Different thresholds for bank "sleeping card" cancellation, depositors hope the bank will take the initiative to inform
Our reporter Peng Yan
With the rise of mobile payment, people almost no longer have to carry a bank card when going out for shopping. They only need to bring a mobile phone to replace cash payment.
As a result, many bank cards have been "pushed into the cold palace" and are no longer used, and gradually become "sleeping" accounts over time.
Recently, banks have continuously increased their efforts to manage personal accounts. Many banks have successively issued notices stating that “sleeping accounts” and “excess accounts” that do not meet the specifications should be cleaned up.
In terms of the scope and time of the clean-up, the standards of each bank are different.
The "Securities Daily" reporter learned that although banks have begun to clean up "sleeping accounts" and "sleeping cards", many depositors are unaware of such actions by banks and "hope the banks to take the initiative to inform them so as not to cause any impact."
Different standards for banks to clean up "sleeping accounts"
Different banks have different standards for the definition of "sleeping accounts" and specific clean-up regulations.
For example, a major state-owned bank stipulates that no active transactions such as cash deposit, cash withdrawal, or transfer have occurred for more than three consecutive years (including three years), the account balance is 0, and there is no contractual borrowing of credit card agreement repayments, personal loan repayments, etc. Banks will cancel accounts for debit cards, quasi-credit cards, and current passbook accounts.
The conditions for another bank to clean up "sleeping accounts" are personal settlement accounts that have not had any non-interest-bearing transactions for more than two consecutive years (inclusive) and the account balance is less than RMB 10 (inclusive).
In terms of processing methods, some banks directly cancel the "sleeping account", and some banks restrict the authority of the "sleeping account".
An account manager of a state-owned bank told the Securities Daily reporter that there is no automatic card cancellation at present.
Generally, it is converted to a "sleep account" after no transactions for more than 2 years. We will not actively clear the account.
The customer manager of another joint-stock bank said that we only restrict the authority for bank cards that have not been traded for a long time or whose account deposit balance is zero.
If there is no transaction for half a year, its non-counter business will be suspended, but it can be re-opened over the counter.
During the interview, most bank wealth management managers told reporters that according to relevant regulations, the same person can only have one Type I card in the same bank, and extra cards will incur small account management fees and annual fees.
At the same time, once an unused bank card is used by criminals, it will also bring unnecessary risks.
Therefore, it is recommended that depositors cancel bank cards that have not been used for a long time.
"Securities Daily" reporter found that according to the contents of the announcements of major banks, banks will have a buffer period for clearing "sleeping accounts". From the date of the announcement to the date of clearing, depositors can use ATM, Online banking or mobile banking, etc., transfer or withdraw cash to bank cards that have not been used for a long time, so that they will not be recognized as "sleeping accounts" by the system.
The reporter also learned that most banks currently support the cancellation of bank cards at off-site branches, but the premise is that there is no special contract. The signed accounts need to be unbound before they can be cancelled.
For depositors, how much impact will the bank's card cancellation action have on them?
In this regard, the reporter randomly interviewed some depositors.
Individual depositors said that cleaning up "sleeping accounts" will not have much impact on us, after all, we clean up some idle bank cards.
However, most depositors said that they are not clear about the bank's cleaning up of non-compliant bank cards, and they have not received a notification of bank-related information.
Many depositors complained that: "Banks should take the initiative to inform customers, otherwise, if the bank card is cancelled or restricted without knowing it, it will cause great inconvenience."
"Broken card" helps prevent financial risks
In recent years, with the continuous tightening of supervision, the bank's cleanup of "sleeping accounts" has also begun early.
In 2016, the Central Bank stipulated that the same customer can only open one bank card with a Type I account in the same bank.
Subsequently, many banks began to cancel the accounts of the extra bank cards.
In order to effectively strengthen the real-name management of bank accounts and prevent telecommunications network fraud crimes.
In 2019, the Central Bank issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Payment and Settlement to Prevent New Types of Illegal Crimes in Telecommunications Networks."
In October 2020, the State Council’s inter-ministerial joint meeting on cracking down on new types of illegal and criminal telecommunications networks was held. The national "broken card" action deployment meeting was held. Action to fight for the toughest battle.
Xiaorui Su, a senior researcher at the Xiaohua Institute of Science and Technology, said in an interview with a reporter from the Securities Daily that in recent years, the focus of the supervision of crimes has gradually shifted from post-punishment to in-event monitoring, and various risk prevention procedures, such as telecommunication fraud, Cross-border gambling and other crimes are inseparable from the flow of funds, including the account system and payment. Therefore, bank accounts and payment links have gradually become the focus of regulatory attention.
The main risk problem of some sleep accounts is illegal use.
For individual users, cleaning up "sleeping accounts" helps prevent personal risks and prevent their accounts from being used by criminals and getting involved in unnecessary trouble.
(Securities Daily)