That's ridiculous. I'd move my account if they can't integrate their back office administration systems better than that.

"PNC rule is if you do not physically put money in or physically take money out, physically means "at the teller window" , they will deactivate the account."

DS has had his PNC account for 2.5 years... and that has not happened to him. HE does everything electronically or through the ATM on campus.
Odd....

I've had my credit union write me a letter warning me that if there wasn't some activity on my savings account, they'd have to deactivate it and close it out.

How stupid is it that it has to be in person! In today's world of direct deposit and online banking, that's really dumb.

And with a savings account? I mean, really--you put money in those; you don't take it out that often. They're for SAVINGS, not for paying bills.

How about going in once a year and depositing a penny! I think that they would have to take it. It would be making a point, and causing them paperwork without it costing you anything but time.

Londondi, your penny suggestion was actually cited by PNC customer service as a solution.

Western_pa_luann, PNC recanted and did say that an ATM transaction will count as activity if I do it every 6 months or less.

What bugs me is that years ago I signed on for the bargain PNC Express plan which was designed for people who never go to the bank. If I used a teller, it would cost me $2, otherwise everything is free. Is this now the "Rope-a-Dope" plan?

Jkom51, I have been thinking about changing banks. Think I'll start shopping around.

I had an "accumulation" account that I paid little if any attention to at an S & L where I also had a SD box. It took five years or so of no activity, but I finally started getting letters about making a face to face transaction - either deposit or withdrawal - at least once a year or the account would freeze. I'd mark my calendar and go make a very small deposit. Even once a year, I found it annoying.

I make the effort to mail a check to make a deposit on the savings account, because I want to retain my membership in the S&L. They have pretty good rates on mortgages, and I don't really qualify for any OTHER S&L. And if I let that membership go, I might have trouble getting back in later.

Sort of like Duluthinbloomz4's SD box set-up. There's another reason to keep the account active.

And, I don't have to GO there--I just have to make something happen on my account, so they know I'm not dead. They've never said ANYTHING about having to personally show up. I mean, if you do it by mail or in person--what's the difference? They still have your money on deposit, that they can use to loan to other people, etc. Don't banks look good if their assets are big?

But if it was a bank like any other, I think I'd just go get a different bank. Yeesh!

The point of deactivating the account is if it's sitting there doing nothing. But you're making deposits regularly--true, not in person, but why is that necessary?

If I wanted to keep the account, I might write to the organization's president, and try to find out who the division president is, too.

My credit union where I seldom use an account called me a year or so ago with such a message, and asked several questions.

I got a letter a few months ago asking for a consultation, then another with a deadline. I arrived after closing on that day, went in the next day with some very old gov't cheques ... most institutions stale date cheques over 6 months old and they must be reissued, but most cash govt. cheques at any age.

The teller checked with someone on long distance, for over 5 min., then deposited one and told me that I must send the others to a distant address to get them reissued.

No fussing about teller or ATM activity.

Due to my being a senior, I have few fees to pay at most financial institutions.

Some of our credit unions offered ethical mutual funds a few years ago, then mutual funds in general and recently are forming links with a discount stockbroker so that they can offer linkage to that kind of investment sytems.

ole joyful

I don't believe the problem is with the bank. It's the law (at least in my jurisdiction), that if there isn't any activity on an account in a specified period of time, that the account be termed inactive. If that goes on long enough, it can eventually find itself in the unclaimed funds at the state level. The bank has no choice but to follow the law, or they'd be out of business.

But you don't have to necessarily have to put money in or out--even getting your interest posted on your passbook qualifies as 'activity'--I always make sure I do that every January for all my accounts, whether I use them or not during the year.

Hi Cube,

PNC rule is if you do not physically put money in or physically take money out, physically means "at the teller window" , they will deactivate the account. Electronic transactions do not count.

Aaawwwwwwww.... they're LONELY is all it is! ;~)

Dave,

I thought that they'd sent most of the tellers home.

By the way, has the bank heard that a good way to make a friend is to be not only a "teller", but, since most folks like to talk about themselves, to be a good "listener", too?

They tell that to counsellor trainees.

ole joyful

PNC is one of the lousiest banks I've ever dealt with. I've long since vowed never to deal w/ them again.

