For these reasons, the service that provides through more closely resembles payment processing/settlement than money transmission. acts on behalf of merchants receiving payments rather than on behalf of customers making payments. ’s role in the transactions is to provide merchants with a portal to a financial institution that has access to the ACH system. The nature of the transactions you describe is the transfer of funds through the ACH system from a customer to a merchant as payment for goods and services. (B) ny other person engaged as a business in the transfer of funds.įinCEN does not currently interpret the definition of money transmitter to include the third-party origination service that is described in your letter. (A) ny person, whether or not licensed or required to be licensed, who engages as a business in accepting currency, or funds denominated in currency, and transmits the currency or funds, or the value of the currency or funds, by any means through a financial agency or institution, a Federal Reserve Bank or other facility of one or more Federal Reserve Banks, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or both, or an electronic funds transfer network or The definition of money transmitter for purposes of BSA regulations found at 31 CFR 103.11(uu)(5) includes:

You have asked whether would be deemed a money transmitter in accordance with 31 CFR 103.11(uu)(5) by virtue of providing this service. Through, merchants are also able to initiate credits to provide refunds to customers. After a temporary holding period to ensure that the transaction initiated by the merchant is not returned, remits the funds to the merchant. Once ’s bank initiates the ACH, the depository institution at which the merchant’s customer maintains a checking account debits the account of the customer, and sends a credit instruction through ACH to ’s bank, which then credits the amount to an operating account maintained at the bank by.

batches and submits the debit information to ’s bank for processing through the ACH system. ’s merchant customers obtain payment instructions to debit a customer’s checking account and submit these payment instructions to through. Through, merchants can accept customer payments for purchases made through a merchant’s web site, or by telephone, in the form of a checking account debit. Based on the representations contained in your letter, FinCEN has determined that is not a Money Services Business as defined in 31 CFR 103.11(uu), by virtue of the ACH processing services provided by, and is therefore not required to register with FinCEN.Īccording to your letter, operates a service called that provides third-party origination services for Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) transactions on behalf of merchants. This letter responds to your letter dated February 5, 2003, requesting an administrative ruling with respect to whether is required to register with FinCEN as a Money Services Business in accordance with 31 CFR 103.41 by virtue of operating.

Debit finance definition