Section 4. Any bank, a national banking association or savings and loan association authorized to do business in the commonwealth, may engage directly in the business of selling, issuing or registering checks or money orders, except that trust companies and national banks may engage in such business through agents who shall not be deemed to be branches of such banks. No person, other than the foregoing, shall engage in such business directly or indirectly unless he files on or before January fifteenth in each year a sworn statement setting forth his name and address, the names and business addresses of his agents, other than a bank, a national banking association or savings and loan association, authorized to receive money and transact such business on his behalf. Such person shall deposit and maintain with the state treasurer a surety bond, cash or securities, in a sum of one hundred thousand dollars. Any such bond or deposit shall be held as security for the payment of checks or money orders sold by such person or his agents, and the commissioner may make such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the enforcement of this section, including an investigation relative to reputation, integrity and net worth, the cost of which investigation shall be chargeable to such person.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Each person to whom a certificate to engage in such business has been issued shall on or before the fifteenth of April, July and October of each year notify the commissioner of any change in the list of agents contained in the annual statement, and shall file with him the name of any additional agent appointed or of any agent whose authority has been revoked.

There shall be a fee for the filing of such annual statement payable to the commissioner and for each agent listed in the annual statement or in any addition thereto, the amount of such fees shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provisions of section three B of chapter seven for the filing thereof.

The commissioner may issue a certificate to engage in such business to any person who in his judgment has complied with the provisions of this section, but he may, at any time, revoke such certificate for failure to comply with the provisions of this section, or of any rule or regulation promulgated by him, or for failure to pay any check or money order upon presentation for payment.

Whoever violates any provision of this section or any rule or regulation established hereunder shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars for each day during which such violation continues.

The commissioner may participate in a multi-state licensing system for the sharing of regulatory information and for the licensing and application, by electronic or other means, for entities engaged in the business of selling, issuing or registering checks or money orders. The commissioner may establish requirements for participation by an applicant in a multi-state licensing system which may vary from the provisions of this section. The commissioner may require a background investigation of each applicant for a license to engage in the business of selling, issuing or registering checks or money orders by means of fingerprint and state and national criminal history record checks by the department of criminal justice information services pursuant to section 172 of chapter 6 and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. If the applicant is a partnership, association, corporation or other form of business organization, the commissioner may require a background investigation for each member, director and principal officer of the applicant and any individual acting as a manager of an office location. The applicant shall pay directly to the multi-state licensing system any additional fees relating to participation in the multi-state licensing system.