Bank accounts that have remained dormant for two years will soon have their contents handed into the custody of the government according to hints from the banking regulator.
According to reports, the Bank of Ghana is likely to invoke the Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930) of 2016 to activate the closure of such dormant bank accounts.
A provision in the law provides for the government to assume custody of bank balance after an account has remained dormant for two years.
Section 143 of Act 930 states, under the title ‘Unclaimed balances’
“(1) Where a current or savings account has not been operated for a period of two years or a time deposit account has not been operated for a period of two years after the date of maturity of the deposit, a withdrawal shall not be made on the account except with the permission of two authorized officers of the bank or specialized deposit-taking institution involved.
“(2) An account referred to in subsection (1) shall be transferred to a separate register of dormant accounts in the books of the bank or specialized deposit-taking institution and a notice in writing of that action shall be given to the depositor at the last known address of the depositor.
it continues, “(3) Where an account which is transferable under subsection (2) is subject to a service charge or is an interest bearing account, the charge may continue to be levied or the interest accrued up to the date on which the account was transferred to the register of dormant accounts.”
In essence, if a bank account remains dormant for two years, the Bank of Ghana will take over custody of the account and its contents so0 that custody is out of the hand of the bank.