What happens to accounts you no longer use?

17/05/2022

It seems obvious, but if you have a bank account that you no longer use, it makes sense to cancel it. An account with no activity, even if you leave it with a zero balance, is not a cancelled account and it can generate costs... and surprises.

The bank can continue to charge you maintenance fees as established in the contract. And if the account goes overdrawn, the bank can charge you interest and fees for this, unless the overdraft is due to the charging of fees, in which case it cannot do so. In fact, bank do not generally charge fees on accounts with a zero balance in order to prevent overdrafts.

The bank must continue to send you the statements and other required information documents in the form agreed and, in the case of an overdraft, periodically claim the outstanding balance from you to avoid the surprise of unknown outstanding amounts. But remember that the bank is not obliged to send you the monthly summary if there has been no activity in the period.

Only after 20 years have passed without the account holder having made any transactions can the bank deem the account "abandoned" and transfer the balance to the State.

As the holder of an account, you should be the first to be interested in keeping track of it. If you wish to cancel your account, you should contact your bank to complete the formalities.

We remind you that, if you intend to change bank, the banks must offer you the account switching service, which will facilitate the formalities for you.