How to Close a U.S. Bank Account or Credit Card Online (Step-by-Step Guide)

After U.S. Bank drastically changed the Smartly Rewards credit card terms just months after launch, I decided to shut down nearly all of my U.S. Bank relationships — checking, savings, credit cards, and even brokerage accounts. Fortunately, the process turned out to be quick and painless.

You don’t need to call customer service or visit a branch. U.S. Bank lets you close your account entirely online using their built-in Live Chat system. Simply open the chat window on their website or app, type “close account” into the Smart Assistant bar, and a virtual representative will connect you to a live agent.

Once connected, specify whether you’re closing a checking account, savings account, or credit card. You’ll then see a confirmation popup outlining your choices and a short questionnaire. Depending on business hours, response times may vary, but in my experience, I was chatting with a human agent in under a minute. They handled everything while I continued working in another tab — no phone calls, no paperwork, just a clean online closure.

If you have a US Bank credit card with an annual fee that was charged to your account within the last 30 days, the annual fee will be automatically refunded after you close the credit card account. In other words, you can wait until you actually see the new annual fee charged to the account before you close the account (if you want). That may give you more time to redeem all your rewards (which will be lost upon closure) and use up all the perks like a travel statement credit or TSA PreCheck/Global Entry application fee. In the past, US Bank has also offered “retention” offers in order to keep your business, but I was not offered anything this time when canceling. Perhaps if you call into a human, they might be more likely to offer something, I don’t know.

For the US Bank brokerage account, I had moved in over $100k in assets to qualify for their highest loyalty tier. Well, that loyalty was not rewarded, so I was off again looking for the best place for my assets. I thought about the Kraken up to 2% offer for 1-year hold, but the reward-to-risk ratio just wasn’t there for me. The current regulatory environment is not pro-consumer, and I didn’t feel comfortable with possible having to beg and plead for my $100k back if Kraken blew themselves up in a crypto meltdown. I also didn’t like how the “up to” 2% bonus was contingent on outside factors. I’ll still take the easy crypto money, though!

In the end, I chose this Merrill Edge transfer offer, which is a $400 bonus on $100k transferred (0.4%) with a much shorter 90-day hold. I already have an account with Merrill and Preferred Rewards status, and I find them reliable and professional. Merrill Edge will also reimburse me for the $95 outgoing transfer fee charged by US Bank. Thankfully, this offer is also valid for existing customers. If one bank isn’t meeting your needs, there is most likely a better offer out there.