Fintech and Financial Services
You’re offering a financial service in the United States. The licence question comes before the product roadmap, not after it.
Information, not advice
This page is information, not legal advice about your matter. A retainer begins only when a lawyer confirms it.
Start here
Find out whether you need your own licence
Federal registration and state-by-state licensing run in parallel. A bank partnership shifts some of the burden without removing the scrutiny.
What to work through, in order
The licence question
Federal and state licensing run in parallel, and money transmitter licensing is state by state. Bank partnership models shift some obligations but do not remove supervisory expectations.
Client money and safeguarding
State money transmitter regimes impose permissible investment and net worth requirements, with FDIC pass-through insurance depending on how accounts are titled and recorded.
Conduct, complaints and vulnerable customers
UDAAP standards under CFPB supervision, plus state unfair practices laws. Complaint data is public and used to direct supervisory attention.
Next steps
What happens if you go ahead
Scoping call
Written scope and fixed-fee quote
Engagement, once a lawyer confirms
Who would handle it
Offices
New York
450 Park Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York NY 10022
San Francisco
28 Geary Street, Suite 625 #133, San Francisco CA 94108