2000 dead investors on ANZ register

There are 1.3 million people who own Bonus Bonds but questions have been raised in the past about how many of those are dead or haven’t claimed prizes because they have shifted house and not updated their contact details with the bank.

An ANZ spokeswoman confirmed about 2000 customers were currently recorded as deceased on its Bonus Bonds register.

“Generally these accounts are in the process of being closed with the estate or it’s a joint ownership where one of the customers is still alive.”

She said on average the bank received and processed 740 notices of deceased estates each month.

“When we are notified of a customer passing away, we work with the estate to release the funds. The timing depends on how quickly we can receive the necessary documentation from the estate,” she said.

But unclaimed prizes just get turned into more Bonus Bonds.

The ANZ spokeswoman said it contacted all winners with a phone call, letter or online notification depending on the value of the prize and the bondholder’s prize payment instructions.

“When a payment to a bank account is returned or when we’ve sent a prize winner a cheque and it hasn’t been banked within six months, we will issue the winner Bonus Bonds instead of paying a cash prize.

“Where a customer’s current address is not known or they have not met identification requirements we will issue the winner Bonus Bonds rather than paying the prize in cash.”