BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — State Treasurer John M. Schroder says a bill recently signed into law will allow money sitting in abandoned online sports betting accounts to be transferred to the state’s unclaimed property fund.

“We’re being proactive and thinking ahead about what’s best for Louisiana’s economy,” Schroder said. “Our Unclaimed Property Program already captures abandoned PayPal, Amazon, iTunes, and eBay account balances so it makes sense to add online gaming accounts, too.”

Schroder said per the new law, Act 510, funds will be transferred after three years of no activity in an account compared to the previous protocol to wait five years.

“The money can’t help stimulate Louisiana’s economy while it’s sitting gathering dust in an account somewhere,” said Schroder. “A three-year holding period brings the accounts into Unclaimed Property’s custody sooner, and we have a better chance of finding the owners (or their heirs) if we start looking for them sooner rather than later.” 

The change goes into effect on Aug. 1, according to Schroder.