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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6991
January Session, 2025
AN ACT CONCERNING DEFINITIONS APPLICABLE TO THE MONEY
TRANSMISSION STATUTES AND SOLICITATIONS AND
ADVERTISEMENTS BY MONEY TRANSMISSION LICENSEES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 36a-596 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2025): 2
As used in sections 36a-595 to 36a-614, inclusive, unless the context 3
otherwise requires: 4
(1) "Advertise" or "advertising" has the same meaning as provided in 5
section 36a-485. 6
(2) "Authorized delegate" means a person designated by a person 7
licensed pursuant to sections 36a-595 to 36a-612, inclusive, to provide 8
money transmission services on behalf of such licensed person. 9
(3) "Control" means (A) the power to vote, directly or indirectly, at 10
least twenty-five per cent of the outstanding voting shares or voting 11
interests of a licensee or person in control of a licensee, (B) the power to 12
elect or appoint a majority of key individuals or executive officers, 13
managers, directors, trustees or other persons exercising managerial 14
authority of a person in control of a licensee, or (C) the power to exercise, 15
directly or indirectly, a controlling influence over the management or 16
policies of a licensee or person in control of a licensee. For purposes of 17 Substitute Bill No. 6991
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this subdivision, (i) a person is presumed to exercise a controlling 18
influence when the person holds the power to vote, directly or 19
indirectly, at least ten per cent of the outstanding voting shares or voting 20
interests of a licensee or person in control of a licensee, (ii) a person 21
presumed to exercise a controlling influence can rebut such 22
presumption if the person is a passive investor, and (iii) to determine 23
the percentage of control, a person's interest shall be aggregated with 24
the interest of any other immediate family member, including the 25
person's spouse, parent, child, sibling, mother-in-law, father-in-law, 26
son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law and any other 27
person who shares the person's home. 28
(4) "Control person" means any individual in control of a licensee or 29
applicant, any individual who seeks to acquire control of a licensee or a 30
key individual. 31
(5) "Digital wallet" means any electronic or digital functionality that 32
(A) stores account or payment credentials for a consumer, including, but 33
not limited to, in encrypted or tokenized form, and (B) transmits, routes 34
or otherwise processes such stored account or payment credentials to 35
facilitate a consumer payment transaction. 36
[(5)] (6) "Electronic payment instrument" (A) means a card or other 37
tangible object (i) for the transmission of money or monetary value or 38
payment of money, (ii) which contains a microprocessor chip, magnetic 39
stripe or other means for the storage of information, (iii) that is 40
prefunded, and (iv) for which the value is decremented upon each use, 41
and (B) does not include a card or other tangible object that is 42
redeemable by the issuer in the issuer's goods or services. 43
[(6)] (7) "Existing customer" means a consumer who (A) is engaging 44
in a transaction at a virtual currency kiosk in the state, (B) has performed 45
not fewer than three virtual currency transactions with the owner or 46
operator of such virtual currency kiosk, and (C) has been registered as a 47
customer of such owner or operator for more than seventy-two hours. 48
[(7)] (8) "Holder" means a person, other than a purchaser, who is 49 Substitute Bill No. 6991
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either in possession of a payment instrument and is the named payee 50
thereon or in possession of a payment instrument issued or endorsed to 51
such person or bearer or in blank. "Holder" does not include any person 52
who is in possession of a lost, stolen or forged payment instrument. 53
[(8)] (9) "Key individual" means any individual ultimately 54
responsible for establishing or directing policies and procedures of the 55
licensee, including, but not limited to, an executive officer, manager, 56
director or trustee. 57
[(9)] (10) "Licensee" means any person licensed or required to be 58
licensed pursuant to sections 36a-595 to 36a-612, inclusive. 59
[(10)] (11) "Main office" has the same meaning as provided in section 60
36a-485. 61
[(11)] (12) "Monetary value" means a medium of exchange, whether 62
or not redeemable in money. 63
[(12)] (13) "Money transmission" means engaging, directly or as an 64
intermediary on behalf of another person, in the business of issuing or 65
selling payment instruments or stored value, receiving money or 66
monetary value for current or future transmission or the business of 67
transmitting money or monetary value within the United States or to 68
locations outside the United States by any and all means including, but 69
not limited to, payment instrument, wire, facsimile, electronic transfer, 70
