Britannia searches for dormant account holders

by Gill Montia

Story link: Britannia searches for dormant account holders

Britannia Building Society, which is currently in merger negotiations with Co-operative Financial Services, has appointed tracing agency, Tracesmart, to locate dormant account holders.

According to Britannia’s managing director, Tim Franklin, the building society has had its own programme to reunite customers with forgotten savings and while this has been successful, some additional expertise is required to locate the more illusive account holder.

Cardiff-based Tracesmart has therefore been briefed to track down Britannia members whose accounts show no customer initiated activity for 15 years or more.

According to The Commission on Unclaimed Assets, one in three adults in Britain believes they have a dormant account.

Lloyds Banking Group recently reported that it had returned £23 million to customers who fit the “dormant” criteria, also using the services of Tracesmart.

Other banks have put similar schemes in place in response to the passing of the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act.

The Act allows the Government to make use of the estimated £1 billion contained in UK dormant accounts through a “community fund” which is in the process of being set up and will be regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

The money will be used for a worthy project; however should an account holder come forward at any time they will be able to reclaim their cash.