What is a MONEY SERVICE BUSINESS (MSB)

In 1999, the Bank Secrecy Act was revised to designate certain Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFI) as ‘money services businesses’.  Check Cashers, Foreign Currency Exchangers, and issuers or sellers of money orders that conduct transactions for any of these services in excess of $1,000 for any one person in one business day is a MSB and must register as such with FinCEN.  Anyone that provides money transmission services, regardless of the amount, is a MSB.  Money Service Businesses must comply with the requirements that the Bank Secrecy Act mandates for MSBs. There are many nuances to the definition of a MSB and the information above is only a partial definition.