Banks Now Verify PESEL Dates — 2.5bn PLN Frozen

11 April 2026 Poland Radar 0 Comments

Banks now run PESEL checks to verify death dates, unlocking about 2.5bn PLN stuck in accounts. Learn what expats need to do.

Poland implemented new rules that force banks to run PESEL checks on inactive accounts. Consequently, institutions can now request exact dates of death from the national registry.

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PESEL checks: what the law does

The parliament passed an amendment to the Banking Law on 25 July 2025. Therefore the president signed it and the law took effect on 28 November 2025. Moreover, the law lets banks ask the PESEL registry for a death date or the date a body was found. In addition, banks may use that date to end an account contract. Consequently this clears a legal hurdle that blocked payouts for heirs.

Before the change, banks could only ask if a client was alive. However the registry returned only yes or no answers. That binary reply did not supply the legal date of death. Therefore banks could not calculate when an account contract ended. As a result, money often sat frozen for years. Moreover, the Ministry of Finance estimates about 2.5 billion złoty now sits inactive in Polish bank accounts. Consequently family members lacked a fast path to recover those funds.

How banks act and which accounts are affected

The law covers commercial banks, cooperative banks and credit unions (SKOK). In addition, banks must check accounts that show no activity for five full years. However there is an exception for customers with multiple accounts in the same bank. If you use one account regularly, your other accounts will not count as abandoned. Therefore the rule prevents accidental closures for active clients. Moreover banks must also check PESEL within three months after a term deposit matures without a withdrawal instruction.

Centralna Informacja o Rachunkach Bankowych lets heirs ask banks about accounts. (This is the Central Information on Bank Accounts system.) However relatives must still apply and provide documents. Consequently the system processes about 700 to 800 requests per month. Therefore it remains far below what the state estimates is needed to unlock all frozen funds.

💡 GOOD TO KNOW: If you live in Poland, tell your family where you keep savings. Keep at least one small yearly operation on every account you rarely use. Also store documents and power-of-attorney details in an easy place. Note that PESEL is the national ID number used in many official systems. ZUS is the social security institution (pensions and contributions). NFZ is the national health fund (public healthcare). If you die, banks will now check PESEL and may use the date of death to settle accounts. Therefore heirs will face fewer legal obstacles when they claim money. However heirs must still sometimes use the Central Information on Bank Accounts system to locate funds.

For expats this change brings practical consequences. First, update whoever holds your estate information. Second, consider consolidating rarely used accounts. Moreover keep digital logins and contact details current. Finally, consult a Polish notary or an attorney if you hold large balances in multiple banks. Therefore you reduce the risk of family disputes and delays.

In short, the rule aims to speed estate settlement. Consequently banks now carry a clearer duty. Moreover the move should release long-frozen savings to heirs. However the process still depends on heirs taking some actions in many cases.

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