Greens want to use unused assets in inactive bank accounts for social projects
Quick Look
The Greens plan to transfer unused assets in dormant bank accounts after ten years without customer contact into a fund to finance social projects and non-profit organizations, with owners and heirs retaining their claims and being able to pay them back later.
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Why It Matters
The Greens want to submit a proposal to the Bundestag to make unused assets in inactive bank accounts usable for social projects. In dormant accounts, the bank has lost contact with the customer and cannot restore it, for example if the owner has died and the heirs do not know the account.
The Greens want to make unused assets in inactive bank accounts usable for social projects and non-profit organizations. They want to submit a proposal to the Bundestag for this purpose.
“We are presenting a pragmatic additional way to strengthen social cohesion and innovation, without putting any strain on the budget,” said the financial policy spokeswoman for the Green parliamentary group, Katharina Beck, to the German Press Agency in Berlin.
So-called dormant accounts are bank balances, savings books or securities deposit accounts where the bank has lost contact with the customer and cannot restore it. This can happen if the owners have died and their heirs don't know about the account.
Identifying heirs is sometimes impossible
According to a bill from Lower Saxony, the managing credit institution's options for identifying heirs are limited. If the family and local environment is not known and there have been moves between the last contact and before the death, the investigation becomes even more difficult or even impossible.
Credit institutions would either have to invest considerable effort in identifying the heirs of account and securities account holders or they would have to rely on coincidences. If no heir can be identified, the assets remain with the bank - the bank must continue the account and deposit agreement. This is associated with costs for the institutes.
Money should benefit social projects
Several billion euros remained unused, the Greens write in their application with reference to various investigations. The CDU, CSU and SPD had resolved to tackle the issue in their coalition agreement.
According to the wishes of the Greens, accounts should be considered dormant after ten years without proven customer contact - after three years in the event of a proven death and a beneficiary cannot be identified. Banks should be required to report such accounts.
After an unsuccessful search, the assets are to be transferred to a fund from which social projects and non-profit organizations are to be financed. The claims of owners and heirs should be preserved. Anyone who proves their eligibility later would then receive the money back in full.
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What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The Greens' proposal is being discussed in the Bundestag and could lead to a legislative initiative.
Possible · Within months
Open Questions
- How high is the exact amount of unused assets in dormant accounts in Germany?
- Which specific social projects and non-profit organizations should be financed from the fund?
- How should the administration and disbursement of the fund be organized?
- What legal hurdles could stand in the way of implementing the proposal in the Bundestag?
