Call to the public again search for inactive bank accounts and accounts whose owners are deceased at the “Money Mountain 2” website


The “Money Mountain 2” website enables bank customers to search, easily and at no cost, inactive bank accounts and deposits in their name. The website presents customers with the names of banks in which there is a current account[1], or deposit regarding which the bank has been unable to contact the owners for two months after the maturity date. The system does not present information regarding the amounts in the account or deposit—to receive such information and to withdraw funds, the customer contacts the bank whose name and contact information appeared in the search results. Similarly, “Money Mountain 2” serves as an efficient tool for heirs to search bank accounts of the deceased, at no cost.

 

As of today, there are approximately 528,000 inactive bank accounts and deposits belonging to individuals in the banking system, containing an aggregate total of about NIS 6.5 billion. Of those, approximately 86,000 bank accounts belong to the deceased, containing an aggregate total of about NIS 1.6 billion.

 

In recent weeks, the Bank of Israel received an enquiry, through which it was concluded that part of the data on the website is not up to date. Due to this, a comprehensive examination was carried out, which indicated that between July 2018 and August 2019 there was a technical malfunction in the process of the data being transferred by the Bank of Israel and being inputted at the Money Mountain 2 website by the Ministry of Finance. As a result, there were citizens who contacted the site and received a negative response, indicating that there were no accounts or deposits in their name, while they should have received a positive response.

 

Data collected after the malfunction was dealt with indicate that during that period, approximately 280,000 citizens contacted the site, of which 263,000 received correct information (existence or lack thereof of an inactive account), and approximately 17,000 received incorrect information (that is, a response that there was no inactive account, when in fact there was). Out of the 17,000 accounts noted, approximately 7,000 became active accounts during the course of the period (either by proactive identification by the banks, or by customers contacting the bank or making a transaction in the account).

 

It should be noted that positive responses that were received, and that refer to inactive bank accounts and deposits that have not yet been redeemed via contacting the bank, are not considered an error. In addition, the malfunction does not relate to searches for pension savings and life insurance policies (“Money Mountain 1”). It should further be clarified that the malfunction was fixed upon its discovery, and a process of learning lessons from the experience, to prevent a recurrence, is ongoing. The data appearing on the site beginning from August 30, 2019 is correct and up to date.

 

We apologize for the malfunction and invite the public to again check, at no cost, whether they or deceased relatives have inactive bank accounts or deposits.

 

As the search on the “Money Mountain 2” website is limited to 10 searches, the search quota was reset for all those who entered the site during the relevant period, to ensure that all the customers will be able to return and check the data about themselves.

 

To locate inactive deposits and accounts belonging to the deceased, enter the “Money Mountain 2” website at: https://itur.mof.gov.il/#/main/home?org=bank  (in Hebrew)

 

Attached please find a file of frequently asked questions about the “Money Mountain 2” website.

 

For further information, please contact the Public Enquiries Unit at the Bank of Israel’s Banking Supervision Department, by email at pz@boi.org.il or by phone at 02-655-2680.


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[1] Regarding a current account—the maturity date is at the end of ten months from the date the last instruction from the account owner was received.