Experts estimate that there may be as much as 5 to 8 billion PLN in dormant bank accounts. Until not long ago, it was a real hassle to search for savings belonging to deceased family members in banks. If we did not know where our relative had kept the savings, we had to go separately to each institution with an application and confirmation of inheritance rights.
The situation changed in July 2016, when the Ognivo system's Central Account Information (Centralna informacja o rachunkach) became operational. It is operated by the National Clearing House (Krajowa Izba Rozliczeniowa), the same institution that oversees the Elixir system, which enables bank transfers.
The Ognivo system is used to exchange various types of information between commercial banks, cooperative banks and cooperative savings and credit unions. If we want to check where the deceased had accounts or deposits, it is sufficient to submit a request to any bank along with proof of inheritance rights. This is not a free service—it costs about 25-30 PLN to compile and transmit aggregate information on accounts.
Therefore, in order to save your family members additional stress and paperwork, it is worth putting all the necessary information on your bank accounts into a digital safe box. This way, you can be sure that the funds collected there will not enter the pool of dormant deposits and that the persons authorised by you will gain easy access to them exactly when necessary.
