BILL REQ. #:  S-3511.2 

Read first time 01/20/14.   Referred to Committee on Financial Institutions, Housing & Insurance.

     AN ACT Relating to money transmitters; and amending RCW 19.230.330.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 19.230.330 and 2010 c 73 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) Every money transmitter licensee and its authorized delegates shall transmit the monetary equivalent of all money or equivalent value received from a customer for transmission, net of any fees, or issue instructions committing the money or its monetary equivalent, to the person designated by the customer within ten business days after receiving the money or equivalent value, unless otherwise ordered by the customer when the transmission is for the payment of goods or services or unless the licensee or its authorized delegate has reason to believe that a crime has occurred, is occurring, or may occur as a result of transmitting the money. For purposes of this subsection, money is considered to have been transmitted when it is available to the person designated by the customer and a reasonable effort has been made to inform this designated person that the money is available, whether or not the designated person has taken possession of the money. As used in this subsection, "monetary equivalent," when used in connection with a money transmission in which the customer provides the licensee or its authorized delegate with the money of one government, and the designated recipient is to receive the money of another government, means the amount of money, in the currency of the government that the designated recipient is to receive, as converted at the retail exchange rate offered by the licensee or its authorized delegate to the customer in connection with the transaction.
     (b) A money transmitter licensee that accepts money or its equivalent from consumers purchasing goods or services from third-party merchants and transmits the money or its equivalent to those merchants selling the goods or services to the consumer must:
     (i) Transmit the money or its equivalent to the merchant within the time frame agreed upon in the merchant's agreement with the money transmitter licensee; and
     (ii) Conspicuously disclose to the merchant in the agreement the money transmitter licensee's authority to place a hold or delay in transmittal of consumer money or its equivalent for more than ten business days and the circumstances under which the merchant may be subject to a hold or delay.
     (2) Every money transmitter licensee and its authorized delegates shall provide a receipt to the customer that clearly states the amount of money presented for transmission and the total of any fees charged by the licensee. If the rate of exchange for a money transmission to be paid in the currency of another country is fixed by the licensee for that transaction at the time the money transmission is initiated, then the receipt provided to the customer shall disclose the rate of exchange for that transaction, and the duration, if any, for the payment to be made at the fixed rate of exchange so specified. If the rate of exchange for a money transmission to be paid in the currency of another country is not fixed at the time the money transmission is sent, the receipt provided to the customer shall disclose that the rate of exchange for that transaction will be set at the time the recipient of the money transmission picks up the funds in the foreign country. The receipt shall also contain the licensee name, address, and phone number. As used in this section, "fees" does not include revenue that a licensee or its authorized delegate generates, in connection with a money transmission, in the conversion of the money of one government into the money of another government.
     (3) Every money transmitter licensee and its authorized delegates shall refund to the customer all moneys received for transmittal within ten days of receipt of a written request for a refund unless any of the following occurs:
     (a) The moneys have been transmitted and delivered to the person designated by the customer prior to receipt of the written request for a refund;
     (b) Instructions have been given committing an equivalent amount of money to the person designated by the customer prior to receipt of a written request for a refund;
     (c) The licensee or its authorized delegate has reason to believe that a crime has occurred, is occurring, or may potentially occur as a result of transmitting the money as requested by the customer or refunding the money as requested by the customer; or
     (d) The licensee is otherwise barred by law from making a refund.