Hold On To Your Money by Keeping Tower Accounts Active

Ever wonder what happens to the money in a financial account that is forgotten about? Dormant member accounts—accounts that sit unused (usually due to the owner's death, inadvertence or forgetfulness) may commonly be thought of as a rare occurrence, but it happens to many credit union members. It's estimated that there's $80 billion in unclaimed money waiting to find a home.

It's important to know that once an account becomes dormant, the funds escheat, or revert, to the state. If you or a family member have not used your Tower account in the last three years, the account will be considered abandoned by Maryland state law. This law requires that the funds in these accounts be sent to the state.

But you can get it back.
An easy way to keep your Tower account(s) from becoming dormant is to make a small deposit to your account, at least once a year. Or use digital banking to make a small transfer such as a penny to or from accounts. Doing this will keep each account active and remove the risk of the account being escheated to the state.

Annual deposits also prevent the Inactive Account Fee from being assessed to members over 22 years of age with less than $100 deposit balance and no account activity in a 12-month period.

When an account becomes inactive, it is often because the owner has either forgotten or moved away from the area without updating his or her mailing address. If you plan to move, don't forget to complete a change of address form for safe delivery of important communications from Tower.

There are a few ways to update your address:

• Login to Digital Banking, go to My Profile and select Edit Contact Information.
• Login to Tower's App*, expand the More menu and select the navigation gear, then My Profile, and Edit Contact Information.
• Visit towerfcu.org, go to Forms, then Change of Address.

Members without a monetary transaction within their Tower account(s) in the last three years will receive a letter this month with instructions on how to avoid having the funds sent to the State of Maryland. For answers to questions about your Tower account, call the Member Service Center at 866-56-TOWER.