2018-04-15
The Supervisor of Banks issued this directive to establish an online platform enabling customers and heirs to locate dormant deposits and deceased persons' accounts. The regulation mandates that banks display dedicated web pages, appoint specific Customer Enquiries Officers, and implement identification procedures for sharing account information or facilitating fund withdrawals. It further specifies operational requirements for small-balance withdrawals, account deletion requests, and telephone-based agreements to streamline access to these funds.
Supervisor of Banks: Proper Conduct of Banking Business (09/16) [1] Locating Dormant Deposits and Deceased Persons’ Accounts Project Page 436-1 Locating Dormant Deposits and Deceased Persons’ Accounts Project To help bank customers locate dormant deposits and deceased persons’ accounts, it has been decided to establish an online platform (hereinafter: “the Project”) that will enable owners of dormant deposits and heirs of deceased bank customers to obtain information about such deposits and accounts. The information that customers may procure by searching via the Project shall include only the name of the bank where the account or the dormant deposit is kept. As for accounts of deceased persons, the information that heirs may obtain by searching via the Project shall relate to all accounts in the deceased person’s name, be they active accounts or dormant accounts or deposits. Details about the type of account or deposit, and about the balance of funds therein, in respect of both dormant deposits and deceased person’s accounts, shall be shared by the bank where the account/deposit is kept. The purpose of this Directive is to regulate various matters pertaining to the Project. Incidence
Supervisor of Banks: Proper Conduct of Banking Business (09/16) [1] Locating Dormant Deposits and Deceased Persons’ Accounts Project Page 436-2 any. Said dedicated page shall be accessible on the site by the date on which this Directive goes into effect. Dedicated Customer Enquiries Officer 4. A bank shall appoint a specific person to handle customer enquiries about dormant deposits and deceased persons’ accounts; said person shall serve as an “officer in charge of public enquiries for the location of dormant deposits and deceased person’s accounts project” (hereinafter: Customer Enquiries Officer). This is meant, among other things, to ensure appropriate treatment by the bank and provision of an adequate response, with all possible celerity, to customers’ enquiries. Identifying customers or heirs for the purposes of sharing information 5. a. If a customer or an heir approaches a bank for information about the balance of funds in dormant deposits, or about the balance of funds in a testator’s account (hereinafter in this section: the information), the bank shall establish in its procedures a process for identification of the customer or the heir for the purpose of sharing the information. b. If the balance of funds is smaller than NIS 3,000, the bank shall not require the customer to visit a branch in order to be identified. c. A bank and may share the information with a customer or an heir via human telephone response even if said customer or heir is not a party to an e-banking agreement. Identifying customers or heirs for the purpose of withdrawing funds 6. If a customer or an heir approaches a bank for the purpose of withdrawing the balance of funds in a dormant deposit or a testator’s account, the bank shall establish in its procedures a process for the identification of said customer or heir and the way in which the funds shall be transferred to him or her. Deletion of customer information from the Project 7. If a customer asks a bank to delete information about his or her bank accounts within the framework of the Project (hereinafter: request to delete information): a. The bank shall cease to send the Bank of Israel details about the customer, within the framework of Tables 1 and 2 as specified in Reporting to Banking Supervision Department Directive no. 839, starting from the monthly report to be forwarded to the Bank of Israel after fourteen business days, at the most, from the day on which said customer request is received. b. The bank shall retain documentation of the request to delete information in its records. c. If the deposit or the account is jointly held, the bank shall act in accordance with the request of one of the co-holders to delete information about him or her from the Project, even without the consent of the other co-holders of said deposit or account.
Supervisor of Banks: Proper Conduct of Banking Business (09/16) [1] Locating Dormant Deposits and Deceased Persons’ Accounts Project Page 436-3 Instruction-by-telephone agreement 8. If the dormant deposit is owned by only one customer and its balance of funds does not exceed NIS 50, and if the customer asks to have the balance of funds transferred and to close the account—the bank may execute with a customer an instruction-by-telephone agreement by means of a recorded call or a documented digital telephone response, provided said agreement be sent to him or her in writing immediately after it is executed. For the sake of clarity, it is stated that this shall not derogate from the requirement of affording the customer the possibility of reviewing the agreement before it is executed. Updates Circular no. Version Details Date 2510 1 Original Directive September 12, 2016