Closing a checking account does not affect your credit score
Closing a checking account has no direct impact on your credit. Credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—do not track checking accounts, savings accounts, or any other deposit accounts. They track only credit activity: loans, credit cards, payment history, and amounts owed. Your bank may close your account, or you may close it yourself, and your credit report will not change.
That said, closing a checking account can create indirect problems if you are not careful about what happens to automatic payments, direct deposits, or outstanding checks. Those problems won't show up on your credit report, but they can lead to missed payments on credit cards or loans—and those will hurt your credit.
Key Takeaways
- Checking accounts do not appear on your credit report, so closing one cannot lower your credit score.
- If you have automatic bill payments or direct deposits tied to the account you are closing, you must redirect them before the account closes or payments will fail.
- A missed payment on a credit card or loan caused by a closed checking account will damage your credit, even though the account closure itself does not.
- Banks do not report closed checking accounts to credit bureaus, so there is no record of the closure on your credit file.
- Outstanding checks written against a closed account can bounce, triggering overdraft fees and potentially a report to ChexSystems, which tracks banking behavior but is separate from credit reporting.
Why checking accounts never appear on your credit report
Credit bureaus collect information only about credit products—credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, personal loans, and similar accounts where you borrow money and agree to repay it. A checking account is a deposit account. You put money in; the bank holds it. There is no debt, no payment obligation, and no credit risk from the bank's perspective. Because there is no credit involved, there is nothing for a credit bureau to report.
Your bank may report your account to ChexSystems, which is a separate system that tracks banking history—things like overdrafts, bounced checks, and fraud. ChexSystems is not a credit bureau and does not affect your credit score. It is used by banks to decide whether to open new accounts with you, but it has no connection to credit reporting.
How a closed checking account can indirectly damage your credit
The danger in closing a checking account is not the closure itself, but what you forget to do before closing it. If you have automatic payments set up—a credit card payment, a loan payment, an insurance premium, a utility bill—and you close the account without redirecting those payments, they will fail. The payment will bounce or be rejected.
If the failed payment is for a credit product (a credit card, loan, or line of credit), the creditor will report it as a late payment to the credit bureaus. A single late payment can lower your score by 50 to 100 points or more, depending on your current score and payment history. That damage is real and will stay on your report for seven years.
Payments for utilities, insurance, or rent are not reported to credit bureaus, so they won't damage your credit score directly. But they can trigger late fees, service interruptions, or collection action—and if a debt collector gets involved, that will show up on your credit report.
Steps to take before closing your checking account
Before you close a checking account, spend 10 minutes reviewing what is tied to it. Log into your online banking and look for automatic payments or recurring transfers. Check your credit card statements, loan statements, and insurance bills to see which account they are pulling from. Call your employer's payroll department if you have direct deposit set up.
Once you know what is connected, redirect everything to your new account at least two weeks before you close the old one. For automatic payments, log into each biller's website and update the account number. For direct deposit, submit a new form to your employer's payroll team. For outstanding checks you have written, wait until they have cleared before closing the account—or contact the payee to ask them to deposit the check sooner.
After you have redirected everything, wait another week or two to make sure the first round of payments goes through without problems. Only then should you close the old account. Most banks will let you close an account online or by phone, though some require you to visit a branch in person.
What happens if you close an account with outstanding checks
If you close a checking account and someone tries to deposit a check you wrote against that account, the check will bounce. The payee will see an "account closed" message and may be charged a returned-check fee by their bank. You may also be charged a fee by your bank for the bounced check, and the payee may pursue you for payment.
If the bounced check is for a significant amount or if the payee decides to report it, it can end up with a collection agency. A collection account will appear on your credit report and will damage your score. To avoid this, do not close an account until you are certain all checks have cleared. If you are unsure whether a check has been deposited, contact the payee directly or wait an extra week or two before closing.
Closing an account with a negative balance
If your checking account is overdrawn when you try to close it, the bank will not let you close it until the balance is paid. You will need to deposit enough money to bring the account to zero or positive. Once the overdraft is cleared, you can close the account.
The overdraft itself does not appear on your credit report—it is a banking issue, not a credit issue—but the bank may report it to ChexSystems, which could make it harder to open accounts at other banks in the future. ChexSystems records stay on file for five years, so the overdraft could affect your ability to open new checking or savings accounts during that time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will closing a checking account show up on my credit report?
No. Checking accounts do not appear on credit reports at all, whether open or closed. Credit bureaus only track credit products like loans and credit cards. Your bank may report the account to ChexSystems, a banking history system, but that is separate from credit reporting and does not affect your credit score.
Can a bank closing my account hurt my credit?
The account closure itself will not hurt your credit. However, if the bank closes your account because of fraud, repeated overdrafts, or other serious issues, and you have automatic payments set up, those payments may fail and damage your credit if they are tied to credit products. The damage comes from the missed payment, not from the account closure.
What if I forget to redirect a credit card payment before closing my account?
If a credit card payment fails because the checking account is closed, the credit card company will report it as a late payment to the credit bureaus. This will lower your credit score. Contact the credit card company immediately to make a payment and ask if they will remove the late report, though they are not required to do so.
Does closing a checking account affect my ability to get a loan?
Closing a checking account will not affect your credit score or your ability to get a loan. However, if the bank reports the closure to ChexSystems because of overdrafts or fraud, other banks may be less willing to open accounts with you. Lenders typically care about your credit score, not your ChexSystems history, but some may check both.
How long should I wait after closing an account before opening a new one?
You can open a new checking account immediately. There is no waiting period, and opening a new account will not affect your credit. However, if your old account was closed by the bank due to overdrafts or fraud, some banks may check ChexSystems and decline to open an account with you for a period of time—usually a few months to a year.