New Royal Mail service to unite dormant account holders with savings

A new service developed by Royal Mail could help banks trace customers with dormant savings accounts.

A 60 per cent success rate is being claimed by the postal service for a technique which can locate account holders who have moved home but have neglected to inform their banks.

Royal Mail uses information gathered over the last 16 years from its Mail Redirection service to ascertain the whereabouts of lost customers, and the method has already completed a successful trial.

The announcement comes soon after the Commission of Unclaimed Assets confirmed it was to redouble its efforts to unite dormant account holders with their money.

“People moving home without telling their financial provider is one of the key reasons for an account or investment becoming dormant and our unique information on people who have moved home over the past 16 years helps us identify them,” said Leonora Corden, Royal Mail’s head of market development.

“Royal Mail will be actively talking to financial organisations over the coming weeks to explain exactly how we can help them meet the Commission of Unclaimed Assets’ challenge.

“We are very confident, as a result of recent rigorous testing, that we can help banks and building societies identify customers that other trace mechanisms can’t.”

It is estimated that GBP15 billion is currently deposited in dormant bank accounts in the UK.