Forgotten money in banks rises again to R$6.03 billion, says Brazil's Central Bank

Money forgotten by Brazilians in banks, finance companies, and other institutions has risen again to R$6.03 billion, according to the latest figures from the Receivable Values System (SVR), released by Brazil's Central Bank on Tuesday (10). In the previous survey, the balance awaiting retrieval was around R$5.8 billion.

Of the total, R$4.41 billion (73.2%) belong to individuals and R$1.62 billion (26.8%) to companies. In all, 24.61 million individuals and 2.23 million companies still have some amount to receive.

Why the balance rose again

The available total doesn't depend only on withdrawals. Banks and other institutions keep identifying old customer funds and reporting these values to the system. When the inflow of new resources exceeds what is withdrawn, the balance grows, as happened now.

Since the service began operating in early 2022, R$22.78 billion have been identified. Of that amount, R$16.75 billion, equivalent to 73.5%, have already been returned to 44.91 million beneficiaries.

Records are spread across several types of institutions:

• banks: 13.64 million;
• consortium administrators: 7.47 million;
• payment institutions: 3.90 million;
• cooperatives: 1.97 million;
• finance companies: 1.44 million;
• brokerages and dealers: 62.8 thousand.

The Central Bank notes that those who have money in more than one type of institution appear more than once in this count.

Most have little to receive

Individual amounts tend to be low. According to the Central Bank, 69.51% of beneficiaries have up to R$10 to receive. Another 18.84% have between R$10.01 and R$100, and 9.40% have between R$100.01 and R$1,000. Only 2.25% have more than R$1,000 waiting for them.

Even so, it's worth checking. The inquiry is free and takes only a few minutes.

How to check and withdraw

The consultation and the refund request are free and done only through the system's official website, valoresareceber.bcb.gov.br. Here's how:

1. Enter your CPF (Brazilian individual taxpayer ID) and date of birth, or for a company, the CNPJ (business registration number) and the date of incorporation;
2. If there's an amount available, log in with a silver or gold-level gov.br account (Brazil's digital identity platform);
3. Request the withdrawal, which can be received via Pix, Brazil's instant payment system.

Beware of scams

The Central Bank warns that it does not send links, does not contact citizens about these amounts, and does not ask for passwords or personal data to release the money. Messages from third parties offering help to recover forgotten funds should be treated as scam attempts. The guidance is to type the system's address directly into the browser without clicking on links received by email, text message, or messaging apps.