Money Transmission Modernization Act; create and repeal MS Money Transmitters Act.
HB 1428 enacts the Mississippi Money Transmission Modernization Act, replacing the state’s existing Money Transmitters Act. The bill creates a new licensing and supervisory framework for businesses that engage in money transmission in Mississippi, including the sale or issuance of payment instruments or stored value, and the receipt of money or monetary value for transmission. It defines key terms, sets out exemptions, and establishes requirements for applications, renewals, ownership changes, key personnel changes, reporting, recordkeeping, and consumer disclosures.
The bill also sets prudential standards intended to protect customer funds and reduce fraud risk. Licensees must maintain minimum tangible net worth, a surety bond or approved deposit, and permissible investments equal to outstanding money transmission obligations. The commissioner is given broad authority to examine licensees and authorized delegates, investigate possible violations, issue cease-and-desist orders, impose civil penalties, and pursue criminal enforcement for unlicensed activity or false filings. The act is designed to align Mississippi’s rules with multistate and national licensing systems, especially the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS), and to promote uniformity with other states that adopt similar standards.
The bill repeals Sections 75-15-1 through 75-15-35 of the Mississippi Code, which currently comprise the Mississippi Money Transmitters Act, and replaces them with a modernized regulatory scheme effective July 1, 2025. It expands and clarifies the Department of Banking and Consumer Finance’s authority over money transmitters, authorized delegates, acquisitions of control, and key individuals, while also adding confidentiality provisions, reporting obligations, and financial safeguards. Businesses engaged in money transmission will face updated licensing, bonding, net worth, investment, and disclosure requirements, with a transition period for existing licensees to come into compliance.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial in the legislature. It passed the House 111-0, the Senate 51-0, and the House later concurred in the Senate amendment 112-0. The unanimous votes suggest strong bipartisan agreement on the need to update and standardize Mississippi’s money transmission laws and to align them with multistate regulatory practices.
No major opposition is reflected in the available voting history or committee materials, and no committee transcript excerpts were provided. The main policy choices embedded in the bill are the scope of exemptions, the level of financial and reporting requirements imposed on licensees, and the commissioner’s broad supervisory and enforcement powers. Those issues could matter most to money transmitters, payment processors, payroll processors, banks, fintech firms, and authorized delegates, but the recorded legislative action indicates little or no public contention during passage.