“Over 50 years of doing this, we have paid out $130 million,” said Connexus President and CEO Greg Ridderbusch.
Last year alone Connexus paid out $7.6 million in cash back. But there’s still about $5 million left to be claimed. On the Connexus web page, there’s a database of all the names that have unclaimed cash back.
The unclaimed cash back stays in the name of the account holder for seven years. Ridderbusch says that Connexus tries to find the owners of the accounts, but if they’ve moved out of the area and don’t have a new address, there’s only so much Connexus can do.
“When that cash back is there we try for seven years [to find the owner] in a variety of ways. We buy addresses, we electronically compare, we have some search firms that do this.”
If the money goes unclaimed for more than seven years, the State of Minnesota allows the cooperative to use that money to support charities in the Connexus service area.
The list only says if the account is owed more or less than $50, but with $4.8 million owed to 24,000 thousand accounts, that averages $200 dollars per account.
“If you know someone who used to be a member and maybe moved out of state, and you’re wondering if they have cash back, or maybe you moved from the Connexus area and forgot about it – please check. We would love to try to get cash back to you if some is due,” said Ridderbusch.
If you find your name on the list, the best thing to do is just to give Connexus a call and they will walk you through the steps of getting your money.
