How to Keep a Hong Kong Bank Account From Going Dormant

The clock runs to 18 months for a ZA Bank personal deposit account; 12 months for Standard Chartered current and integrated deposit accounts and 24 for its savings accounts; and 1 year or more for current and savings accounts at the Bank of East Asia (BEA). Go that long without a transaction you started yourself and the account is classed as inactive or dormant. HSBC Hong Kong’s FAQ doesn’t give a number of months: when an account is about to become inactive, HSBC sends a notice, and a withdrawal or transfer out on or before the date in that notice keeps the account active.

At ZA Bank and BEA, interest the bank pays you and fees it deducts are not treated as your transactions, so an account that only ever receives interest still runs out the clock. Once an account has gone dormant, each bank has its own way of bringing it back.

Everything here is about personal deposit accounts. Investment accounts have different conditions for staying active; at HSBC, for example, you need to buy or sell something before the date on the notice.

01How long can an account go without a transaction at each bank?

Bank	Account	Time without a transaction	Not counted as your transaction	Once dormant
ZA Bank	Personal deposit account	No financial transaction in the past 18 months	Interest the bank pays, fees it deducts	No transfers, deposits, time deposits or loan applications; reactivate in the ZA Bank app
Standard Chartered	Current account, integrated deposit account	No customer deposit or withdrawal for 12 consecutive months	The help page counts customer deposits and withdrawals	Other accounts still active: deposits and withdrawals as usual; every account dormant: self-service channels unavailable
Standard Chartered	Savings account	No customer deposit or withdrawal for 24 consecutive months	As above	As above
BEA	Current account, savings account	No transaction of any amount for 1 year or more	Interest or dividend credits, bank charges	The bank stops or restricts some services; reactivate at a branch with ID
BEA	Integrated account	No transaction in any sub-account for 1 year or more	As above	As above
HSBC	Deposit account	Goes by the date on the notice	The FAQ only covers how to stay active	Reactivate by following the online banking prompts, or by phone or at a Hong Kong branch

To set yourself a reminder, count forward in months from the last transaction you made yourself. If that was in March 2026, then for a Standard Chartered current account or a BEA current or savings account, March + 12 months = March 2027; for ZA Bank, March + 18 months = September 2027; for a Standard Chartered savings account, March + 24 months = March 2028. The help documents only go down to the month or year and don’t say which exact day the count starts from, so set the reminder for before those months.

Banks send a notice before the deadline

Standard Chartered first sends a reminder to use the account, BEA writes by email or letter, and HSBC’s notice carries the deadline. A notice that goes to an old address or email is as good as never sent, so if you’ve changed your phone number or moved, update your contact details in each bank’s app or online banking first.

02An inactive ZA Bank account won’t even take deposits

ZA Bank’s help centre adds two notes. Once an account is inactive, you can’t use it for any financial transaction; the examples it gives are transfers, deposits, opening a time deposit and applying for a loan, and those are only some of what’s blocked. To restore it, you have to reactivate it through the ZA Bank app.

Deposits are on the blocked list too. Transferring money in from another card won’t wake an inactive account; you have to complete reactivation in the app first. The steps are in the account-use section of the help centre, under the question on reactivating an inactive account, which sits next to one on avoiding inactivity.

Within the 18 months, a deposit you make yourself or a transfer out counts as a financial transaction; opening and first funding a ZA Bank account has its own walkthrough.

03Standard Chartered counts 12 months on current accounts and 24 on savings

When a current account or integrated deposit account goes 12 consecutive months, or a savings account 24 consecutive months, without a customer deposit or withdrawal, Standard Chartered Hong Kong classes it as a dormant account. What that means for you depends on whether every account in your name (in your personal name, or as the primary holder of a joint account) has gone dormant:

Only one of your accounts is dormant: that account can still be used for deposits and withdrawals through SC Mobile, online banking, ATMs, phone banking, the customer service hotline or a branch, such as a transfer, a cheque or cash deposit, or an FPS payment. One such transaction reactivates the account.
Every account is dormant: the accounts can no longer be used through self-service banking channels, transactions may be rejected or take longer to process, and where applicable the bank sends a separate account statement once every six months. To reactivate, call the customer service hotline or visit a branch to update or confirm your personal details.

If you hold two or three accounts with Standard Chartered, keeping one of them in regular use stops you from landing in the every-account-dormant tier, where only a phone call or a branch visit will do.

