A dormant account is an account that has had no customer-initiated activity for a period of time.

Customer-initiated activity includes:

System-generated activity, such as interest accrual, does not count as activity. Dormancy matters because financial institutions are required by law to safeguard inactive accounts. If an account remains inactive for an extended period and the account owner(s) do not reconnect with the bank, the funds may be turned over to the state as unclaimed property.