[or] virtual currency kiosk or digital wallet, including, but not limited 71
to, a digital wallet utilized in connection with a consumer payment 72
mobile application. 73
[(13)] (14) "New customer" means a consumer who (A) is engaging in 74
a transaction at a virtual currency kiosk in the state, (B) has performed 75
fewer than three virtual currency transactions with the owner or 76
operator of such virtual currency kiosk, and (C) has been registered as a 77
customer of such owner or operator for less than seventy-two hours. 78
[(14)] (15) "Outstanding" means (A) in the case of a payment 79 Substitute Bill No. 6991
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instrument or stored value, that (i) such instrument or value is sold or 80
issued in the United States, (ii) a report of such instrument or value has 81
been received by a licensee from its authorized delegates, and (iii) such 82
instrument or value has not yet been paid by the issuer, and (B) for all 83
other money transmissions, the value reported to the licensee for which 84
the licensee or any authorized delegate has received money or its 85
equivalent value from the customer for transmission, but has not yet 86
completed the money transmission by delivering the money or 87
monetary value to the person designated by the customer. 88
[(15)] (16) "Passive investor" means a person that (A) does not have 89
the power to elect a majority of key individuals or executive officers, 90
managers, directors, trustees or other persons exercising managerial 91
authority of a person in control of a licensee, (B) is not employed by and 92
does not have any managerial duties of the licensee or person in control 93
of a licensee, (C) does not have the power to exercise, directly or 94
indirectly, a controlling influence over the management or policies of a 95
licensee or person in control of a licensee, and (D) attests to 96
subparagraphs (A), (B) and (C) of this subdivision in the form and 97
manner prescribed by the commissioner. 98
[(16)] (17) "Payment instrument" means a check, draft, money order, 99
travelers check or electronic payment instrument that evidences either 100
an obligation for the transmission of money or monetary value or 101
payment of money, or the purchase or the deposit of funds for the 102
purchase of such check, draft, money order, travelers check or electronic 103
payment instrument. 104
[(17)] (18) "Permissible investment" means (A) (i) cash in United 105
States currency, including, but not limited to, demand deposits, savings 106
deposits and funds in demand deposit and savings deposit accounts 107
held for the benefit of a licensee's customers in an insured depository 108
institution, and (ii) cash equivalents, including, but not limited to, (I) 109
automated clearing house items in transit to a licensee or payee, (II) 110
international wires in transit to a payee, (III) cash in transit via armored 111
car, (IV) cash in smart safes, (V) cash in locations owned by licensees, 112 Substitute Bill No. 6991
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(VI) transmission receivables that are funded by debit cards or credit 113
cards and owed by any bank, and (VII) money market mutual funds 114
rated "AAA" or the equivalent by S & P Global, Incorporated, in the "S 115
& P Global Ratings" or by any other rating service recognized by the 116
commissioner, (B) time deposits, as defined in section 36a-2, or other 117
debt instruments of a bank, (C) bills of exchange or bankers acceptances 118
which are eligible for purchase by member banks of the Federal Reserve 119
System, (D) commercial paper of prime quality, (E) interest-bearing 120
bills, notes, bonds, debentures or other obligations issued or guaranteed 121
by (i) the United States or any of its agencies or instrumentalities, or (ii) 122
any state, or any agency, instrumentality, political subdivision, school 123
district or legally constituted authority of any state if such investment is 124
of prime quality, (F) interest-bearing bills or notes, or bonds, debentures 125
or preferred stocks, traded on any national securities exchange or on a 126
national over-the-counter market, if such debt or equity investments are 127
of prime quality, (G) receivables due from authorized delegates 128
consisting of the proceeds of the sale of payment instruments which are 129
not past due or doubtful of collection, (H) gold, and (I) any other 130
investments approved by the commissioner. Notwithstanding the 131
provisions of this subdivision, if the commissioner at any time finds that 132
an investment of a licensee is unsatisfactory for investment purposes, 133
the investment shall not qualify as a permissible investment. 134
[(18)] (19) "Prime quality" of an investment means that it is within the 135
top four rating categories in any rating service recognized by the 136
commissioner unless the commissioner determines for any licensee that 137
only those investments in the top three rating categories qualify as 138
prime quality. 139
[(19)] (20) "Purchaser" means a person who buys or has bought a 140
