ubank Closing Inactive Account with 1 Month Notice

watwatwat on 24/02/2023 - 15:00
Last edited 27/02/2023 - 09:27 by 1 other user

Is it legal for ubank to do this?

I thought in Australia, deposits at banks were protected up to $250k?

https://www.apra.gov.au/deposit-checker-are-your-deposits-pr…

"We’ve noticed that your account(s) below haven't been used for some time and have a balance of $20 or less.

However, if you've recently made a deposit, please ignore this message. Your account will remain open.

We want to make sure you’re getting the most out of your account(s), so read the options below to either keep it open or close your account(s).
Keep your account open:
If you’d like to keep your account(s) open, you’ll need to deposit some funds (this can be as little as $1) by 27 March 2023.

OR
Close your account:
If you’re happy for your account(s) to be closed, you don't have to do anything, and we'll simply donate the remaining funds to charity after 27 March 2023."

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closed Comments

    • gromit on 26/02/2023 - 09:56

      yep and the government won't do you the curtesy of notifying you it is going to happen.

  • miwahni on 25/02/2023 - 02:22
    +1

    At least they gave you a months' warning. Couple of years ago I received email from GE Money advising that the $5 credit I had on my Go Mastercard had been withdrawn by them as I wasn't using the card. When queried, it was suggested that by having a credit card with a credit balance I was money laundering or funding terrorists. I didn't care about the $5 but the heavy handed actions of GE got me riled. A months' warning would have been nice.

  • Not SkyNet on 25/02/2023 - 08:25
    +5

    This is a trick as the bank takes the money and then donates it to charity. meaning THEY then claim this as a charity payment for them allowing them to get even more tax breaks.
    I'd be happy with the donation BUT i would also ask for my charity donation receipt not so I can claim on tax but to make sure the bank doesn't do it.
    Note this is the same scheme that stores using saying do you want to round up and donate to charity.

    • freefall101 on 27/02/2023 - 08:26

      In order to get a deduction they’d also have to record the money they’re taking as revenue. At which point it would be a wash.

      • AnophthalmiaCervidae on 27/02/2023 - 16:59
        +2

        But they still get the "Social Responsibility" benefit in the look how much we donate to charity when it is really costing them nothing

  • Lil0leMe on 25/02/2023 - 10:21

    I think it depends what's in the contract you agree to when you open the account

  • shoppe on 25/02/2023 - 11:20
    +2

    Don't worry, just ignore it and it will go away.

  • Drj55 on 25/02/2023 - 12:02
    +2

    I have 1cent in my bank account which I haven't touched in more than 10years. No wonder that are getting rid of me!

  • tommmys on 25/02/2023 - 12:41

    I had a dormant account with UBank too, I had to download the app AND call to transfer the money to my other bank and requested the account be closed.

    Phone team were actually very helpful and sounded like based in Sydney.

    Compared to cancelling Optus home internet ubank is a breeze

  • [Deactivated] on 25/02/2023 - 13:57
    -7

    Principles are principal; to all the negs shrilling ignorance, if there is ever a bank bail-in the shadenfreude will be joyous.

    "Whoever can be trusted with small things can also be trusted with big things. Whoever is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in big things too. If you cannot be trusted with worldly riches, you will not be trusted with the true riches. And if you cannot be trusted with the things that belong to someone else, you will not be given anything of your own. You cannot serve two masters at the same time. You will hate one master and love the other. Or you will be loyal to one and not care about the other. You cannot serve God and Money at the same time. The Pharisees were listening to all these things. They criticized Jesus because they all loved money." Luke 16:10-14

  • Waltervp on 25/02/2023 - 15:27

    Just add some funds or take some out when you get this message, or close account. Simple. Personally I'd do an auto deposit of $10+/month just to have a little secret saving to discover one day. But why have the account if you don't use it?

  • lostgoat on 26/02/2023 - 10:27

    Isn't it simple to get your balance to $20.01 OP and hopefully they have no monthly fees ?

  • umoddbro on 26/02/2023 - 10:36
    +3

    That's the most click baity title I've seen….

    • Alley Cat on 26/02/2023 - 11:38
      +1

      'Five Ways Banks Can Steal Your House'

    • McFly on 26/02/2023 - 14:29
      +2

      The bank tried to take away my life savings… You'll never guess what happened next!

  • Alley Cat on 26/02/2023 - 11:39

    It is nice of Ubank to do this. I remember a nightmare experience I had with MeBank trying to close the account I hadn't touched in four years. Never going anywhere near MeBank again.

  • Hydralyte on 26/02/2023 - 12:48

    Can we close this troll thread?

