HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Thousands of Pennsylvanians will soon receive a check they may not be expecting.

On Monday, the Pennsylvania Treasury announced that more than 7,000 Pennsylvanians will soon receive checks in the mail through the Money Match program.

The program locates unclaimed property at the Treasury that belongs to residents and sends it directly through a check.

Anyone with unclaimed property worth up to $500 will receive a check after an identification and verification process.

Those who may have unclaimed property worth more than $500 can check the unclaimed property website to submit a claim.

“Most of these folks didn’t even realize they had unclaimed property waiting for them,” Treasurer Stacy Garrity said. 

The first batch of Money Match checks are worth more than $1.7 million combined.

About 1 in 10 Pennsylvanians is owed a piece of the $4.5 billion in unclaimed property being held by the Treasury. The average value of a claim is $1,600.

“Virtually every Pennsylvanian either has unclaimed property sitting at Treasury or knows someone who does,” said State Sen. Scott Hutchinson. “For too long, those funds remained
unknown to the rightful owners, and that’s where PA Money Match comes in. This innovative program has revolutionized how we handle unclaimed property in Pennsylvania by automatically matching individuals with their unclaimed funds. As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, I was proud to work with Treasurer Garrity, former Senator John DiSanto, and colleagues in the House and Senate to get this commonsense initiative across the finish line for Pennsylvanians. Now, with the PA Money Match program in place, those funds are being returned at an even faster rate.”

Since 2021 the Treasury has returned more than $700 million in unclaimed property. You can check whether you have unclaimed property on the Treasury’s unclaimed property website.