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Close an Account

Overview

Note: The Highnote team will handle account closure processes in the live environment.

This guide provides steps for simulating account closure in the test environment. This simulation allows you to test status changes and associated events to create notifications and off-boarding flows for your account holders.

Financial account closures vary depending on several factors. Prior to launching your card product, Highnote will work with your team to establish steps for account closure that are specific to your card product and servicing responsibilities.

A typical account closure process takes place in the following steps:

  1. An account closure request is submitted by your team, the account holder, the Partner Bank, or Highnote.
  2. When the request is received, the account's status transitions to PENDING_CLOSURE.
  3. During the PENDING_CLOSURE status, the Highnote team addresses any restrictions on the account that may prevent final closure, and authorizations are blocked on any associated payment cards. For a list of these restrictions, see Account Closure Restrictions.
  4. Once Highnote removes any remaining restrictions, the financial account status is updated to CLOSED.

This process is outlined in the following graphic: Account Closure Process.png

Account closure restrictions

Note: When a financial account is closed for a card product with a rewards program, rewards may be forfeited. Any unclaimed rewards should be communicated to the account holder by your support team.

When the Highnote team is reviewing a financial account that is pending closure, they must ensure that any restrictions on the account are cleared. Restrictions on financial accounts that may impact account closure include the following:

  • Pending authorizations and transfers
  • Active payment cards
  • Scheduled transfers
  • Funds owed to an account holder
  • Unclaimed rewards

If there are restrictions on a financial account that may prevent closure, the Highnote team will address them before setting the account status to CLOSED. For example, if an account holder has funds in their financial account and unclaimed rewards, the Highnote team will return the funds to the account holder and forfeit the account holder's rewards.

Notify the account holder

Note: Some card products may require notifying an account holder by regulation. Contact support@highnote.com to inquire whether your card product requires account holder notification.

When closing a financial account, we recommend notifying the account holder of any related account closure events. Subscribe to the following notification events to notify account holders of account closure events:

Notification eventDescriptionReference
Account statusThe ACCOUNT_STATUS_CLOSED event will notify you when an account has been closed. You can send a confirmation message to the account holder to inform them of their financial account’s change in status.Financial account status
ACH funds withdrawalWhen funds are owed to your account holder prior to account closure, ACH_FUNDS_WITHDRAWAL events can be used to notify account holders of initiated funds transfers.ACH funds out

Simulate account closure

Highnote's account closure simulation lets you test the following:

  • Initiating an account closure (i.e., closing with a balance)
  • Fully closing an account

For more information, see Simulate Account Closure.

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