Did you know that the government is keeping some of your long forgotten monies and you can get it back? Unclaimed monies are funds that are rightfully owned by the public but have not been claimed, or money in accounts that have been inactive for an extended period.
This covers money that has been unpaid for a year or more, such as salaries, bonuses, dividends, and insurance claims. It also includes money that has been inactive for seven years or more, such as savings accounts, currency accounts, and fixed deposits. Additionally, it covers money that has been inactive for at least two years and is owed to a trade account, such as a trade creditor’s account or a trade debtor’s account with a credit balance.
Right now, the only way to get yours is to go through eGUMIS (Electronic Government Unclaimed Money Information System). But the Ministry of Finance (MoF) is creating an app that will make it easier for people to get their unclaimed monies.
The Star reports that to address the many inquiries about unclaimed money, a new app will be launched to simplify the process of locating and reclaiming these funds.
According to Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan, although the process of claiming the money can be tedious, it’s necessary for security reasons and no third parties or agents can be utilised to retrieve the funds.
Ahmad added that the public has shown interest in the unclaimed money, with approximately 50,000 queries received through the website since the announcement of the RM11 billion unclaimed money belonging to the public as of March.
Most of the unclaimed money is from dormant bank accounts, which people tend to forget about or become untraceable due to changes in their contact details. The Accountant General’s Department (AGD) has refunded approximately RM3.2 billion in savings accounts, insurance, and deposits out of the RM14.1 billion received from companies or firms under Section 8 of the Act from 1977 until last month.
