Article 61

The law that affects dormant (unused) bank accounts in Mexico is the ley de instituciones de crédito. Article 61 of this was amended in February 2008, so that some accounts could be transferred to a special fund for "social good" if they were unused for three years.

Certain Accounts

The accounts that are affected are "savings" accounts which have a balance under 300 days average salary, which is currently a little under 18,000 pesos (around US$1500).

Accounts with balances above this limit are not involved.

Accounts with transactions in the past three years are also excluded, but note that a transaction is only the crediting or withdrawal of money, an internal bank transaction such as interest or bank charges does not count.

Three Years

The first three years since the amendment was enacted end in Fenruary 2011. At that point, inactive accounts can be seized.

It's unclear if there will be any way to get the money back after it has been seized, it may not be be possible or too expensive or complex for the amounts involved.

Some sources say the three years will end at the end of December 2010 instead, There may not be any legal basis for this, but it's better to assume this will happen for some banks and plan accordingly.

What To Do

So, if you have a long-established Mexican bank account that has not had any deposits or withdrawals in the past few years: make a deposit or withdrawal, before the end of the year.

Doesn't matter how large or small, just show some activity! If the balance of the account is above the "small account" limit (18,000 pesos, around US$1500) this shouldn't be needed, but I would make a transaction anyway just to be sure in case a bank interprets the limits wrong.

My US$ account at Bancomer was below the limit (and almost never used), so I transferred some money online from my peso account. This shows some activity on the dollar account (a deposit), and it also puts the balance above the small account limit.