The state House has voted to ban banks and other savings institutions from imposing fees on dormant savings accounts for customers who have more than one account there.
State Rep. Ryan Barry (D-Manchester), who co-chairs the Legislature’s banks committee, said HB 5045 is especially aimed at protecting seniors on fixed incomes.
The bill, he said, bars a financial institution from imposing a dormancy fee on an inactive deposit account for which periodic statements are not provided if the primary account holder has another active account with them.
Barry said it is not unusual for senior citizens to have two or more passbook accounts and be subject to dormancy fees of up to $25 for each of their accounts.Â
“If a customer has at least one active account with a bank, the bank should not charge an inactive account fee on another account that the customer maintains with the bank,” Barry said. “This is only fair to the customer and certainly not burdensome on a bank.”
To avoid dormancy fees, the customer must be the primary account holder on a second account maintained primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. The account must also be currently filed in the institution’s records for tax reporting purposes.
If the governor signs the law, it would take effect Oct 1.
