For a certificate of deposit (CD), is cashing an interest check sufficient to count as activity on the account under the new Illinois unclaimed property law? What if we call and speak to the customer to confirm that they want to renew the CD? What if the customer logs into online banking to look at a checking account balance, but we can’t confirm that the customer looked at the CD balance? Our online banking system does not automatically show account information for CDs by default — viewing a CD’s balance would require an additional click after logging in.

Yes, cashing a check for CD interest is a valid indication of interest under the Illinois Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (Illinois RUUPA). The “presentment of a check” for an “interest payment” is one of many activities that serve as an “indication of interest” under the Illinois RUUPA. However, note that if the CD’s interest is deposited by an automatic ACH transfer, we do not believe that it would be treated as an indication of interest, because unlike cashing a check, the automatic posting of interest does not require any activity by the customer.

A phone conversation with a bank employee in which the customer confirms the CD renewal also would serve as an indication of interest, provided that your bank “contemporaneously makes and preserves a record of the fact of the apparent owner’s communication” regarding the CD.

Your bank also may be able to treat a customer’s login to online banking as a valid indication of interest, but this analysis depends on the exact workings of your institution’s online banking portal. The general rule is that a valid indication of interest includes accessing information online about an account in which the property is held. Consequently, viewing account information online about a CD is an indication of interest, but viewing account information online about a separate account is not (subject to special provisions applicable only to accounts appearing together on consolidated statements, which are discussed below).

We believe — and the Treasurer’s office has confirmed with us — that an indication of interest would include logging in to an online banking portal to access information about the CD itself. If your bank can show that a customer logged in and accessed the CD information, that should be treated as an indication of interest. However, this approach might require granular tracking of each customer’s online activities down to a click.

A simpler approach is available if your bank shows the CD balance information by default on the first page after the sign-in (by itself or with all other accounts held at the bank), without requiring an additional click to call up the CD balance. If your website can do this, any login would be treated as an indication of interest in the CD (and the other accounts presented by default).

While we do not believe that a customer’s login online to your bank portal by itself is an indication of interest if the CD information is not automatically presented to your customer, there are other important options for establishing an indication of interest. For example, if the customer logged in and accessed a checking account balance, your bank may rely on the customer’s online banking activity with regard to that checking account as an indication of interest for the CD, as well, provided that both the checking account and the CD appear on the same consolidated statement issued to your customer.

Outside of the online banking context, there are other checking account activities that also count as valid indications of interest for a CD. These activities are covered by provisions applicable to bank accounts that share the same mailing address in your books and records. For example, if a customer increases or decreases a checking account balance (other than by a previously-authorized recurring ACH transaction), that would serve as a valid indication of interest in a CD sharing the same mailing address as the checking account, even if the accounts do not appear on the same consolidated statement.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-210(b) (“Under this Act, an indication of an apparent owner’s interest in property includes: . . . (3) presentment of a check or other instrument of payment of a dividend, interest payment, or other distribution, or evidence of receipt of a distribution made by electronic or similar means, with respect to an account, underlying security, or interest in a business association; . . .”)

Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-210(b) (“Under this Act, an indication of an apparent owner’s interest in property includes: . . . (5) a deposit into or withdrawal from an account at a financial organization, except for a recurring Automated Clearing House (ACH) debit or credit previously authorized by the apparent owner or an automatic reinvestment of dividends or interest; . . .”)

Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-210(b) (“Under this Act, an indication of an apparent owner’s interest in property includes: . . . (2) an oral communication by the apparent owner to the holder or agent of the holder concerning the property or the account in which the property is held, if the holder or its agent contemporaneously makes and preserves a record of the fact of the apparent owner’s communication; . . .”)

Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-210(b) (“Under this Act, an indication of an apparent owner’s interest in property includes: . . . (4) activity directed by an apparent owner in the account in which the property is held, including accessing the account or information concerning the account, or a direction by the apparent owner to increase, decrease, or otherwise change the amount or type of property held in the account; . . .”)

Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-210(f) (“If the apparent owner has another property with the holder to which Section 201(6) applies, then activity directed by an apparent owner in any other accounts, including loan accounts, at a financial organization holding an inactive account of the apparent owner shall be an indication of interest in all such accounts if:

(A) the apparent owner engages in one or more of the following activities:

(i) the apparent owner undertakes one or more of the actions described in subsection (b) of this Section regarding any account that appears on a consolidated statement with the inactive account;

(ii) the apparent owner increases or decreases the amount of funds in any other account the apparent owner has with the financial organization; or

(iii) the apparent owner engages in any other relationship with the financial organization, including payment of any amounts due on a loan; and

(B) the foregoing apply so long as the mailing address for the apparent owner in the financial organization’s books and records is the same for both the inactive account and the active account.”)

Illinois RUUPA, 765 ILCS 1026/15-201(6) (“When property presumed abandoned. Subject to Section 15-210, the following property is presumed abandoned if it is unclaimed by the apparent owner during the period specified below: . . . (6) a demand, savings, or time deposit, 3 years after the later of maturity or the date of the last indication of interest in the property by the apparent owner, except for a deposit that is automatically renewable, 3 years after its initial date of maturity unless the apparent owner consented in a record on file with the holder to renewal at or about the time of the renewal; . . .”)