The Belgian Ministry of Finance received 1,505 requests in one week to withdraw money from dormant accounts, totalling €1.7 million in payouts, following renewed public attention on these accounts.
A bank account is classified as "dormant" if there has been no contact with the bank and no transactions for five years. Many people are unaware that they have such accounts.
If the funds remain untouched for 30 years, they are transferred to the state treasury. Finance Minister Jan Jambon (N-VA) is pushing to reduce this waiting period from 30 years to five.
This proposed adjustment, along with significant media coverage, has prompted many individuals to check whether they hold dormant accounts.
"A lot of people accessed the government portal MyMinfin to check, and our system allows for easy retrieval of funds,” explained Francis Adyns from the Ministry of Finance. "This has led to a surge in requests."
In comparison, the Ministry of Finance usually handles around 310 requests per month. The recent surge saw nearly five times more applications processed in just one week.
