Account Dormancy & Escheat
Deposit accounts fall into one of three categories based on transaction history. An account is considered “Active” if at least one signature-based transaction (check, counter deposit or withdrawal) has occurred within the past six months. After six months without any signature-based transactions, an account is considered to be “Inactive”. Accounts which have not demonstrated any signature-based activity after the period of one year will be considered to be “Dormant”.
The lack of signature-based transactions over an extended period of time increases the risk of account fraud perpetrated by unauthorized parties because account owners sometimes do not closely monitor infrequently used accounts. To help protect our customers the Bank will individually monitor any transaction attempting to post against a dormant account. Because of the close monitoring, the Bank may charge a fee to monitor dormant accounts. Any dormant account will be removed from that status with the next signature-based transaction.
State law requires that after seven years of account dormancy, and following reasonable attempts to contact the dormant account’s owner, funds held in such an account must be escheated (or transferred) to the State for caretaking. Escheated funds may be retrieved upon sufficient evidence of ownership by contacting the appropriate State office.
