Illinois e-News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 9, 2025

CONTACT:

Adriana Colindres  217.558.1920

This summer will bring $45 million in cash 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, and the only thing they must do is cash the check, Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs said today.

The checks are part of the latest round of the Enhanced Money Match program – which takes the “claim” out of unclaimed property. Treasurer Frerichs’ office helps get the check in the mail by leveraging technology to return money to individuals, through I-CASH, the state’s unclaimed property initiative.

Most of the matched claims in this Enhanced Money Match round equal $50 or less, though some people can have multiple claims and their checks will amount to much more.

“The first thing we tell people, is this – the money belongs to you, the check is real, and this is not a scam,” Treasurer Frerichs said. “The second thing we tell them, is to cash the check! Who couldn’t use a little extra pocket money this summer?”

The volume of “claim-less” checks is unprecedented. Frerichs’ office founded the Enhanced Money Match program in 2018 and has since returned more than $130 million to more than 870,000 people. This summer’s total of nearly 600,000 checks makes it the largest Money Match ever performed in the nation.

Frerichs’ office began mailing notification letters at the end of June. The checks soon follow and will hit mailboxes all summer long.

The Enhanced Money Match Program leverages data already collected by partnering state agencies and crossmatches it with the State Treasurer’s unclaimed property database. The Treasurer’s Office matches names and mailing addresses, confirms those, and then sends a letter to the unclaimed property owner that describes the amount and source of the money.

Enhanced Money Match focuses only on straightforward claims that involve cash owed to a single person. It doesn’t cover other types of claims, such as those involving cash owned by multiple parties, shares of stocks and bonds, escrow accounts, and the contents of bank safe deposit boxes.

 

Enhanced Money Match is part of the office’s Unclaimed Property program, also known as I-CASH. It is one of the state’s oldest consumer protection initiatives. In Illinois, the state treasurer is tasked with safeguarding unclaimed property, such as the contents of overlooked safe deposit boxes, unpaid life insurance benefits, forgotten bank accounts and unused rebate cards. Illinois holds more than $5 billion in unclaimed property. More than $2.3 billion has been returned since Frerichs took office, the most in state history. The state treasurer is legally required to return missing money to its owners or heirs, no matter how long it takes.

To see if you have missing money, check the online database at www.illinoistreasurer.gov/ICASH.

The Illinois State Treasurer’s Office is a powerful economic engine that invests in people to drive prosperity, development and growth throughout the state. As State Treasurer, Michael Frerichs (FRAIR'iks) is the state’s Chief Investment and Banking Officer and actively manages approximately $60 billion. The investments help families pay for college and trade school; workers save for a dignified retirement; and local governments process bill payments more efficiently so they can pass along the savings to taxpayers. The office provides financial institutions with money to loan to farmers, small business owners, and qualified individuals at below-market rates because better jobs create stronger communities. The office operates the state’s largest consumer-protection initiative, the missing money I-Cash program, which has returned a record-breaking $2.3 billion since Frerichs was elected.

For more news about the State Treasurer’s Office, please sign up for our newsletter and follow Treasurer Frerichs on Instagram at ILTreasurer, Threads @iltreasurer, LinkedIn and on Facebook at Invested in You – Treasurer Michael Frerichs.