Why is my debit card still paying bills after the bank account has closed?

Question

This is a weird situation:

I used to have an account at Bank A. Then my balance at Bank A was very low (like a few hundred dollars) and I was not using it to receive paychecks. At some point Bank A decided to transfer my account to Bank B.

When this transfer happened, a few things took place:

1. Bank A has closed my account;

2. A new account was opened for me at Bank B;

3. All the money left in Bank A was transferred to the new account in Bank B;

Now, I have always been using my Bank A debit card to pay for internet bills for years. The card information was saved at the internet provider company, and each month the bill was paid automatically.

After the above transfer was complete, here is what I face:

1. I cannot access Bank A anymore. I cannot log in through internet banking because the account was closed. I called the customer support, they say there is nothing they can do since I am no longer a customer.

2. The bills are still paid successfully for months after my Bank A account was closed.

3. There is no money deduction in my new account at Bank B.

So, who is paying for the internet bills?

From the internet provider company's perspective, they were able to charge fees every month, and it shows "Payment Successful" for these recent months. They are not complaining at all;

From Bank A's perspective, are they losing money? Do I owe money? They have all my information, why are they not contacting me?

From Bank B's perspective, Does my old bank A debit card automatically link to new account at Bank B? Why is this new account not deducting money from the bills at all?

Does this hurt my credit score?

Anyways I have already deleted the Bank A card information on the internet provider's site.

But for the money paid for these few months' bills, should I talk to someone?

I just contacted bank A again: they say that the debit card payment should be from an active account, and since my account is closed and they don't have any further business or issues with me.

Does my old bank A debit card automatically link to new account at Bank B?

Should I contact Bank B instead?

Answer 1

Your credit score is only at risk if someone believes you owe them money and are not paying it back properly. At the moment, neither your internet company, nor Bank A or Bank B seem to believe you owe them anything.

The two most plausible explanations are:

A) Bank A messed up, and that their internal computer systems just lost the information that they paid out money against your account after closing it.

B) The money will actually be taken out of your Bank B account, they are just horribly slow in doing so. (But several months really strains my belief here).

Either way, you've asked Bank A whether they want money from you, and they said "no". Bank B already has your account, so they know where to find your money if they believe they have a right to it.

What you could do to be on the safe side:

1. Keep a record of your correspondence with Bank A on this matter. If this ever comes up again, it will be great to have their written confirmation that they don't have further issues with you. If this was via phone, either make your own record of the details of the conversation, or, if you are really worried, try to get it in writing.

2. Put the relevant amount of money aside (in your book keeping), and don't consider it yours just yet. Having the money in your Bank B account might be the best place to keep it. In a couple of years you're probably safe to consider it yours.