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A bank account may be closed either at the initiative of the bank, which is not required to justify its decision, or at your own initiative (relocation, choice of another banking partner, etc.).

• If the closure is initiated by the bank, , it must inform you in writing and comply with a notice period of at least two months. If the account balance is positive and there is no outstanding debt, the funds will be returned to you. If the balance is negative, the bank will request repayment.
• If the closure is initiated by you : you may close your bank account at any time, unless the contract provides for a notice period, which may not exceed 30 days. The procedure is free of charge. Sending a closure letter is mandatory to formalise the request. The account must be sufficiently funded to allow settlement of any pending transactions (cheques, card transactions, direct debits). All means of payment must be returned to the bank or destroyed.
• In the case of a joint or undivided account, all joint holders must request the closure.

Strong customer authentication aims to enhance the security of online payments and access to online banking by verifying that you are indeed the originator of the payment or the login, using at least two of the following three elements:

• something only you know: password, PIN, secret question, etc.
• something you possess: mobile phone, smart card, connected watch, etc.
• something you are: facial recognition, voice recognition, fingerprint, etc.

According to the recommendations of the Observatory for the Security of Payment Means (16 May 2023), payment using strong customer authentication enables the bank to verify that you are the originator of the payment. However, strong customer authentication does not mean that you authorised the transaction and does not in itself justify refusal of reimbursement. In order to decide, the bank must analyse a broader set of criteria.

This is a fraudulent technique known as ‘spoofing’’, whereby the fraudster contacts you while impersonating your bank’s telephone number in order to obtain confidential information.

If, following this phone scam, you notice one or more fraudulent transactions on your account, you must report them to your bank no later than 13 months after the debit date. This period is reduced to 70 days (the card agreement may provide for a longer period, not exceeding 120 days) when the payee’s payment service provider is located outside the European Union or the European Economic Area (EU Member States as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway).

The bank must then refund the debited amount and restore the account to the position it would have been in had the transaction not occurred. It is not necessary to have taken out specific insurance to benefit from this legal provision.

In the event of a dispute, the burden of proof lies with the credit institution. To refuse reimbursement, the institution must demonstrate that you were grossly negligent in safeguarding your banking data.

We also recommend that you file a complaint as soon as possible, contact INFO ESCROQUERIES on 0805 805 817 and submit a report via PHAROS (the official online reporting platform for illegal content).