This Major Bank Is Closing Tons Of Bank Accounts And The Reason Why Is Clear

Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in America, with a whopping $1.9 trillion dollars worth of assets. According to WellsFargoJobs.com, the company also has over 5,600 branches, 11,000 24 hour ATMs, and 68 million customers who currently bank with them. That said, if you have an account with Wells Fargo, a recent announcement could be of interest to you. Specifically, the multi-trillion dollar bank recently announced it would be closing any bank accounts that have not shown signs of activity for the last 16 months by the end of April 2025.

Although traditional banks like Wells Fargo are one of the worst places to keep your savings, if you do happen to have money stored in an account that you haven't accessed for a while — now is the time to do so. That money could potentially disappear if you do nothing before Well's Fargo closes the account. However, you can easily avoid a closure by doing something as simple as making a purchase with the inactive account in question.

The main reason Wells Fargo is closing inactive accounts is because these accounts cost the bank time and money to monitor them. Despite the many bank fees used by banks to make money, an easy way for the bank to further streamline operations, and cut additional costs, is by simply shutting these accounts down.

As for knowing if these closures will actually affect you, there is some good news. If your account will be affected by these closures then you've likely already received a notification from Well's Fargo regarding the official deadline for some form of account activity. However, in case you haven't received the notification or somehow missed it in your mailbox, it could be worth considering when the last time you used your account was. Remember that the bank is only closing accounts with 16 months of inactivity — meaning you haven't used the account since December 2023.

The easiest way to make sure that your account doesn't get closed down for good is to give it some sign of activity. For example, you can start by simply logging in to your online banking account and moving money between your checking and savings. Similarly, you can make a small payment, or transfer the majority of the money in the account to another bank account you use more frequently. At the same time, it might be smart to check out the do's and don'ts of using Zelle before making any large transfers.

If you end up missing the deadline window, it's important to realize that Well's Fargo is obligated to return your money to you. More than likely they will send a check with the remaining balance to whatever address you have on file. With that in mind, if your information is out of date you should call Well's Fargo customer service as soon as possible.