Depositors have forgotten around $36 million in their accounts, which have not been used for the last 10 years, as of Dec. 31, 2014. When calculated with the daily foreign exchange rate of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT), the total amount in inactive accounts totals approximately TL 94.5 million. While the investigation process for accounts without any transaction within the last 10 years at banks is continuing, depositors are being informed according to Article 62 of Banking Code no. 5411. Accordingly, if holders of rights of deposit accounts, participation funds, safety deposits and any kind of receivables held in banks have not stated any demand, sent any orders or have not done any kind of transactions, the accounts are exposed to a timeout. In this respect, banks have started publishing on their websites such accounts, deposits and receivables as of February. Citizens can log on to www.zamanasimi.org/tbb, which was activated by the Banks Association of Turkey (TİB) in February, to check if they have any such inactive accounts and can close such accounts online. Depositors that become aware of such inactive accounts from the website can apply to the related banks with their identities until June 15, 2015. If no application is submitted by this date for the relevant account, any deposits in such accounts will be transferred to the Saving Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF). Accounts that have been inactive for the past 10 years do not only belong to individuals but to many companies, unions, political parties and government institutions. According to the TMSF, DenizBank has the highest number of inactive accounts - 108,710 accounts in total - followed by İş Bankası and Yapı Kredi Bankası. In 2013, the total amount of deposits in inactive accounts that were transferred to the TMSF was TL 119 million followed by TL 95.2 million in 2014.
