§ 28-8-6-201 — Definitions

Effective 1-1-2026.
Sec. 201. The following definitions apply throughout
this chapter:
(1) "Consumer" means an individual who:
(A) resides in Indiana, as may be determined by a provider on
the basis of the:
(i) mailing address; or
(ii) state of residence;
provided by the individual; or
(B) requests proceeds in Indiana, as may be determined by a
provider by using any legal, readily available commercial
means to determine the location from which the individual
requests proceeds.
(2) "Consumer directed wage access services" means the business
by a provider of delivering to a consumer access to earned but
unpaid income based on:
(A) the consumer's representations of; and
(B) the provider's reasonable determination of;
the consumer's earned but unpaid income.
(3) "Control" means any of the following:
(A) The power to vote, directly or indirectly, at least
twenty-five percent (25%) of the outstanding voting shares or
voting interests of a licensee or of a person in control of a
licensee.
(B) The power to elect or appoint a majority of key individuals
or executive officers, managers, directors, trustees, or other
persons exercising managerial authority of a person in control
of a licensee.
(C) The power to exercise, directly or indirectly, a controlling
influence over the management or policies of a licensee or of a
person in control of a licensee. For purposes of this clause, a
person is presumed to exercise a controlling influence if the
person holds the power to vote, directly or indirectly, at least
ten percent (10%) of the outstanding voting shares or voting
interests of a licensee or of a person in control of a licensee,
subject to the person's right to rebut the presumption if the
person is a passive investor.
For purposes of this subdivision, the percentage of a person
controlled by any other person is determined by aggregating the
other person's interest with the interest of any other immediate
family member of that person, including the person's spouse,
parents, children, siblings, mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law,
sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, and any other person who
shares the person's home.
(4) "Department" refers to the members of the department of
financial institutions.
(5) "Director" refers to the director of the department appointed
under IC 28-11-2-1.
(6) "Earned but unpaid income", with respect to a consumer,
means salary, wages, compensation, or other income that:
(A) the consumer represents, and a provider reasonably
determines, has been earned by, or has accrued to the benefit of,
the consumer in exchange for the consumer's provision of
services to an employer or on behalf of an employer, including
the provision of services by the consumer:
(i) on an hourly, project based, piecework, or other basis; and
(ii) regardless of whether the consumer is an employee of the
employer or acts as an independent contractor with respect to
the employer; but
(B) has not, at the time of payment of proceeds to the consumer
by the provider, been paid to the consumer by the employer.
(7) "Earned wage access services" includes the following:
(A) Consumer directed wage access services.
(B) Employer integrated wage access services.
The term does not include a small loan.
(8) "Employer" means a person that employs a consumer or that
is contractually obligated to pay a consumer earned but unpaid
income. The term does not include:
(A) a customer of the person; or
(B) any other person whose obligation to make a payment of
salary, wages, compensation, or other income to a consumer is
not based on the provision of services by the consumer for or on
behalf of that person.
(9) "Employer integrated wage access services" means the
business by a provider of delivering to a consumer access to
earned but unpaid income on the basis of:
(A) employment;
(B) income; or
(C) attendance;
data obtained directly or indirectly from an employer.
(10) "Federally insured depository financial institution" means:
(A) a bank;
(B) a credit union;
(C) a savings and loan association;
(D) a trust company;
(E) a corporate fiduciary;
(F) a savings association;
(G) a savings bank;
(H) an industrial bank; or
(I) an industrial loan company;
that is organized under the law of the United States or any state of
the United States and that has federally or privately insured
deposits as permitted by state or federal law.
(11) "Fee" includes the following, however denominated:
(A) An amount charged by a provider for:
(i) expedited delivery; or
(ii) other delivery;
of proceeds to a consumer.
(B) A subscription or membership fee imposed by a provider
for a bona fide group of services that include earned wage
access services.
(C) An amount that:
(i) is paid by an employer to a provider on a consumer's
behalf; and
(ii) entitles the consumer to receive proceeds at reduced or no
cost to the consumer.
The term does not include a voluntary tip, gratuity, or donation
paid to a provider.
(12) "Individual" means a natural person.
(13) "Key individual" means an individual ultimately responsible
for establishing or directing policies and procedures of a licensee,
such as an executive officer, manager, director, or trustee.
(14) "Licensee" means a person licensed under this chapter.
(15) "NMLSR" means the Nationwide Multistate Licensing
System and Registry:
(A) developed by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and
the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators;
and
(B) owned and operated by the State Regulatory Registry, LLC,
or by any successor or affiliated entity;
for the licensing and registry of persons in financial services
industries.
(16) "Outstanding proceeds" means proceeds that:
(A) have been paid to a consumer by a provider; and
(B) have not yet been repaid to the provider.
(17) "Passive investor" means a person that:
(A) does not have the power to elect a majority of key
individuals or executive officers, managers, directors, trustees,
or other persons exercising managerial authority over a person
in control of a licensee;
(B) is not employed by and does not have any managerial duties
with respect to the licensee or a person in control of the
licensee;
(C) does not have the power to exercise, directly or indirectly,
a controlling influence over the management or policies of the
licensee or a person in control of the licensee; and
(D) either:
(i) attests to as facts the characteristics of passivity set forth
in clauses (A) through (C), in a form and by a medium
prescribed by the director; or
(ii) commits to the characteristics of passivity set forth in
clauses (A) through (C) in a written document.
(18) "Person" means any individual, general partnership, limited
partnership, limited liability company, corporation, trust,
association, joint stock corporation, or other corporate entity, as
so identified by the director.
(19) "Proceeds" means a payment that:
(A) is made to a consumer by a provider; and
(B) is based on earned but unpaid income.
(20) "Provider" means a person in the business of offering and
providing earned wage access services to consumers. The term
does not include the following:
(A) A service provider that is not contractually obligated to
fund proceeds delivered as part of the earned wage access
services, such as a payroll service provider that verifies a
consumer's available earnings.
(B) An employer that offers a portion of salary, wages,
compensation, or other income directly to its employees or
independent contractors before the normally scheduled pay
date.
(C) An entity that offers or provides earned wage access
services and reports a consumer's payment or nonpayment of
either outstanding proceeds of the earned wage access services
or fees, voluntary tips, gratuities, or other donations in
connection with the earned wage access services to a consumer
reporting agency (as defined in the Federal Fair Credit
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.)).
(21) "Small loan" has the meaning set forth in IC 24-4.5-7-104.

Legislative History

As added by P.L.222-2025, SEC.5.