22 November 2007
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) has hailed the success of its dormant accounts scheme - which aims to reunite consumers with forgotten-about and unused funds.
According to an update released by the BBA yesterday, an "unprecedented" 250,000 users have visited its dormant account web pages - and 20,000 claims on the lost funds have also been received.
The banking industry, represented by the association, has lobbied for a statutory framework for customers to access their dormant accounts.
Currently on its second reading in the House of Lords, the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Bill, it is hoped, will further increase the ease with which customers can reclaim their assets in future.
Chief Executive of the association Angela Knight said: "Our priority from the outset has been to find the means of enabling genuinely lost account monies to be transferred for use on community causes while ensuring that customers retain the right to reclaim their account money at any time without additional hurdles being placed in their way.
"This has involved getting to grips with a vast array of technical issues and the statutory underpinning, the related self-regulation and the industry's commitment to the scheme combine to make this work."
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