It is a common situation that occurs more often than it seems, and its consequences can be serious for those affected. It is possible that, when we are not yet of legal age to open a bank account, let our family members open it in our name, always under your approval. An account that, over time, runs the risk of stay forgotten when we get older and, for one reason or another, we become clients of another bank.
The problem comes in those cases where the account is not completely closed. In such case, Hacienda can keep the money that is in it (if any). It is from the 20 years after the last operation when banks consider that the account is abandoned. What happens then? This is how the Bank of Spain explains it. “An account will be considered legally abandoned after 20 years without the owner making any movement in it. The existing money would then become state property“.
It is thus reflected in the Law 33/2003 on State Assets, which in its article 18 establishes the following. “The General Administration of the State is responsible for the securities, money and other personal property deposited in the General Depository Fund and in credit institutions, securities companies or agencies or any other financial institutions, as well as balances of checking accounts, savings books or other similar instruments open in these establishments, with respect to which no management has been practiced by the interested parties that implies the exercise of your property rights within 20 years“.
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Contrary to what you might think, the reality is that there are many accounts that are left in this situation of abandonment every year. Something that usually happens, according to BBVA, “when the account holder dies or has had a serious problem”, being less common for the client to forget that account.
The magnitude of these ‘ghost’ accounts is better seen in figures: according to the EFE Agency, in the year 2019 the Ministry of Finance collected up to 12.57 million euros originating from inactive bank accounts. It was not a unique case, because in 2018, 11.13 million were collected and in 2017 11, 25 million.
Before reaching this situation, the bank notifies customers by certified mail with three months in advance. However, it will only do so when the amount in the account exceeds the cost of shipping: In cases of small quantities, no notification will be sent. In addition, another ‘problem’ is that the letter is sent to the last address known to the bank, so there is a risk of having changed housing without letting the entity know. In case of not being received, An announcement will be published in the BOE with a deadline to claim the account balance or ownership (in the case of heirs). After that period, it would go to the Treasury.
Inactive is not the same as canceled
One very important thing that we must know is that leaving an account abandoned to its fate does not mean that it is canceled, as well as the fact of leaving it without balance. The bank will not close it until we expressly request it. And it is also a risk for fees charged, which could leave your account in the red.
The Bank of Spain considers the collection of overdraft commissions as a bad practice, when this would have occurred precisely due to the collection of maintenance commissions. “The client has not used that money and the entity has not provided a real service to the client that motivates the collection of any commission,” they point out from the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU).
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