Closing a savings account has no direct effect on your credit score
Closing a savings account does not appear on your credit report and does not change your credit score. Banks do not report savings account activity to the three credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — that calculate your score. Your credit score is built only from borrowing and repayment history: credit cards, loans, and lines of credit where you owe money and pay it back.
A savings account is money you own, not money you borrowed. Because there is no debt involved, the account never reaches the credit bureaus in the first place. You can open and close savings accounts without any impact on your score.
Key Takeaways
- Savings accounts do not report to credit bureaus, so closing one will not change your credit score.
- Your credit score only reflects borrowing activity — credit cards, loans, and lines of credit — not money you own in savings.
- Closing a savings account may affect your banking relationship with that institution, but not your creditworthiness.
- If you have a linked credit card or loan with the same bank, closing the savings account does not affect those accounts unless you explicitly close them too.
Why banks don't report savings accounts to credit bureaus
Credit bureaus track only accounts where you borrow money and demonstrate your ability to repay it. A savings account shows the bank how much of your own money you have stored there — useful information for the bank, but not relevant to your credit history. Credit bureaus care about whether you can be trusted to borrow and repay, not whether you have savings.
The same is true for checking accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit (CDs). None of these appear on your credit report because they represent your money, not borrowed money. Only accounts where you owe a debt — credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, car loans, student loans — get reported to the credit bureaus.
What actually happens when you close a savings account
When you close a savings account, the bank stops paying you interest on that balance and removes the account from your online banking access. If you have money in the account, the bank sends it to you by check, direct deposit, or transfer to another account. If the account is overdrawn, you owe the bank that amount.
The bank may report the closure to ChexSystems, a separate system that tracks banking history — not credit history. ChexSystems records whether you have had problems with bank accounts, such as overdrafts you did not pay or accounts closed due to fraud. This is different from your credit score. Some banks check ChexSystems when you try to open a new account with them, but most do not.
Closing a savings account in good standing — with a zero or positive balance and no unresolved issues — will not appear on ChexSystems either.
When closing a savings account might affect your finances indirectly
Closing a savings account does not hurt your credit score, but it can affect your finances in other ways. If you close your only savings account and have no emergency fund, you may be more likely to use a credit card for unexpected expenses. That credit card use could raise your credit utilization ratio — the percentage of your available credit you are using — which does affect your score.
If you have a linked checking account at the same bank and close the savings account, your checking account remains open unless you close it separately. However, if you close both accounts and the bank has any pending charges or fees, they may try to collect from you, which could eventually affect your credit if the debt goes unpaid and is sent to a collection agency.
Some banks offer perks for maintaining multiple accounts, such as higher interest rates or waived fees. Closing a savings account might mean losing those benefits on your remaining accounts, but again, this does not touch your credit score.
The difference between closing a savings account and closing a credit card
Closing a credit card can affect your credit score because credit cards are borrowing accounts. Closing a savings account cannot, because savings accounts are not borrowing accounts. This is an important distinction.
When you close a credit card, your available credit decreases, which can raise your credit utilization ratio if you still carry balances on other cards. Closing a credit card also removes that account's payment history from your credit report over time. Neither of these things happens with a savings account because savings accounts never appear on your credit report in the first place.
Steps to close a savings account safely
If you decide to close a savings account, contact your bank directly. You can usually do this by phone, in person at a branch, or through online banking. The bank will ask you how you want to receive your balance — check, direct deposit to another account, or transfer to a different bank.
Before you close the account, check that you have no automatic payments or transfers set up to withdraw from it. If you do, update those to pull from a different account first. Ask the bank whether there are any pending fees or charges that have not yet posted. Once the account is closed, keep your final statement for your records.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will closing a savings account show up on my credit report?
No. Savings accounts never appear on your credit report because they are not borrowing accounts. Closing one will not show up on your credit report or affect your credit score in any way.
Can a bank refuse to let me close my savings account?
Banks generally cannot refuse to close a savings account you own. However, if the account is overdrawn or has unresolved issues, the bank may require you to pay the balance first. If you have a loan with the same bank, they may ask you to keep a savings account open as a condition of the loan, but this is rare and would be stated in your loan agreement.
What if I close my savings account and then need to borrow money?
Closing a savings account does not affect your ability to borrow money later. Lenders look at your credit score and credit history, which come from borrowing accounts like credit cards and loans. Your savings account history is not part of that calculation.
Does closing a savings account affect my checking account at the same bank?
No. Closing a savings account does not automatically close your checking account or any other account. You would need to close those separately. However, if you close all your accounts with a bank and the bank has any pending charges, make sure they can collect from you before you leave.
Should I keep a savings account open even if I don't use it?
That depends on your situation. An unused savings account costs you nothing if there are no monthly fees, and it gives you a place to put money in an emergency. However, if the account has a monthly maintenance fee and you will not use it, closing it saves you money. The decision has nothing to do with your credit score.