This summer, $45 million will be distributed to a record-breaking 600,000 people who will receive money they didn’t even know they had from the state’s missing money program. The only action required is to cash the check, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced Wednesday.
The checks are part of the latest round of the Enhanced Money Match program, which simplifies the process of claiming unclaimed property. Treasurer Frerichs’ office facilitates sending the checks by utilizing technology to return funds to individuals through I-CASH, the state’s unclaimed property initiative.
Most of the claims matched in this round are for amounts of $50 or less, although some individuals with multiple claims could receive larger payments.
The volume of “claim-less” checks in this round is unprecedented. Since its founding in 2018, the Enhanced Money Match program has returned more than $130 million to over 870,000 people. The nearly 600,000 checks being sent this summer mark the largest Money Match effort in the nation’s history.
Notification letters began mailing at the end of June, with the checks following shortly after. They will continue to arrive in mailboxes throughout the summer.
The program leverages data already collected by various state agencies and cross-matches it with the Treasurer’s unclaimed property database. The Treasurer’s Office verifies names and mailing addresses before sending a letter to the property owner detailing the amount and source of the money.
The Enhanced Money Match focuses only on straightforward claims involving cash owed to a single individual. It does not include claims related to multiple parties, stocks and bonds, escrow accounts, or contents of bank safe deposit boxes.
To find out if you have missing money, visit the online database at www.illinoistreasurer.gov/ICASH.
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