Bank account closure in Belgium: can the bank close your account, and what can you do?

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Updated on 18 October 2026.

The letter is usually short: the bank announces that it is ending the relationship, sets a closing date and asks for the details of another account. No reason is given. The client then wonders whether the bank is allowed to do this, whether it can be challenged and how to avoid being left without an account.

This guide sets out the Belgian rules on closing a bank account, whether the bank or the client takes the initiative, and links each question to our detailed analyses.

Can the bank close my account without giving a reason?

Yes, as a rule. The relationship between a bank and its client rests on the account agreement, which is concluded for an indefinite term. Under a general principle of contract law, each party to an indefinite-term contract may terminate it unilaterally, subject to reasonable notice. Banks’ general terms and conditions (often called “general regulations”) organise this right, but they merely apply that principle.

The right is mutual: the client may also leave the bank at any time without giving reasons. Belgian law does not recognise a general right to keep a bank account, subject to the basic banking service discussed below.

Anti-money laundering law adds a separate legal basis. Article 35 of the Law of 18 September 2017 requires the bank to end the business relationship when it cannot meet its due diligence obligation towards an existing client. In that case, closing the account is not merely permitted: it is mandatory.

Further reading: De-risking and the basic banking service

What notice must the bank give?

It depends on the account and on the client.

• Payment account (current account): Article VII.25 of the Code of Economic Law, which transposes the EU Payment Services Directive, requires the bank to give at least two months’ notice when the framework contract is for an indefinite term.
• Business client: for users who are not consumers, the law allows the parties to contract out of part of these rules. The notice period is then the one set by the general terms and conditions.
• Savings account: the Court of Justice of the European Union held in 2018 (ING-DiBa, C-191/17) that a savings account from which payments can only be made through a current account is not a payment account. The notice period then follows from the general terms and conditions and from general contract law.
• Basic banking service: two months’ notice applies, except in the cases provided for by law (in particular certain criminal convictions or incorrect information given when the account was opened), where termination may be immediate.

General terms and conditions usually also allow termination without notice in the event of a serious breach by the client or circumstances that make it impossible to continue the relationship. Whether an immediate closure is valid is then assessed case by case.

Why do banks close accounts?

The reasons vary: a change in commercial policy, withdrawal from a client segment, incidents in the relationship, an unused account, or considerations linked to anti-money laundering and international sanctions.

The last case is known as de-risking: the bank ends relationships with clients or categories of clients that it considers to present a risk it cannot or does not wish to manage. Some sectors are more exposed than others (diamonds, hospitality, second-hand vehicles, sports clubs, crypto-assets, transfers to certain countries).

The lack of reasons is often explained by the law itself. Where the decision is linked to a suspicious transaction report to the Financial Intelligence Processing Unit (CTIF-CFI), the bank is legally prohibited from informing the client (Article 55 of the Law of 18 September 2017). The client therefore cannot infer from the bank’s silence that it has no reason.

Further reading: Anti-money laundering and terrorist financing in Belgium: an overview

Can the closure be challenged?

The bank’s right is not absolute, but its limits are narrow.

Abuse of rights. The Civil Code prohibits exercising a right in a manner that manifestly exceeds the limits of the normal exercise of that right by a prudent and reasonable person in the same circumstances (Article 1.10). The court’s review is marginal: it does not decide whether the bank made the right commercial decision, only whether it exercised its right in a manifestly unreasonable way, for example abruptly or with notice that leaves the client no time to find another bank.

The remedy is limited. Where abuse is found, the remedy is to bring the exercise of the right back to its normal use, in practice by granting extra time, or to compensate the loss. A court ruling on the merits does not require the bank to continue indefinitely a relationship it has ended. Whether the judge in summary proceedings may order the account to be kept open provisionally is debated; some decisions have allowed it, on an exceptional and temporary basis.

Discrimination. The decision may not be based on a criterion protected by anti-discrimination legislation (Laws of 10 May 2007 and 30 July 1981). The client must establish facts from which discrimination may be presumed; the burden of proof then shifts to the bank.

Out-of-court remedies. The client may contact the bank’s complaints department and then the Ombudsman for financial services (Ombudsfin). For the basic banking service, a refusal or termination may also be reported to the Economic Inspectorate of the FPS Economy.

I have received a closure letter: what should I do?

1. Note the closing date and check the notice period against the type of account and the general terms and conditions.
2. Open another account without delay. This is the priority. The interbank switching service allows direct debits and standing orders to be transferred.
3. Give the bank written instructions: account to receive the balance, transfer of the securities portfolio to another institution, emptying of the safe-deposit box, cards and loans linked to the account.
4. Inform your usual payers and payees (employer, suppliers, clients, public authorities) of the new account number.
5. Ask for extra time if needed. In practice, banks often agree to a negotiated exit when the client shows the steps taken with other institutions.
6. Keep a record of refusals by other banks: they will be useful for a basic banking service application.

