Simple check for unclaimed money may prove fruitful

DO you know that there are billions of ringgit in unclaimed money waiting to be refunded to the rightful owners?

Many Malaysians are not aware that they have unclaimed money parked at the Accountant-General’s Office (Bahagian Pengurusan Wang Tak Dituntut) at the 42th Floor of the Maybank headquarters building along Jalan Tun Perak.

I was also not aware of this until my sister informed me of the hassle-free procedure to check my status. When I checked it out, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I did have unclaimed money amounting to a few hundred ringgit.

Checking your status is very easy, thanks to the online system. All you need is your identity card.

The clerk will inform you of the amount to be refunded and the company and/or organisations from which it originated.

These may include dividend payments (from dividend cheques that were misplaced), utility deposits, amount in inactive bank accounts and other receivables such as salary and bonus.

A quick check online revealed that as of June 2017, the total amount of unclaimed money was RM5.779bil, involving 55 million records since 1977.

The amount due to you will be credited into your active bank account. However, no interest is earned on the unclaimed money.

To avoid a second visit (especially for those who have to commute over long distances), have a letter from your bank stating that your account is still active. This is easy for Maybank account holders as they can go to the ground floor of the same building to obtain this required letter.

Rest assured that the procedure is very simple and straightforward and takes only a few minutes. Best of all, there is no fee charged and there is no expiry date to check and claim the funds. A quick check may be worth your while.