Escheatment is the process of turning over "unclaimed or abandoned property" such as safe deposit boxes, savings accounts, stocks, and un-cashed payroll checks to the State. Every state has an "escheatment" or unclaimed property law that requires businesses to hand over these abandoned financial assets to the government.
Property is classified as "unclaimed or abandoned" when a Customer doesn’t contact the bank where his/her money is held over an extended period of time and there has been no activity, such as deposits, withdrawals, balance inquiry or any other Customer initiated contact. This timeframe varies among States, but in most cases is three to five years.
All States have unclaimed or abandoned property laws put in place with the intention of returning unclaimed or abandoned assets including deposits, stocks, and items in safety deposit boxes to their owners.
Capital One 360 is required (under State laws) to turn over those funds to the State of the Customer’s last known address. To reclaim your funds, you would have to go through a process with the unclaimed/abandoned property division of your State (which is something we’re trying to prevent from happening). You can locate your State’s unclaimed property program contact information at www.unclaimed.org.
Yes. The Bank must make a diligent effort to contact the rightful owner. If the Bank is unsuccessful and there’s still no Customer-initiated activity, the Bank must turn over the funds to the State, where your funds may no longer accrue interest.
We use the mailing and email address we have on file for you to send you email notifications and a State-mandated letter warning you of impending escheatment. We make every effort to reach out to you to prevent escheatment, which is why it’s important to make sure the information we have on file for you is up to date.
If we can’t contact the owner and there’s still no Customer-initiated activity, we must turn over the funds to the State, where your funds may no longer accrue interest and are no longer held by Capital One 360.
Simply contact us before your funds reach your state-determined timeframe of inactivity when funds are classified as "unclaimed or abandoned". As a rule of thumb, we encourage you to contact us ONCE A YEAR one of the following ways (be sure to have your Customer Number and PIN handy):
If you’ve lost or forgotten your sign in information, find out how to retrieve your Customer Number or PIN.
Also, be sure to verify that all your information is up to date. Simply sign in to capitalone360.com with your Customer Number or Saver ID and PIN and select the ‘My Info’ tab.
As long as you contact us one of the ways listed above, all of your accounts will be covered.
No, interest posting on an account is not considered Customer-initiated activity.
We encourage both account holders to each sign in at least once a year to be safe. That way, if you have any single or individual accounts, you’ll be covered.
Minors are also subject to the escheatment process, if there’s been no Customer-initiated activity. The adult joint account holder must contact us one of the ways above to prevent the funds held in the account being shared with the minor from being classified as "unclaimed or abandoned".
You can search the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators at www.unclaimed.org to see if your State is holding any money which belongs to you.