payment instrument or who has given money or monetary value for 141
current or future transmission. 142
[(20)] (21) "Receipt" means a paper record, electronic record or other 143
written confirmation of a money transmission transaction. 144 Substitute Bill No. 6991
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[(21)] (22) "Stored value" means monetary value, including, but not 145
limited to, a claim against the issuer of monetary value, that is evidenced 146
by an electronic or digital record. For the purposes of this subdivision, 147
"electronic or digital record" means information that is stored in an 148
electronic medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. 149
[(22)] (23) "Travelers check" means a payment instrument for the 150
payment of money that contains a provision for a specimen signature of 151
the purchaser to be completed at the time of a purchase of the 152
instrument and a provision for a countersignature of the purchaser to 153
be completed at the time of negotiation. 154
[(23)] (24) "Unique identifier" has the same meaning as provided in 155
section 36a-485. 156
[(24)] (25) "Virtual currency" means any type of digital unit that is 157
used as a medium of exchange or a form of digitally stored value or that 158
is incorporated into payment system technology. Virtual currency shall 159
be construed to include digital units of exchange that (A) have a 160
centralized repository or administrator, (B) are decentralized and have 161
no centralized repository or administrator, or (C) may be created or 162
obtained by computing or manufacturing effort. Virtual currency shall 163
not be construed to include digital units that are used (i) solely within 164
online gaming platforms with no market or application outside such 165
gaming platforms, or (ii) exclusively as part of a consumer affinity or 166
rewards program, and can be applied solely as payment for purchases 167
with the issuer or other designated merchants, but cannot be converted 168
into or redeemed for fiat currency. 169
[(25)] (26) "Virtual currency address" means an alphanumeric 170
identifier representing a destination for a virtual currency transfer that 171
is associated with a virtual currency wallet. 172
[(26)] (27) "Virtual currency kiosk" means an electronic terminal 173
acting as a mechanical agent of the owner or operator to enable the 174
owner or operator to facilitate the exchange of virtual currency for fiat 175
currency or other virtual currency, including, but not limited to, by (A) 176 Substitute Bill No. 6991
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connecting directly to a separate virtual currency exchanger that 177
performs the actual virtual currency transmission, or (B) drawing upon 178
the virtual currency in the possession of the owner or operator of the 179
electronic terminal. 180
[(27)] (28) "Virtual currency wallet" means a software application or 181
other mechanism providing a means for holding, storing and 182
transferring virtual currency. 183
Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 36a-611 of the general statutes is 184
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 185
1, 2025): 186
(c) (1) The unique identifier of any person licensed under section 36a-187
600 shall be clearly shown on all solicitations and advertisements, 188
including any business card used to solicit money transmission business 189
and Internet web site, and any other documents as established by rule, 190
regulation or order of the commissioner, and shall be clearly stated in 191
all audio solicitations and advertisements. The solicitations or 192
advertisements of any person licensed under section 36a-600 (A) shall 193
not include any statement that such person is endorsed in any way by 194
this state, except that such solicitations and advertisements may include 195
a statement that such person is licensed in this state; (B) shall not include 196
any statement or claim that is deceptive, false or misleading; (C) shall 197
not include any statement or claim that funds deposited with such 198
person are eligible for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 199
protections; [(C)] (D) shall otherwise conform to the requirements of 200
sections 36a-595 to 36a-612, inclusive, any regulations issued thereunder 201
and any other applicable law; and [(D)] (E) shall be retained for two 202
years from the date of use of such solicitation or advertising. 203
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this 204
subsection, an advertisement or solicitation on a third-party Internet 205
web site need not include the unique identifier of a person licensed 206
under section 36a-600, provided such advertisement or solicitation 207
contains a link to a solicitation, advertisement or Internet web site that 208 Substitute Bill No. 6991
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clearly shows the unique identifier of such person. 209
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 36a-596
Sec. 2 October 1, 2025 36a-611(c)
BA Joint Favorable