Halifax steps up efforts to find lost accounts

Halifax, the only UK bank to launch a dormant accounts reunification scheme, today announces that it will shortly be writing to around 20,000 of its customers to help reunite them with funds held in lost accounts.

Press adverts will also appear in newspapers next week.

The mailings will be sent to those customers who collectively hold around £40m of the total £44m funds held in Halifax dormant accounts. These customers have not used their accounts for over 15 years, either intentionally or because they have simply forgotten about their accounts.

Press adverts to support campaign

In addition, Halifax will also undertake another round of press advertising to appear in national and key regional daily newspapers during the first week of August. The adverts will act as a "memory jogger" for customers who may have moved home, or have had accounts that they have lost track of over time.

The adverts will direct customers to Halifax branches or the specially designed dormant account website, halifaxlocateaccounts.co.uk, where they will be able to complete and submit an enquiry form online. Since its launch in February, the website has attracted over 50,000 hits.

Halifax has already seen excellent results from its reunification programme. In the first four months of the campaign, customers have been reunited with funds valued at over £6 million.

These new moves follow the announcement that Halifax has appointed Experian as its search agent for dormant account customers and consequently registered its lost account data on Experian's Unclaimed Assets Register.

Cross-party support for reunification programme

Halifax's campaign to reunite customers with funds held in lost accounts has received cross-party support in the House of Commons, with over 60 MPs already signing an Early Day Motion congratulating Halifax for being the first bank to launch such a campaign.

Mike Regnier, head of savings at Halifax, said: "The response to our campaign to reunite customers with their funds has been very encouraging, and we believe these next steps in the process will help more customers track down their money."