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This story is sensationalism at its best. The full story is that inactive money is currently held by the banks and transferred to ASIC after 7 years of inactiv

by femto 13y ago

This story is sensationalism at its best. The full story is that inactive money is currently held by the banks and transferred to ASIC after 7 years of inactivity. The owner of the account doesn't lose their money, as ASIC advertises the details of all inactive accounts in an effort to locate the owners and return the money to them [1]. The new law changes the period to 3 years. As you can imagine, the banks are spitting chips, since they get 4 years less use out of the money. One can argue that the change is good for people who have genuinely lost their account, as the inactive account gets visability sooner and is more likely to be reunited with its owner. It will be a nuisance for people who do want to leave an account untouched for a long time, as they will have to interact with the account every three years. [1] https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/find-unclaimed-money https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/find-uncla... --- edit: spelling

Maxious 13y ago
This is even better for consumers and even worse for banks - no monthly account fees and automatically adjusting interest rates once the money is sent to ASIC. Reactivating the account and getting your money back isn't hard either - you just find the unique identifier online https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/find-unclaimed-money#claim https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/find-uncla... and take it to the bank.
- incompatible 13y ago
  If you shop around a little, you'll find banks in Australia that don't charge account fees. And I'm not convinced that ASIC will pay decent interest rates, since the government cash rate is lower than typical bank rates for deposits (again if you shop around a little).
  - jacques_chester 13y ago
    I have a personal account with a credit union that is fee-free. It's not that difficult to arrange. Here's my complete, step-by-step guide to getting cheap basic banking services: 1. Avoid the Big 4 Banks.
brc 13y ago
Rubbish. Under what circumstances does a government have the right to take money after 36 months of savings with no further deposits? Why does it apply to accounts within a bank where the customer is regularly transacting in other accounts at the same bank? The customers were given one warning and a short period of time to respond. So why change from 7 years to 3? What is the justification? Why would anyone be making apologies for this? Ther is nothing, nothing reasonable about this?

by femto 13y ago

Maxious 13y ago

This is even better for consumers and even worse for banks - no monthly account fees and automatically adjusting interest rates once the money is sent to ASIC. Reactivating the account and getting your money back isn't hard either - you just find the unique identifier online https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/find-unclaimed-money#claim https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/find-uncla... and take it to the bank.

incompatible 13y ago
If you shop around a little, you'll find banks in Australia that don't charge account fees. And I'm not convinced that ASIC will pay decent interest rates, since the government cash rate is lower than typical bank rates for deposits (again if you shop around a little).
- jacques_chester 13y ago
  I have a personal account with a credit union that is fee-free. It's not that difficult to arrange. Here's my complete, step-by-step guide to getting cheap basic banking services: 1. Avoid the Big 4 Banks.

brc 13y ago

Rubbish. Under what circumstances does a government have the right to take money after 36 months of savings with no further deposits? Why does it apply to accounts within a bank where the customer is regularly transacting in other accounts at the same bank? The customers were given one warning and a short period of time to respond. So why change from 7 years to 3? What is the justification? Why would anyone be making apologies for this? Ther is nothing, nothing reasonable about this?