  • Mistredo on 26/02/2023 - 13:32

    I am curious, how long does it take to get the message?

  • dlakers3peat on 26/02/2023 - 14:10
    +3

    Very misleading headline. You should work Rupert Murdoch.

    • I like freestuff on 26/02/2023 - 15:13
      +1

      OP might, they were just hoping for more outrage in the comments but it didn't come. They will have to go back to reddit.

  • Ghost47 on 26/02/2023 - 16:03
    +4

    I just checked UBank's T&Cs, it says this:

    4.18 Closing your account
    You can close your account at any time. If you ask us to close your account on a non-business day, we’ll process the closure on the next business day.

    UBank may close your account where it is reasonable to do so including:

    • where you have not acted in compliance with the Terms and Conditions of the account;
    • where you no longer meet the eligibility criteria for the account;
    • where you have used the account for business purposes (and not personal purposes);
    • to help protect you or us including from fraud, scams and for other security reasons;
    • to comply with relevant laws, regulations, instructions or guidance from a regulator or court orders;
    • where you have not used your account for a length of time;

    (Note: if you have not operated your account for 7 years, your account may be closed and the balance transferred to the Commonwealth Government as unclaimed money);

    • if you pass away; or
    • where we consider it appropriate and reasonable having regards to our legitimate business interests.

    We will provide you with reasonable advance notice of the closure of your account where it is appropriate in the circumstances.

    When you signed up for the account you agreed to the T&Cs whether you bothered to read them or not. This is standard procedure when you sign up to a service and you can't just disagree to the T&Cs at your own whim because something popped up that you disagree with and clearly didn't bother to check. The only inconsistency here is that they have stated they will give the money to a charity instead of the government, so if you're gonna complain you might as well complain they're not giving it to the government as outlined in their T&Cs (unless this is an old version).

    Seven years is a long time to not use a bank account, it's also a long time to leave <$20 in an account doing nothing when you could've consolidated your funds a long time ago.

  • Empharand on 26/02/2023 - 18:04

    I suppose donating your money (if it is indeed donated to a worthy charity) is better the having the money sit in your account until the end of time, eg. if you died tomorrow randomly and there was no power of attorney over your assets (in this case your funds) it would just sit there when it could go to a charity. You would be dead, and your money would just sit there otherwise.

    Aside from the abovementioned point, I'd be curious to see if they can provide a receipt of where your donation went to, and since it's your funds isn't there a chance that it's tax deductible for said account owner as it's their money technically?

  • smartazz104 on 26/02/2023 - 21:18

    So how long did you not use this account for OP?

  • gakko on 26/02/2023 - 21:46
    +1

    Well you are getting $20 worth of feigned outrage for it by this stage. The best advice i can give is to be more introspective and ask yourself what is really making you angry or unhappy in life - because the apparent injustice in the op is tiny.

  • SteveBuscemi on 26/02/2023 - 22:24

    Or you could just deposit the dollar.

  • jatbinks on 26/02/2023 - 22:31
    +1

    Call them up and they will transfer the money out for you. Don't need an ozbargain post for it ffs.

  • Herbse on 26/02/2023 - 22:41

    If doing that is part of their terms that you agreed to when you opened the account then it's not illegal. Check your T&Cs..

    • Eeples on 27/02/2023 - 02:10
      +2

      That doesn’t actually follow. It may be illegal despite the terms and conditions.

  • Eeples on 27/02/2023 - 02:08
    -1

    Op should ring triple zero then complain police did nothing, are powerless, or are on the take.

  • serpserpserp on 27/02/2023 - 16:01

    I got an email like this the other day so I deposited $2.

    Meanwhile I have an account with GS Bank which they have been hassling me to close but they refuse to do so unless I call them. Which I CBF because I don't want to wait on hold for an hour.

    EDIT: I just checked my account and ubank sent back my $2. Guess they really don't want my account open

  • jasiano on 27/02/2023 - 22:14

    This is legislation that’s been around for a few years now around ‘unclaimed monies’ - small value accounts with no activity can have the funds claimed by the govt.
    your bank is doing you a favour by notifying you.

  • Brianqpr on 28/02/2023 - 10:43

    The bank's terms and conditions probably allow them to close accounts at any time at their discretion without notice. Not very customer centric using a timeframe this short though.

  • [Deactivated] on 01/03/2023 - 20:10
    -1

    @Ghost47 feels like a 'perception management' troll for the financial services industry. No good reason for the zealous ardour for the fine detail of UBank's T&C's, technicalities of contracts and service notices of a bank without a physical branch.

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