Central Bank, Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), has custody of over 19,000 dormant accounts, statistics reveal.
According to MMA, bank accounts with no transactions for 5 years are considered dormant, and the respective banks will notify the account holder and gazette information before transferring funds to MMA.
Funds from dormant accounts can be claimed by account holder by filling dormant claim forms available from MMA and the banks, MMA said.
Funds not exceeding MVR 8000 or USD 500 can also be withdrawn in cash by the dormant account holder. If a dormant account belongs to a deceased person, their heirs can claim the funds through courts, and MMA will release the funds as per the court's orders.
If funds are not claimed within 5 years after dormant account custody is passed to MMA, the funds will be moved to finance and treasury, but account holder or heirs can still claim the funds, MMA said.
Dormant accounts under MMA custody:
- Bank of Maldives (BML): 8,131 dormant accounts
- State Bank of India (SBI): 5,601 dormant accounts
- Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB): 2,277 dormant accounts
- Bank of Ceylon (BOC): 1,436 dormant accounts
- Habib Bank: 1,319 dormant accounts
- Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB): 431 dormant accounts
- HSBC: 281 dormant accounts
