Ohio residents might find some unexpected cash in their pockets thanks to the state’s latest upgrade to its unclaimed funds system. The promise of discovered dollars—in the form of forgotten bank accounts, dusty checks never cashed, lost stocks and bonds, and more—comes from the Division of Unclaimed Funds, housed within the Ohio Department of Commerce. According to the official State of Ohio site, they’ve rolled out a newer, slicker way for folks to search, claim, and watch their potential windfalls.
The system isn’t just a glorified lost-and-found. It’s a treasure chest that’s been quite generous. In 2024 alone, the Division returned more than $149.6 million through 26,420 claims, a bounty for those who took the time to look, the release detailed. The new system aims to streamline the process where users can search for funds, upload necessary documents, and track the progress of their claim without having to jump through multiple hoops—or websites, for that matter. It’s a one-stop platform, and businesses that need to report or make transactions involving unclaimed funds can also do all that in this new system.
The improvements are meant to make the recovery of funds more user-friendly, a welcome change for Ohioans who used to navigate a more convoluted process. It’s a digital paperwork reduction, helping people claim what’s rightly theirs with fewer clicks. As stated by the division, claims to unclaimed funds do not expire, meaning there’s no rush, but there’s certainly incentive—the funds are safeguarded indefinitely until someone stakes a claim.
