Unclaimed Moneys
What is Unclaimed Moneys?
Funds in bank accounts are considered “unclaimed” when the account has a balance ≥ $500 and is inactive (meaning customers have not made a deposit or a withdrawal on the account for 7 years or longer) and you have not notified us that you wish to treat the account as active.
Note: Interest earned and fees charged do NOT constitute items that can activate an account.
Exemptions for particular account types do apply.
Bank of Melbourne is required to close these accounts and remit the funds to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) by 31 March each year.
Before this is done, Bank of Melbourne may notify you by letter, email, message centre notification and/or phone call (depending on what mailing address, email address and contact number we have for you on file) that your account will be closed if you do not take steps to activate it.
You can activate your account by making a transfer or deposit of at least $0.01. If you would like to activate your account but are unable to, please call us on 13 33 22 or from overseas +61 3 8536 7870 and we can do this on your behalf.
If you don’t activate your account, Bank of Melbourne can assist you in claiming the funds from ASIC once they’ve been transferred.
ASIC maintains a database of unclaimed moneys transferred from financial institutions for this purpose.
How to make a claim?
Please be aware this process can take up to 3 months.
Bank of Melbourne must remit unclaimed moneys to ASIC by 31 March each year. Once this money is received by ASIC and customer details are loaded onto their Moneysmart website, usually by late April, you can commence the claims process by following these steps:
- Check if ASIC is holding any unclaimed funds on your behalf on their Moneysmart website.
- Make a note of the Original Transaction Number (OTN) for each account (you’ll need it in step 3).
- Print and complete the relevant sections of the Unclaimed moneys form below or request one from your local branch.
- Visit and return the form to your local Westpac branch where a staff member will complete the balance of the sections while you are present.
Please note: You’ll need to provide:
- Two forms of ID (one being a photo ID e.g. driver’s licence, passport or credit/debit card with signature) for us to verify your identity, and
- Evidence to prove you’re the account owner (e.g. bank statement).
If you’re overseas or unable to visit a branch, individuals will also need to complete a Certified Identification form (CIF) (PDF 189KB) and businesses need to complete Certified Copy Certificate (PDF 2MB). Copies of the above documents also need to be certified by an authorised certifier once completed.
If you’re a business or company, you’ll need to provide the Certificate of Registration and Business extract to verify the business owners or Minutes of the meeting showing the names of the officers/directors.
Bank of Melbourne will then send the Claim form to ASIC on your behalf to release your money and any interest earned. It usually takes up to 28 days for the money to be released to us. We’ll then transfer the money to a bank account of your choice.