The government's plan to block inactive bank accounts has drawn protests from various groups of people and financial advisors. This policy is considered as a difficult policy in the midst of unstable economic conditions.
The Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) plans to block bank accounts that are dormant or not actively used for transactions for three months.
In its release, PPATK said this was done because in the analysis of the last five years, it found a large number of dormant accounts whose owners were not known to be targets of crime and other criminal acts.
For example, it is used to accommodate funds from criminal activities, account trading, hacking, use of nominees, narcotics transactions, corruption, and other crimes.
"Funds in dormant accounts are taken unlawfully, either by internal banks or other parties, and dormant accounts are not known to their owners (no customer data updates have ever been carried out)," reads the statement.
Dormant accounts, according to the release, also still have the obligation to make administrative fee payments to the bank until many dormant accounts run out of funds and are closed by the bank.
"The public's right is to remain protected. This is for the security of customer data and finances. An unused account can be an opening for crime."
However, PPATK emphasizes that customer funds stored in dormant accounts remain safe and not lost.
In addition, customers can apply for reactivation so that the bank account can be opened.
Based on PPATK data, there are more than 140,000 dormant accounts for more than 10 years, with a value of Rp428 billion.
Since 2020, PPATK has also found more than 1 million accounts allegedly related to criminal acts. Of these, 150,000 are nominees or obtained from account buying and selling activities, hacking. While the other 50,000 are classified as no activity.
It was also found that more than 2,000 accounts belonging to government agencies and expenditure treasurers were declared dormant with total funds reaching Rp500 billion.
Harm to society
Senior financial planner, Risza Bambang, stated that this is very detrimental to the community and is not appropriate in this difficult era.
"If a person is a criminal, for example, he does drugs, that means he buys them. Or let's say it's a criminal, the dealer has money coming in. Well, that means there is money coming in, it means it is not also dormant. So what is it for? This is not right," he told SUAR, Tuesday (07/30/2025).
According to him, this regulation is also somewhat contrary to financial planning, where there is always an account called an emergency fund. "That should not be tampered with because it is intended to be used at one time. This is the same as being forced, willingly or unwillingly, to cultivate funds," he said.
In addition, the method of recovery by coming to the bank is considered very difficult for the community in terms of time and cost. "Going to the cashier, waiting in line, using transportation, in the heat. The cost of taking the bus alone is how much, the value saved may also be less than the cost and the admin, so the effort is also great," he said.
It should be the bank's duty to always manage third party (customer) funds properly. The principles of know your customer (KYC) and customer due diligence (CDD) should be applied comprehensively. Thus, it is the duty of banks to prevent and address the use of customer fund accounts for crime.
PPATK should also take special action against bank accounts suspected of being used for crime, by taking measured and limited action. Instead of generalizing or generalizing suspicion to all dormant accounts.
In fact, as the financial planning experts explained, many customers use a special account at the bank to store their funds. Call it an emergency fund or a special savings account to be used in the future.
The PPATK policy, which will inconvenience customers, has also received protests from the public. Maya Nurlia, 45, said she would probably shift her funds to deposits or precious metals. "If it's in savings, it's a loss. The interest is small, the admin is big and not to mention inflation. Especially if the contents are a little that there is even exhausted money," he told SUAR.
The woman who works as a private employee regrets the lack of socialization from the bank to customers. "If the money runs out empty, it can be automatically closed," he said.
How to get around it
Financial planner from Mitra Rencana Edukasi, Mike Rini Sutikno, suggests that each person should ideally only have 2 to 3 bank account numbers.
"More than that, it will definitely be troublesome and difficult for us," he said.
According to him, there are several ways to avoid having your account blocked by the bank:
- Customers must select which accounts are active according to their usage and needs. So before activating everything, we must first select which ones are suitable for use, according to the purpose of our needs. For example: a bank account is for financial transactions.
- Create a financial plan by collecting our financial data, for example, where we have bank accounts and for what purposes.
- Evaluate and record expenses every month. Although admittedly complicated, there are various apps to help one plan financial planning
- You should always check the status of your bank account, what transactions, where, set the settings, request transaction statements every month, download and save them.
- Separate the main account and the emergency fund account. For example: for a child's education fund account.
- Record sources of financial savings, for example, deposit accounts, mutual fund accounts.
If the customer's account has already been blocked, according to the PPATK website, here is the follow-up procedure to reactivate it:
1. If your account is blocked, please file an objection immediately by filling out the form via the link bit.ly/FormHensem;
2. After filling out the objection form, customers are expected to wait for the review and deepening process from PPATK and the bank;
3. The estimated time required is 5 working days but can be extended by 15 working days depending on the completeness and suitability of the data, as well as the results of reviews by PPATK and banks. So that the total estimated time is 20 working days;
4. For information on account opening status, customers can check independently through ATM machines, mobile banking, and can check directly with the relevant bank.
Based on data from the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) until the end of May 2025, the number of customer accounts with a deposit balance of up to Rp100 million reached 619.64 million, or around 98.9% of the total accounts. This figure has increased by 0.8% in a month and 2.9% so far this year.
Meanwhile, for the category of deposits between Rp100 million and Rp200 million, there were 3.22 million accounts, which contributed around 0.5% to the total accounts. This group experienced a decline of -0.6% in a month and -0.5% throughout 2025.
Furthermore, for deposits with a value of more than IDR 200 million to IDR 500 million, the number of accounts was recorded at 2.29 million, equivalent to 0.4% of the total. This group experienced a -0.4% decline in a month and a -0.1% correction throughout 2025.
Lastly, deposits worth more than Rp500 million to Rp1 billion were recorded at 866,172 accounts, representing 0.1% of total accounts. Despite a -0.3% decline in a month, this group still recorded a 0.1% increase so far this year.
Returning to the matter of the dormant account blocking policy, PT Bank Mandiri stated that it would fully support the steps taken by PPATK.
"The account will become dormant if the customer does not make any financial transactions, other than payment of administrative fees, for 180 days. The transactions in question include withdrawing funds, transferring funds, or paying for shopping, whether done through branch offices or online," said Bank Mandiri Corporate Secretary, M. Ashidiq Iswara, in a press statement received by the SUAR team.
The mechanism for the implementation of temporary suspension of transactions refers to the provisions of Law Number 8 of 2010 concerning Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering Crimes.
In line with this, Bank Mandiri continues to improve customer transactions through various innovative and comprehensive services, especially through digital banking services.
"We also provide attractive activation programs and product promos for customers through synergies with key business partners," he said.
