Jamaican Banks End Controversial Dormant Account Fees Practice

• Jamaican banks will no longer apply fees to dormant saving accounts, ending a practice that has been controversial for decades.
• Bank of Jamaica's Deputy Governor, Jide Lewis, has stated that banks have transitioned from manual methods to technological solutions for monitoring dormant accounts. This technology has received BOJ's verification. Moreover, banks have implemented a transaction-monitoring system that enables senior staff to spot and pinpoint employees attempting to access dormant accounts.
• In a session with the Economy and Production Committee of Parliament, Anthony Hylton conveyed his contentment with the latest advancements, noting that a senior banking official had previously advised him of the risks bank employees posed to dormant accounts.
• “My concern leading up to now has been that if members of staff were the ones accessing these accounts, then the responsibility must devolve on the banks to address this situation,” the opposition lawmaker said. However, Lewis said when a bank employee is involved in internal fraud, there are actions that the institution will take in addition to the intervention of the police. He said that banks are also required to report internal fraud to the BOJ.
• Reports indicate that 60% of dormant accounts range from one to seven years of age, with a median duration of 4.8 years. Furthermore, 94% of these accounts contain funds unclaimed for over 15 years. In Jamaica, if money remains unclaimed in a deposit-taking institution for 15 years or longer, it is transferred to the nation's revenue following a one-year publication period in the newspaper and on the Ministry of Finance's website.

 (Source: Caribbean National Weekly