it will affect your credit score just like when closing a credit card. However, that’s not entirely true.

Closing a bank account will not affect your credit score because bank account information on checking and savings accounts do not get sent to credit bureaus. Credit bureaus only get access to credit information, therefore, closing a bank account will not be recorded on your credit report as long as you don’t close it with a negative balance.

If you do close your bank account with a negative balance, and you don’t pay back that negative balance in a respectable amount of time, then technically speaking FNB could send your information to a collection agency, which will negatively impact your credit score drastically.

So if you’re closing your account, make sure you follow my checklist above to make sure you don’t close your account with a negative balance.

Your Turn

I’ve noticed a TON of people in South Africa is struggling to close down their FNB bank account, so I really hope this guide increases your chances of closing it the very first time.

Do you know of any easier ways to close an FNB account without walking into the branch? Do you feel like I’ve missed something important in this article? I get things wrong all the time, so please let us know in the comments below so we can begin helping each other out.

8 thoughts on “How To Close Your FNB Bank Account PERMANENTLY

  1. I really stumbled upon this article. I have recently opened two accounts at FNB – an easy account and an account for my new business. The first time I deposited cash at an ATM (into my easy account), the money was credited to a credit card that I had a couple of years ago. There is a balance on this card that I have given up on proving that I have settled the amount as I have paid the amount into another account and FNB did not reverse the payment or corrected it. I have now been struggling for weeks to get this amount reversed but without success. What to do?

    1. In all honesty, I’m not sure how you can handle this better. Your best bet is probably to just persist and if possible, get a manager at a local branch to help you. Hope you come right!

  2. FNB closed my account which was not active for a while because I was not working. I later got a job and gave my employer the same acc number because I was not aware that it’s closed and I’m not sure of how to recover that money and get the new account wich also at FNB

  3. I have applied for a personal loan (during the Covid epidemic) but after it has been provisonially approved, I got a message that the loan was not approved. So I would like to cancel all my cards and accounts with FNB. Have been a loyal customer for maybe the last 8 years. I have already closed my overdraft and will settle all my debt on the Credit Card. That is all I Owe to FNB.

  4. The email account does not exist, the phone number leads to a call centre with super unethiastic people that cannot assist me in closing my account. No where on FNB’s website does it say I have to physcially go into a brand to go close my account. This is not rocket science, the email and phone options you give are not valid options to close an account with FNB. This is the 21st century, we literally have self-driving cars and I cannot close my account online, we are still in a pandemic but the only option I have is to go into a branch… what a waste of my time! This is the entire reason why I do not want to bank with FNB anymore, there is zero customer service.

  5. The advice is not accurate presently.

    I was just informed that the only way to close my account is to go into the branch. (never mind Covid!)

    So, I am so desperate to cut ties with this bank completely, I will risk life and limb and go into a branch.

  6. i want to change my account from check account to savings as i did not realize that my account was check account , now my account keeps on going negative , i also try to cancel the debit orders that are debiting anytime but i could not do it . can i change my account to savings since this thing is affecting my life.

  7. I had the same stupidity from Standard Bank. Trying to close a account, but while in the bank and you are trying to sort out the positive balance, and you withdraw it THEY SLAPPED me with a charge, even if they were the once instigating it!

    That is when I went upstairs to same “advisor” and told her – I will not leave until you legally work out every cent that needs to be settled (Because now I had to pay money back in!!!) before I walk out of here with a closed account.

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