Dormant accounts to yield millions for good causes
Howard Lake | 6 December 2007 | News
Assembly permission has been sought to have Northern Ireland included in Westminster legislation aimed at releasing millions of pounds from inactive savings accounts. A similar scheme in the Irish Republic has realised over €100 million for a wide range of community and charitable activities.
Speaking in support of the Legislative Consent Motion, Finance Minister, Peter Robinson MP, MLA said that the Dormant Bank & Building Society Accounts Bill is a commonsense measure which will release considerable funds back into society.
As a result of discussions with the banking industry, a voluntary scheme has been designed which will allow funds from inactive accounts to be ploughed back into society. Northern Ireland will benefit alongside the other UK regions on a population share basis, the money becoming available in 2009.
The Minister said that the amount of money involved is estimated at several hundred million pounds for the UK as a whole, with tens of millions of pounds accruing annually thereafter.
Banks will be launching a comprehensive re-uniting exercise ahead of the scheme’s introduction to minimise the number of reclaims once the legislation has come into effect.
A dormant account is one where there has been no customer-related activity for at least 15 years.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.