Write an article based on this "Find out why your account was closed. Determine if you're entitled to any notice. Review your recent purchases. Get a check for the balance. Suspend automatic payments. Take care of any direct deposits. Look at your ChexSystems report. File a complaint with your government banking authority."
When you get notification from the bank that your account is being closed, that notification also may give you a reason – but not necessarily. Even if it does, it's still a good idea to call your bank's customer service number and ask.  Your country may have laws forbidding the closure of an account for a discriminatory reason, such as because of your race or gender. Aside from that, banks generally are free to close accounts for any reason or for no reason at all. Typically accounts are closed because you are significantly overdrawn, have had frequent overdrafts, or have bounced a number of checks. Keep in mind that in most cases, the bank is not required by law to tell you why they closed your account, and may refuse to give you a reason. In some countries, banking law requires a bank to provide you with reasonable notice if they are going to close your account. What constitutes "reasonable" may differ significantly.  For example, New Zealand requires at least 14 days' notice, while at least 30 calendar days' notice is required in the U.K. for personal accounts.  The amount of time that constitutes reasonable notice also may depend on whether your account is a business or personal account, and whether you are the only account holder or hold the account jointly with someone else. If you only use your debit card for purchases, you may not have any pending transactions. However, if you've recently written a check and it hasn't cleared your account yet, you'll need to make arrangements with the merchant. If you have online access to your account, check the list of transactions and reconcile them with your own receipts or records of purchases to figure out what's still outstanding. If you can't access your account online, go to a branch and ask for a print-out of your recent transactions. If your account balance is positive when the bank closes your account, it should issue you a check for the balance. If your account is over drafted, on the other hand, you'll need to make arrangements to pay that off.  If you do have an overdraft on the account, try to make arrangements with the bank to get it paid as quickly as possible. Owing money to a bank can devastate your credit, and may impede you from being able to get another bank account. Keep in mind that while the account remains overdrawn, you also may incur additional fees, increasing the cost the longer you go without paying it. If you have automatic payments set up through your bank, they likely have already been stopped. However, if you have any automatic payments set up through the company you have to pay, you'll need to contact that company to have the payments stopped. Go through your records and make sure you've gotten everything. Look out especially for payments that may only come every other month or once a year. If you get your paycheck direct-deposited to your bank account, you'll need to make other arrangements before the bank closes your account for good. You may want to let a check go through, however, if you have an overdraft.  Take a look at the balance and, if there is an overdraft, talk to someone in customer service at your bank about the situation. If you over-drafted soon before your check hit, the bank may be willing to work with you to reinstate your account. If reinstatement isn't an option, call your employer or the payroll department as soon as possible to make sure the situation is corrected so you'll have access to your paycheck. If your employer requires direct deposit of paychecks, you may have to open another bank account first, but your employer needs to know about the situation as soon as possible. If you bank in the United States, the account closure may have been reported to ChexSystems, a consumer reporting service that provides banks with information about your banking history and relationship with banks.  There are several different companies in the U.S. that do this, but ChexSystems is the most popular. You may want to contact your bank to find out which system they use. You can get a copy of your report by visiting consumerdebit.com or calling 1-800-428-9623. If there are any inaccuracies on the report, you can dispute them with ChexSystems and they will work with the reporting institution to correct them. If you believe the bank's closure of your account was illegal or unfair, you can take the issue to your government's banking authority. Search online to find the correct office to file your complaint.  For example, in the U.K., you would file a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman service. In the U.S., if you feel the bank has closed your account unfairly, go to consumerfinance.gov and file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  Before you file your complaint, gather as much information and documentation as you can of the account closure. The more information you provide the government, the better they can help you.