TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Lis, 58 years old, has just heard about the freezing of tens of thousands of dormant or inactive accounts for a minimum of 3 months by Indonesia's Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK). She is worried that her account is among those frozen because it has been inactive for years.
The Bekasi resident said she saved in a government bank to prepare for covering the costs of performing the Hajj pilgrimage if she receives a call to perform the religious duty in the Holy Land.
Although guaranteed that the savings will not be disturbed, Lis and thousands of other customers seem to have to take the time to arrange the reactivation of their accounts temporarily frozen by PPATK. There are two forms to fill out and five documents to upload.
The required time is also not short. The estimated time needed is five business days, but it may take up to 15 business days depending on the completeness and accuracy of the data, as well as the review results by PPATK and the bank. "So the total estimated time is 20 working days," wrote PPATK via an official post on the @ppatk_indonesia Instagram account, quoted on Monday, July 28, 2025.
Some parties have criticized this PPATK measure. However, the institution argues that freezing these inactive accounts is part of the National Movement for the Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering and Terrorism Funding carried out by PPATK.
"We are protecting the accounts of the public that are classified as dormant according to the banking data we receive so that they are not misused by unauthorized parties," said PPATK Chief Ivan Yustiavandana as quoted from Antara, Sunday, May 18, 2025.
In 2024, PPATK has frozen a total of 28,000 dormant accounts. According to Ivan, this step aligns with the mandate of Law Number 8 of 2010 concerning the Prevention and Eradication of Money Laundering (TPPU).
Ivan also said that, according to Law 8/2010, the PPATK has the right to halt suspicious transactions.
Vulnerable Inactive Accounts
The purpose of freezing accounts is to prevent financial criminals from misusing them. Dormant accounts are susceptible to money laundering and other illegal transactions.
This freezing is carried out to protect the public and the financial system. "PPATK has found many dormant accounts that have been misused, such as the sale and purchase of accounts or used for money laundering criminal acts," wrote PPATK in an official post on the @ppatk_indonesia Instagram account, quoted on Monday, July 28, 2025.
The frozen dormant accounts can be in the form of savings accounts (personal or corporate), checking accounts, or rupiah/foreign currency accounts. Despite being frozen, PPATK stated that the customers' funds are still safe and have not been lost.
The freezing of inactive accounts is due to the discovery of the sale of accounts for illegal activities such as online gambling and other money laundering activities. According to records from the PPATK, more than one million accounts suspected of involvement in criminal activity have been identified since 2020, as reported by Antara on Wednesday, July 30, 2025.
More than 150,000 of them are nominee accounts obtained through the sale and purchase of accounts, hacking, or other unlawful means.
These accounts are then used to accommodate funds from criminal acts and become inactive (dormant).
Meanwhile, over 50,000 accounts have been recorded as having no transaction activity before receiving illegal funds.
The PPATK also found that more than 10 million social assistance recipients have not used their accounts for over three years.
Social assistance funds totaling Rp2.1 trillion are lying dormant, suggesting that they have not been distributed effectively.
Anastasya Lavenia Yudi contributed to the writing of this article
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