Many Poles have bank accounts that they have long forgotten – founded years ago in college, for the first occupation or in order to benefit from a one-time promotion. Banks in Poland began the process of mass closure of specified accounts, which for their owners may mean serious problems, and in utmost cases even failure of accumulated funds. The problem is called ‘sleep accounts’, i.e. those with no activity in years. According to the laws in force, financial institutions have not only the right but besides the work to order specified situations. The full process is full legal and results straight from the amendment of the Banking Law, which aims to increase the safety and orderlyness of the system. Unfortunately, many of these account holders are unaware of the threat. 1 simple step, however, is to “awaken” your account and defend your money from blocking and transferring to the municipality. Time is moving out and banks are operating systematically.
What is simply a “sleepy account” and why do banks close them?
According to Polish Banking law, a ‘sleep account’ shall be considered to be a individual or savings account on which by 10 years period no operation commissioned by the owner has been performed. Importantly, activities do not include automatic bank activities specified as interest charging, billing or updating. Only the informed disposition of the client – transfer, deposit, withdrawal from the ATM or even logging into electronic banking – is important. Banks are obliged to identify specified accounts and take action to close them.
Why are they doing this? There are a fewer reasons. First, it's this Legal requirement aimed at orderlying the marketplace and reducing the number of "dead souls" in the system. Second, it's about safety – Inactive accounts are a possible mark for fraudsters who could effort to take control of them. Thirdly, for banks, it is besides a purely operational and financial issue: maintaining millions of unused accounts generates costs and imposes on IT systems. This process is inevitable and will affect anyone who has a forgotten account with even tiny means.
The consequences of closing the account. Where's your money going?
Many people feel that closing an unused account is simply a tiny thing. Nothing more wrong, especially if there are any means on it. The procedure is strictly defined. After 10 years of inactivity, the bank account contract automatically expires. Money accumulated in the account They don't like it right away., but are transferred to a special, interest-free method account. From that minute on, their recovery becomes much more hard and requires formal contact with the bank and proof of their rights to funds.
But it's not over. If the account owner or its heir does not study for the money, after a further 3 years these funds, in accordance with the Act, transfer to the municipalitywhere the last account holder resided. In practice, this means that life savings can go to the self-government budget and their recovery becomes almost impossible. The problem is peculiarly severe for heirs who frequently have no thought of the existence of specified “sleepy” accounts and find out about them after money is no longer recoverable.
One simple decision that will save your savings. How do I wake up an account?
The good news is that avoiding the full problem is highly simple and does not require a visit to the bank branch. To “wake” your account and reset the 10-year idler, simply execute one or more operations commissioned by the owner. This may be the simplest act to confirm to the bank that the account is inactive active and used. There is no request to affect large amounts or carry out complex transactions.
Here is simply a list of examples of actions that will immediately safe your resources:
- Login to a mobile app or online banking.
- Making a transfer for a symbolic amount (e.g. PLN 1 to another account).
- Payment or deposit of any amount in the ATM (even PLN 10).
- Payment by card for tiny purchases In the store.
- Make available a change to the correspondence data or update your telephone number.
The execution of any of these activities is simply a signal to the bank that the owner remembers the account. It is worth regularly, at least all fewer years, reviewing your financial products and making a symbolic decision on each of your accounts.
A disposition for death. Key safety for your loved ones
The problem of “sleeping accounts” very frequently concerns the accounts of deceased people. Their heirs, in mourning and formalities, may not be aware of the existence of all financial assets. However, there is simply a simple tool that can make life much easier for them – distribution of contribution to death. This is simply a written message made in the bank where we identify circumstantial persons (married, parents, siblings, children) who, after our death, will be able to retreat funds immediately from the account.
Most importantly, money covered by specified a disposition do not form part of the inheritance. This means that the designated persons receive them almost immediately, without having to wait for the completion of the time-consuming and costly succession proceedings. The amount that can be secured in this way is limited and amounts to a maximum of 20 times the average monthly remuneration in the enterprise sector. This provision is free of charge and is an excellent complement to the will, providing close fast access to cash at a hard time for them.
In conclusion, the problem of “sleeping accounts” is real and concerns hundreds of thousands of Poles. Passivity can lead to blockage and consequently even failure of savings. It is worth a minute present to remember all the bank accounts held and execute a symbolic operation on them. This simple decision costs nothing, and it can defend us and our loved ones from serious financial problems in the future.
Continued here:
Banks are mass closing accounts of Poles. 1 simple decision will save your savings
