BEWARE!- GOV’T, BoG TO SEIZE PRIVATE BANK ACCOUNTS …That Are ’Dormant’ For Two Years

Do you own or operate a bank account? Do you have money in the account? Was the last time you caused a transaction in the account more than two years ago?
Then beware, your bank is about to hand your money into the custody of the government, and the Bank of Ghana.
This is as a result of a usurious provision in a law passed in 2016, the Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930).
Section 143 of Act 930 states, under the title ‘Unclaimed balances’;
“(1) Where a current or savings account has not been operated for a period of two years or a time deposit account has not been operated for a period of two years after the date of maturity of the deposit, a withdrawal shall not be made on the account except with the permission of two authorized officers of the bank or specialized deposit-taking institution involved.
“(2) An account referred to in subsection (1) shall be transferred to a separate register of dormant accounts in the books of the bank or specialized deposit-taking institution and a notice in writing of that action shall be given to the depositor at the last known address of the depositor.
“(3) Where an account which is transferable under subsection (2) is subject to a service charge or is an interest bearing account, the charge may continue to be levied or the interest accrued up to the date on which the account was transferred to the register of dormant accounts.
“(4) Where an account is transferred to a register of dormant accounts and the account has been on the register for three years, the bank or specialized deposit-taking institution shall advertise in at least two daily newspapers of national circulation the fact that the account has been on the register of dormant accounts for three years.
“(5) An account may be transferred out of the register of dormant accounts on a request by the depositor or the legal representative of the depositor where a depositor is dead or incapacitated.
“(6) Where an account has been in the register of dormant accounts for a period of three years and that fact has been advertised as required under subsection (4), the balance on the account shall be transferred to an account earmarked for that purpose at the Bank of Ghana.
“(7) Where a balance has been transferred under subsection (6), the Bank of Ghana shall, on a request, refund any unclaimed balances to the depositor, or if the depositor is dead, to the legal representative of the depositor.”
So, in short, beware. If you have an account with a bank that has money in it, and you have not been to the bank in two years for any transaction, then your money is about to fall under the control of the Bank of Ghana, and not your legally contracted bank. If you want to prevent this from happening to you, just walk into the bank and close your account.