“Unclaimed” bank accounts to be given to Govt
Thursday, March 31, 2016 - 16:54
Up to half a million pa’anga of “unclaimed” money held in bank accounts at the Bank of the South Pacific in Nuku’alofa will be swallowed up by the government in June if the amounts are not claimed by the owners soon. Several accounts belonging to the King of Tonga, as well as an Emergency Relief Trust Fund, a private retirement fund, and funds belonging to societies and groups such as the Tonga Society of Accountants, the Sisters of Mercy, the Ferry Princess Ashika Vava’u Victims Fund, the Friendly Island Teachers Association, and numerous PTA accounts, along with those of individuals and a few companies, will be included in a mass transfer of funds if unclaimed.
Please subscribe to access premium content.
- Read more about “Unclaimed” bank accounts to be given to Govt
- Log in or register to post comments
Comments
Congratulations to those
Congratulations to those responsible for this Royal Oceania Institute initiative. And to Tevita Motulalo for being appointed Director. I look forward to hearing more about how the topics are going to be chosen for research. In the meantime, Christine 'Uta'atu provides some useful suggestions in the “Unclaimed” bank accounts to be given to story on the same day. Mrs ‘Uta’atu has had a wealth of experience in the banking , business and government sectors and her heart is in Tonga. The quotes from the last para of the story is particularly pertinent.
Begins
Dormant fees
Many of the “unclaimed accounts” advertised by the bank are little ones and belong to not just groups and organisations but also to many individuals.
“The ones that are just $10 are because the bank keeps putting a bank charge on it, so it’s almost gone anyway, they just take it,” said Christine. “Dormant account fees start after so many months of inactivity and they charge you and start taking it until it’s gone - so if these ones survived for seven years you can imagine how many bank charges they had in there.”
Christine also pointed out that no one could open a bank account without a proper contact address.
“Why can’t the bank make contact? It’s sad. Little groups trying to raise money for stuff, leave it there for a while and then suddenly it gets swallowed up by the government.”
Ends
Sad indeed. The Banks have been allowed to enforce a rule of charging TOP$5.00 a month for “inactive” accounts with no responsibility to advise the account holders. This means that you have to go to the nearest Bank, line up and make a deposit or withdrawl every month or you pay the bank a fee for the privilege of looking after your money. When did the powers that be - Members of Parliament?/ Board members?/ Civil Servants? agree to such a rule? Was a law passed? Is such a law required or can Banks introduce their own rules and regulations? I look forward to some post- Easter enlightenment.