How do you close your credit card and get a clearance letter?

Ask your bank in writing to close the card, pay off what you owe, and ask for a no liability letter. Central Bank standards set the bank’s deadlines at each step.

What must your bank do when you ask to cancel?

The rules are in the standards’ section on account closure.¹ The bank may make you an offer to keep the card, but it must be in writing, and unless you withdraw your request the bank must complete the closure on time.¹

Do you get your annual fee back?

Check your bank’s terms, because they differ. Emirates NBD says an annual fee is not reversed once the card is activated, used or cancelled.² ADCB says it makes no refund of annual fees when a card is cancelled.³ Inside the 5 business day cooling-off period after you sign up, banks must refund related fees less reasonable direct costs; Standard Chartered’s key facts statement repeats this for its cards.¹⁴

How do you get a no liability letter?

Ask for it. Central Bank standards say you can ask at any time for written confirmation of whether you owe the bank anything. The bank must issue a “letter of no liability” if you owe nothing, or a “letter of liability” with the amounts if you do, within 7 complete business days of your request.¹ The fee is capped at AED 50.¹ HSBC prints its fee as AED 50, or AED 52.50 including VAT.⁵

Keep a copy of the letter.

What happens to cheques you gave the bank?

The bank must give you stamped photocopies of any cheques it holds as proof that it has them, and when a loan or facility is paid off early it must return the remaining post-dated cheques within 7 business days.¹ Ask for any security cheque linked to the card back when you close it, and get the return in writing.

Does closing a card show on your credit report?

Yes. Your Etihad Credit Bureau report shows three years of payment history on each active and closed credit facility.⁶ Buy a report a few weeks after closure and check that the card shows as closed with a zero balance. See your AECB credit report.

Send your cancellation request in writing, keep the bank’s acknowledgement, and ask for the no liability letter in the same message.

The small print

• Account closure rules are Consumer Protection Standards clauses 5.1.1.32 to 5.1.1.34. Clause 5.1.1.32 (d) bars closing fees on accounts open for 6 months or more; the 7-day closure deadline in 5.1.1.32 (e) excludes credit cards, which have the 45-day rule in 5.1.1.32 (f).¹
• Liability letters are clause 7.1.1.9 and cheques are clause 7.1.1.8. The fee cap is item 30 in the Annexure.¹
• The cooling-off period and refunds are clauses 5.1.1.28 and 5.1.1.30.¹