I have kept a DXB account open and even had a credit card for the first 4 months, HSBC wanted my credit card cancelled but were fine with leaving the account open. The EK Citi card was never linked to my salary so we just paid into it to keep a positive balance, was very useful while we were trying to set up in new country for car hire etc where a debit does not cut the mustard and we waited for local banks to issue cards.