Any amount in the bank account at account closing is owned by the customer. There are at least four reasons that the bank retaining the amount of the initial deposit could cause the bank significant legal problems. It arguable would break the bank’s actual or implicit agreement with the customer. The bank induced the customer to open an account with the bank by offering to give the customer a sum of money that would be placed in the account. Once the customer met the requirement of opening the account, then the funds placed in it by the bank became his or her money. It is no longer the bank’s money.

One could argue that the bank taking the money back upon closing the account would violate the Illinois Prizes and Gifts Act. The Act requires that a bank not represent that someone has won a prize unless the prize is given without obligation and the representations are not false or misleading. The bank would essentially be requiring the customer to complete transactions on the account as an obligation of retaining the promotional deposit. It could possibly be seen to violate both of the provisions described above. It could also possibly be found to be a UDAAP violation.

The first three reasons discussed, (1) breaching the bank’s implicit agreement with the bank’s customer, (2) the Illinois Prizes and Gifts Act, and (3) the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, all have the potential to be a class action law suit. If the bank proceeds to close the account, then the bank should treat the funds in the account the same as funds held in any other account being closed by the owner. The bank should not treat the funds provided as part of a promotion as the bank’s own funds.