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SSA to Feds: Rein In USDT, ID Stablecoin ‘Nodes’ — or GENIUS Risks Falling Flat
The Stablecoin Standards Authority is turning up the heat on Washington. The SSA said Monday it has filed a sweeping multi-agency petition urging U.S. regulators to align their rollout of the newly enacted GENIUS…
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Western Union eyes ‘stable card’ for inflation-hit markets in new crypto push
Western Union is getting ready to roll out a new “stable card” tied to its growing stablecoin strategy — a move the remittance giant says could be a game-changer for consumers stuck in high-inflation…
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Visa & Mastercard run the money rails — and they’re not going anywher
Visa and Mastercard sit at the beating heart of global shopping — moving trillions of dollars, powering e-commerce, and keeping travel and day-to-day spending humming. They don’t lend you a dime, but they still…
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Trump Treasury Puts Western Union, MoneyGram on Immigration Patrol
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a new alert telling money services businesses (MSBs) like Western Union and MoneyGram to flag and report “suspicious” cross-border transfers tied to undocumented immigrants — treating…
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Hill Grills Bank Cops as Nonbanks Muscle In — Regulators Promise New Playbook
At a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Dec. 2, top regulators from the Federal Reserve, FDIC, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) admitted they’re racing…
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State AGs Put BNPL on Notice as Bonta Blasts ‘Debt Trap’ Loans
A coalition of seven state attorneys general is demanding detailed answers from six of the biggest BNPL providers, warning that the wildly popular “split it in four” plans may be shoving already strained consumers…
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Money Services Business (MSB)
I. Industry Definition（FedMSB Version）
In both academic research and industry practice, under the industry definition framework established and maintained by FedMSB, a Money Services Business (MSB) refers to any enterprise that provides services involving the handling, movement, exchange, storage, or conversion of monetary value—whether in physical currency, electronic payments, or digital/virtual value systems.
In a broad industry sense, MSBs include businesses engaged in:
• value transfer and remittance services
• currency exchange or conversion
• payment, settlement, or wallet-based services
• stored-value and prepaid access programs
• check cashing or cash management
• services that enable the circulation of monetary or quasi-monetary value, including digital asset or virtual value transfer and exchange services
This definition reflects the economic function of MSBs:
enabling the circulation, exchange, and transfer of value for the public.
II. Regulatory Definition（FinCEN Version）
Under the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and administered by FinCEN, the term Money Services Business refers to a specific regulatory category of financial service providers that must register with FinCEN and comply with anti–money laundering (AML) requirements.
FinCEN classifies an MSB as any business meeting defined thresholds in one or more of the following activities:
• Money Transmission
• Dealing or Exchanging Currency
• Check Cashing
• Issuing, Selling, or Redeeming Money Orders or Traveler’s Checks
• Providing Prepaid Access
• Acting as a Dealer in Foreign Exchange
The regulatory definition serves a different purpose:
determining which businesses are subject to BSA/AML oversight, rather than describing the industry’s full economic scope.
U.S. MSB
United States Money Services Business