Financial Literacy
01 Dec 2022
What is a Dormant account?
When an account remains inactive (an unsued account with transaction activities ) for atleast one year, these accounts are classified as dormant accounts.
Dormant accounts whose balances fall below minimum balance requirement will be subject to Minimum balance charges.
When accounts remain dormant for 10 years or more these accounts are classified as abandoned property.
How to keep your account active and prevent from falling dormant?
The customer should use the account frequently and keep track of his transactions from the account. The customer should atleast make some debit transactions (Cash / ATM withdrawal or POS / Mobile banking transaction) from his account atleast once in an year to prevent his account from falling dormant.
How to reactivate your Dormant account
The customer should visit the branch with valid KYC documents which would establish his 1. Identity (NIN/ Passport) 2. Residential address (Utility bills, Rent agreement etc) and 3.Source of funds (Salary slip/ Business returns etc). The account would be made active upon receipt of valid KYC documents from the customer. The above requirement is only illustrative and more documents would be required in case of business accounts. The documents requirement will also increase based on nature and risk profile of the customer which will be at the discretion of the bank.
Treatment for Abandoned Property accounts
As per the FIA 2004, abandoned property means property held by a bank without any transaction or written correspondence for a period of atleast 10 years.
Procedure to claim abandoned property reported or transferred:
All request for refund of abandoned property reported or transferred should be addressed to the Bank which will liaise with Central Bank on behalf of the customer.
The Central Bank will credit Bank of Baroda’s account with the funds upon satisfaction of the person’s right to claim. (Documentation necessary to support the claim will be decided by the Central Bank on a case to case basis)
About Bank of Baroda
It has been a long and eventful journey of almost a century across 25 countries. Starting in 1908 from a small building in Baroda to its new hi-rise and hi-tech Baroda Corporate Centre in Mumbai, is a saga of vision, enterprise, financial prudence and corporate governance.
It is a story scripted in corporate wisdom and social pride. It is a story crafted in private capital, princely patronage and state ownership. It is a story of ordinary bankers and their extraordinary contribution in the ascent of Bank of Baroda to the formidable heights of corporate glory. It is a story that needs to be shared with all those millions of people - customers, stakeholders, employees & the public at large - who in ample measure, have contributed to the making of an institution.