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a bank account can be closed either at the bank’s initiative – in which case it is not required to justify its decision – or at your initiative (due to a change of address, choosing another banking partner, etc.).

• If the closure is initiated by the bank, it must inform you in writing and observe a notice period of at least two months. If there is a credit balance and no debt, the funds will be returned to you. If the balance is in debit, the bank will ask you to reimburse it ;
• If the closure is at your initiative, you can decide to close your bank account at any time, unless the contract provides for a notice period that cannot exceed 30 days. The procedure is free of charge. You must send a closure letter to formalise the request. The account must have sufficient funds to cover current transactions (cheques, bank card transactions and direct debits). All payment methods must be returned to the bank or destroyed ;
• If the account is joint or undivided, all account holders must make the closure request.

The aim of strong authentication is to strengthen the security of online payments and account access via the internet by verifying your identity when making a payment or connecting to your customer area. This is done by using at least two of the following three elements :

• An information that only you know: password, secret code, secret question, etc.
• The use of a device that belongs only to you: mobile phones, smart cards, connected watch, etc.
• A personal characteristic: facial recognition, voice recognition, fingerprint.
  According to the Payment Methods Security Observatory’s recommendations of 16 May 2023, payments made using strong authentication allow your bank to verify that you are indeed the originator of the payment. However, strong authentication does not mean that you authorised the operation, nor does it alone justify non-reimbursement. To make a decision, your bank must analyse a broader set of criteria.

This is a fraudulent technique known as ‘spoofing’, whereby the fraudster contacts you by impersonating your bank’s telephone number in order to obtain confidential information.
If you notice one or more fraudulent transactions on your account following this telephone scam, you must report them to your bank no later than 13 months from the debit date. This deadline is reduced to 70 days (although the card contract may allow a longer period, not exceeding 120 days) if the payment beneficiary’s institution is based outside the European Union or the European Economic Area (i.e. the EU member states, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway).
The bank must then reimburse the debited amount and restore the account to the state it would have been in had the transaction not occurred. You do not need to have taken out specific insurance to benefit from this legal provision.
In case of disagreement, the credit institution must prove that you were particularly negligent in keeping your banking data secure. In order to refuse reimbursement, the institution must demonstrate that you were particularly negligent in keeping your banking data secure.
We also recommend filing a complaint as soon as possible and contacting INFO ESCROQUERIES on 0805 805,817, as well as making a report on PHAROSthe official portal for reporting illegal internet content).