Did you know that you might be entitled to unclaimed money from various financial institutions in Malaysia? If you do, you’re not alone. According to the Accountant General’s Department of Malaysia (AGD), more than RM8.75 billion worth of unclaimed money remained unclaimed and RM2.13 billion had been returned up to December 2019. It is expected that the unclaimed sum of money recorded by AGD could balloon from year to year if Malaysians did not check and claim it. In this article, we’ll teach you how to check for unclaimed money, and what to do if you find some.
What is unclaimed money?
First, it’s important to understand what qualifies as unclaimed money. Generally, any funds or assets that have been abandoned or forgotten by their rightful owner qualify as unclaimed money. This could include things like forgotten bank accounts, life insurance policies, or stocks and shares. These include assets that have remained inactive for a long period of time without being withdrawn or cashed in.
In AGD’s website the definition of Unclaimed Moneys are the following:
- Moneys which are legally payable to the owner but have remained unpaid for a period of not less than one (1) year.
- salaries, wages, bonuses, commissions and other payments due to employees;
- dividend;
- profits declared for distributions;
- insurance claims which have been approved for payment;
- bank draft, cashier’s order and other documents of similar nature which validity period have lapsed;
- fixed deposits (without automatic renewal instructions) which have matured;
- tender deposits for which the intended purpose has been fulfilled;
- sundry creditors or sundry debtors with credit balance.
- Moneys standing to the credit of an account that has not been operated in whatever manner by the owner for a period of not less than seven (7) years.
- saving account;
- current account;
- fixed deposit (with automatic renewal instructions).
- Moneys to the credit of a trade account that has remained dormant for a period of not less than two (2) years.
- trade creditors account;
- trade debtors account with credit balance.
How to check for unclaimed money in eGUMIS?
The Malaysian government has done a lot to make sure that the process of finding unclaimed money is as easy as possible. The Malaysian government has appointed this to The Registrar of Unclaimed Money within AGD to process these claims and return these funds to the rightful owners. The application of unclaimed money is simple and easy using the eGUMIS portal.
By using the eGUMIS (Electronic Government Unclaimed Money Information System) portal, you can find these money and claim it back. These money include sources of your own personal unclaimed money from banks, insurance, investment companies, unit trusts, trusts, and even excess funds in your own credit cards.
Here’s how you can check and let us explore these steps one-by-one.
1. Register at eGUMIS
To find out if you have unclaimed money in Malaysia, you need to visit the dedicated website eGUMIS of Jabatan Akauntan Negara Malaysia. (https://egumis.anm.gov.my/)
Click on “Registration” and you do update your profile.
2. Search with an IC Number
Upon registration you would be able to search for your unclaimed moneys by providing your IC details. Click “Click here to search for Unclaimed Moneys” and then proceed to search with your IC details.
You would see a list of institutions that has money belonging to you.
If there is a list of the unclaimed money, you can click “Proceed to Application”.
3. Fill in Payee Details and Upload Relevant Documents
You would be presented with an Application for Refund of Unclaimed Moneys. Do add Payee details for the details on the person to receive the refunded money. You would need to add in the bank name and also the bank account number.
Upon completion, click “Next”.
For the next step, you are required to upload the necessary documents to complete the application. Do prepare the following:
- Copy of your IC, passport or other form of identification
- Copy of your active bank account statement
There may be additional documents such as birth certificate or marriage certificate required if you are claiming these money on behalf of a parent of spouse.
Upon uploading these documents, click “Next” and you will see a notice that your “Record has been successfully submitted”.
Last steps, just wait for eGUMIS refund and claim the Money
You can log in anytime in this portal to check for the status of your application. If your application is successful, you would receive an email notification from eGUMIS. With this, it may take up to 30 days to be credited to your bank account from the date of the notification. The Malaysian government has done a lot to make sure that the process of finding unclaimed money is as easy as possible and made these methods very accessible to you.
In conclusion, these are the few simple steps that you can take to check and see if you have any unclaimed money waiting for you. By following these steps, you can get your hands on some extra cash that you may not have even known existed. So why wait? Get started today!
Direct link to https://egumis.anm.gov.my/
