Members of the Houston Teen Club are now no doubt well into their middle age and the Houston Investment Club may have had success in increasing its members’ financial portfolios.
But in both cases, the organizations bearing those names still have money in unclaimed bank accounts being safeguarded by the Bank of Canada.
The two clubs are among a list of Houston clubs or organizations who, for whatever reason, are no longer active or who haven’t done any banking in years.
And when a bank account has had no activity for 10 years, and attempts to find the account holders prove fruitless, monies within are transferred to the Bank of Canada to await the possibility of a claim at some future date.
In the case of the Houston Teen Club, its account totals $1,121.58 and its last transaction date at the Bank of Montreal in Houston, was Oct. 29, 1979, indicates a database maintained by the Bank of Canada.
The Bank of Montreal, its branch has since closed in Houston, transferred the money to the Bank of Canada on Dec. 31, 1989.
Meanwhile, the Houston Investment Club last used its account at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Burns Lake on July 6, 1984.
Ten years later, on Dec. 31, 1994, that branch transferred the $684.15 in that account to the Bank of Canada.
The Royal Bank in Houston last heard from the Houston Oval Racing Association on Sept. 8, 2007 and transferred the $1,323.64 in its account on Dec. 31, 2017.
It was Jan. 15, 1996 when the Houston Toastmasters last had anything to do with an account at the Royal Bank and the $456.55 in that account was transferred to the Bank of Canada Dec. 31, 2006.
And four years before that, a group called the BCLDA-Houston Chapter last had anything to do with its account, also at the Royal Bank, on May 22, 1992. The $402.86 in that account was transferred to the Bank of Canada on Dec. 31, 2002.
Leading up to the 10 year anniversary after which monies are transferred to the Bank of Canada, banks who host the accounts try to make contact after two, five and then nine years of account inactivity.
The Bank of Canada holds unclaimed balances of less than $1,000 for 30 years while balances of $1,000 or more are held for 100 years. Should accounts be unclaimed after those periods of time, the money is then transferred to the federal government.
As of the end of 2018, the Bank of Canada says it has two million unclaimed balances worth $816 million on its books.
In 2018, the bank said it paid out $11 million to valid account holders.
More information is availabe from the Bank of Canada website,https://www.bankofcanada.ca/unclaimed-balances/