If all you ever do is make direct-deposits, why not open an account w/ one of the online banks, like ING or emigrant direct? They can't make you come into a branch, and w/ ING anyway, it's easy as pie to transfer funds into a linked account. Interest rates are usually better, and fees lower.

I can't believe that an account that gets a deposit every 2 weeks could possibly be called 'inactive'!

housenewbie-"PNC is one of the lousiest banks I've ever dealt with. I've long since vowed never to deal w/ them again."

I've heard the same thing from several people.

Azzalea's point about the law is the exact point my credit union made to me.

but the credit union didn't require my PHYSICAL presence; just some sort of actual ACTIVITY on the account. My mailed-in check was sufficient; if I'd had direct deposit, or bank-to-bank transfers, that would have been sufficient as well.

Escheatment rules define an account as inactive after it has had no activitiy of any kind other than interest posted to it for a period of time.

Escheatmen does not come into play if there are regular deposits to or withdrawals from the account, regardless of source.

Accrued interest income does NOT count as a means of forstalling escheatment. It must be activity initiated external to the bank - interest credits are initiated internally.

I had a savings account with the First National Bank in my hometown. When I moved out of that area I left the account, didn't have any transactions to or from it.

Approximately 5 years after I quit deposition/withdrawing from the account I got a note saying that I had X months in which I could either make a deposit, a withdrawl, or close the account out, or it was going to be escheated and turned over to the state.

During that 5 year period the account was accruing regular interest.

I've had similar notices ... after no deposits or withdrawals by me, regardless of the channel, for five years, I'm sent an "Inactive" notice. Sometimes there's a fee, unless I respond within a certain epriod.

After ten years, same again, unless I reactivate the account ... and the fee is substantial (skim the cream before the government gets it).

Then the account must be transferred to the BAnk of Canada, and I can collect it from them.

It used to be that the banks could keep it.

In case you're interested ...

... there are over a hundred offers that I've received from purportedly Nigeria, and other African, and Hong Kong, English and Dutch sources, an employee of the bank offering to move several million dollars to my account, to share with the bank employee later, here, prior to the transfer of that fund to the bank or the government, as it belonged to a fellow who died in a plane crash ... with all of his family ... and I'm to claim it, as a relative/beneficiary of the former owner.

I can forward some of them to you, should someone be interested: I have minimal interest in spending thr declining years of my life in some foreign jail, charged with fraud.

Actually, there are no such accounts - the writer is trying to con recipients into paying fees for storage, taxes, administrative costs, bribes, etc. in order to get the (non-existent) funds released.

Good wishes for increasingly skillful use of your income, outgo and assets: let them work mainly for you, rather than the other guys.

ole joyful

Anyone with an e-mail account is likely familiar with the myriad scams that are out there.

Every once in awhile I play with some of these individuals, trying my best to play a "mark," and sometimes suceeding.

I strung one guy along for several weeks until he finally got the idea that I was messing with him.

I've been living with the horror and shame of a voodoo death curse since then...

Why do you have money sitting passively for years in a savings account earning paltry interest, probably losing ground against inflation? The best solution is to keep your money working for you.

Just another reason why I LOVE my small (6 branch) hometown bank! Stupid policies like this are unheard of.

My credit union switched to quarterly statements recently and about the same time instituted a 5$ monthly service charge on inactive accounts. Since I only had about $30 in the account I paid little attention and by the time my next statement arrived they had already taken half my balance in fees. Needless to say, I closed the account and took my $15 elsewhere.....

I am an INGer..have been for several years. ING is the I'm-out-of-work emergency fund stash. I just feel I should have "quick-cash" for the unexpected emergency. For some reason I want to be prepared for the possiblity of my car breaking down in some little town where only cash talks. So I feel like I should have $1500 - $2000 at the ready at PNC. I have to keep $400 in it as a mininum for no bank fees. It "earns" (for lack of a better word?) 0.02% interest. Maybe it should be called the un-interest rate.

All banks are crooks.
It is the middle class and poor people who pay the most money in banking fees.
Enough said!

Same thing happened to us when we lived in CA. We had a savings account with Wells Fargo and after 12 months of 'no activity' we were sent a warning that our account would revert to the state. We called the online number and told it was the law!
Needless to say we moved our savings to our Credit Union, and closed our Wells Fargo account.