04BEA classes current and savings accounts as dormant after 1 year

BEA’s FAQ on dormant accounts and deceased customers’ accounts (PDF) sets conditions by account type. All of them count only transactions the customer starts; interest or dividend credits and bank charges don’t count:

Current and savings accounts: no transaction of any amount for 1 year or more.
Integrated accounts (the four types the FAQ names, including BEA GOAL and i-Account): no transaction in any sub-account under the account for 1 year or more.
Time deposit accounts: the account only becomes dormant once every deposit under it is dormant. A deposit counts as dormant if it matured or was cancelled 1 year or more ago, or if it is 3 months or more past maturity with no maturity instruction; a call deposit counts as dormant when nothing has been withdrawn for 1 year or more from its effective date.

Once an account is dormant, BEA stops or restricts some services, and if your contact details are out of date you may not receive statements or notices.

If BEA emails or writes to say an account is about to go dormant, you can keep using it for transactions; switch it to a more suitable account type, for example from a passbook savings account to an integrated account; or close it, after finding and cancelling all standing instructions and direct debit authorisations. If it’s already dormant, take your ID to any BEA branch to reactivate it.

05What should you do when HSBC says your account is about to become inactive?

The questions on dormant, unclaimed and inactive accounts in HSBC Hong Kong’s accounts FAQ all deal with what to do once the notice arrives, and the deadline is the date given in that notice.

On or before that date, make a withdrawal from the account: if there is a balance, withdraw it or transfer it out; if the balance is zero, deposit something first and then withdraw or transfer it out. Everything HSBC lists moves money out of the account. There are three channels: log on to online or mobile banking with your Mobile Security Key or Security Device; use an ATM in Hong Kong with a valid PIN; or go to any HSBC branch in Hong Kong.

If the notice says the account is already inactive, there are two ways to reactivate it: log on to online banking with a security code generated by your Security Device or the HSBC HK App and follow the on-screen prompts; or call HSBC (general customer hotline (852) 2233 3000) or visit any Hong Kong branch. During reactivation the bank may contact you to update your details, so the mobile number HSBC holds for you needs to be one you can answer.

06Reactivating a dormant account from outside Hong Kong

ZA Bank: reactivation is done in the ZA Bank app.
Standard Chartered: if you still have an active account, a deposit or withdrawal on the dormant one through SC Mobile or online banking is enough; if every account is dormant, you can choose to call the customer service hotline to update or confirm your details, with no need to visit a branch.
BEA: call the customer service hotline on 852 2211 1333 or any branch to arrange a witnessing service through branches of The Bank of East Asia (China) Limited or BEA’s Macau and overseas branches and offices, and handle the Hong Kong account remotely.
HSBC: online banking lets you reactivate directly by following the prompts. To do it in person, ask your nearest HSBC branch to help you contact HSBC Hong Kong, or book an appointment at a designated branch, where staff check your documents and witness your signature, then pass everything to HSBC Hong Kong to follow up.

Standard Chartered asks you to update or confirm your details when every account is dormant, and HSBC may also contact you to update details during reactivation, so have your ID, current address and the mobile number the bank holds for you ready before you call.

07Which documents give the dormancy rules for other Hong Kong banks?

For any other bank, look in its own help centre or account terms. Try more than one search term: the three banks above don’t even agree on a name, and you’ll see both inactive account and dormant account.

ICBC (Asia)’s website carries a leaflet on understanding dormant accounts, crediting the Hong Kong Association of Banks as its source. It says most banks classify a deposit account as dormant when there has been no transaction for a period of time, usually six months or more. That is a general description; for any particular bank you still need that bank’s own rules, and the three banks above all set periods of 1 year or more.

To use an account before these deadlines, a genuine transaction is enough: pay a bill from it, or move money in or out for a real purpose; HSBC only counts a withdrawal or transfer out. Pointless transfers to yourself made only to keep an account alive are best avoided, and once an account does go dormant, its functions narrow step by step.

If you have a complaint or question about how a bank maintains or updates account information, the HKMA’s page on account opening and maintenance gives the contact details: phone (852) 2878 1133, email [email protected].

08Checking a Standard Chartered account’s status and tracing a forgotten BEA account

Where can I see whether a Standard Chartered account has become dormant? In SC Mobile, open the deposit account in question and check its status; if it has become dormant, the account page shows a notice. Once the account is reactivated, Standard Chartered sends a separate notice confirming it.

How do I find out whether I ever opened an account with BEA? BEA’s FAQ says to take your ID to any branch in person and ask staff to check whether you have ever opened a deposit account with BEA. If an account turns up and it has gone dormant, you can reactivate it at the branch with the same ID.

Four Hong Kong banks each set their own deadline for dormant accounts