Blocked account or closed account: what is the difference?

A closed account no longer exists. A blocked account still exists, but some transactions are no longer possible. Blocking follows its own rules, depending on its cause:

• death of the holder: the bank blocks the accounts until the heirs are identified, subject to certain payments allowed by law;
• attachment: a garnishment served on the bank makes the assets unavailable up to the amount of the claim;
• anti-money laundering: the bank may refuse or suspend a suspicious transaction, and the CTIF-CFI may object to its execution for a limited period;
• international sanctions: the assets of a person targeted by restrictive measures are frozen by the EU regulation itself, and the bank has no choice;
• dispute or fraud: the bank may block a payment instrument for security reasons.

Further reading: Bank accounts and death: blocking and unblocking · International sanctions and suspension of transactions · Bank attachment and immunity from execution

The basic banking service for individuals

Since the Law of 24 March 2003, now part of Book VII of the Code of Economic Law (Articles VII.56/1 et seq.), every consumer legally resident in the European Union is entitled to a basic current account: deposits, withdrawals, transfers, direct debits, standing orders and a debit card, with no overdraft. The fee is capped by law.

The bank may refuse the service only in limited cases, in particular where the consumer already holds a current account in Belgium, where the consumer’s assets or loans exceed a statutory ceiling (raised to EUR 10,000 in 2024 and now indexed), or where opening the account would breach anti-money laundering legislation. Any refusal or termination must be justified in writing, unless anti-money laundering law prohibits it.

Further reading: The basic banking service for individuals

The basic banking service for businesses

The Law of 8 November 2020 extended the basic banking service to businesses. It only became operational on 16 January 2023, after the implementing royal decree was adopted. The regime was then amended by a Law of 4 May 2024 and a Royal Decree of 17 July 2024.

The mechanism differs from the one for individuals. The business does not apply to a bank but to the Basic Banking Service Chamber within the FPS Economy. It must be established in Belgium, registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises, and show that several banks have refused it an account. The Chamber consults the CTIF-CFI and, if the application is admitted, designates the bank that must provide the service. The business does not choose its bank.

The application is rejected in certain cases set by the regulations, in particular where the business or one of its directors has been convicted of certain financial offences or appears on a financial sanctions list.

Further reading: Refusal to open a bank account: businesses and the basic banking service · Refusal to open an account: the Belgian State held liable

What if the client wants to close the account?

The client may terminate a payment account agreement at any time. The law only allows the bank to require notice of up to one month. Closing a current account is in principle free of charge for consumers.

A few points explain most of the difficulties encountered in practice:

• an overdrawn account must be brought back to zero before it can be closed;
• loans, credit cards and products linked to the account must be settled or transferred;
• for a joint account, the general terms and conditions determine whether a single co-holder may request closure or withdraw from the account;
• securities and the safe-deposit box require separate instructions.

If the bank does not act on a clear written request, the client may send a formal notice and then contact the complaints department and Ombudsfin.

Inactive accounts and dormant assets

An account with no transactions and no contact with the holder for five years is considered dormant (Law of 24 July 2008). The bank must then try to find the holder. Failing that, the assets are transferred to the Deposit and Consignment Office (Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations), from which the holder or the heirs may claim them within the statutory time limits. The basic banking service, for its part, may be terminated after twenty-four months without any transaction.

What will change with the EU anti-money laundering regulation

Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, applicable from 10 July 2027, restates the rule that a bank which cannot carry out due diligence on a client must refuse or end the relationship (Article 21). It also requires the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) and the European Banking Authority to issue guidelines on access to financial services for the clients most affected by de-risking.

The European Banking Authority already adopted guidelines on 31 March 2023 asking institutions to manage risks rather than avoid them systematically, and to consider less drastic measures than closure where possible. These guidelines are addressed to institutions and their supervisors; they do not, in themselves, create a right to keep an account.

All our analyses on account closure and access to an account

Closure and de-risking

• De-risking and the basic banking service (January 2023)
• De-risking: the responsibility of the Belgian State (June 2022)

Basic banking service and refusal to open an account

• The basic banking service for individuals (October 2018)
• Businesses and the basic banking service (November 2020)
• Refusal to open an account: one year on (November 2021)
• Refusal to open an account: the Belgian State held liable (February 2022)

Life of the account

• Bank accounts and death: blocking and unblocking (May 2020)
• International sanctions and suspension of transactions
• Bank attachment and immunity from execution (September 2021)

This guide is provided for general information and does not constitute legal advice. Each situation depends on its facts, the type of account and the applicable general terms and conditions.