§1055. Money transmitters; delivery of funds requirements; exceptions
A.Every money transmitter licensee and its agents shall transmit the monetary
equivalent of all money or equivalent value received from a consumer for transmission, net
of any fees, or issue instructions committing the money or its monetary equivalent, to the
person designated by the consumer, or return such amount to the consumer, within ten
business days after receiving the money or equivalent value, unless otherwise ordered by the
consumer, accepted under the terms of a contract for stored value or when the transmission
is for the payment of goods or services, or unless the licensee or its agent has reasonable
cause to believe that a violation of law has occurred, is occurring, or will occur in connection
with transm
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§1055. Money transmitters; delivery of funds requirements; exceptions
A. Every money transmitter licensee and its agents shall transmit the monetary
equivalent of all money or equivalent value received from a consumer for transmission, net
of any fees, or issue instructions committing the money or its monetary equivalent, to the
person designated by the consumer, or return such amount to the consumer, within ten
business days after receiving the money or equivalent value, unless otherwise ordered by the
consumer, accepted under the terms of a contract for stored value or when the transmission
is for the payment of goods or services, or unless the licensee or its agent has reasonable
cause to believe that a violation of law has occurred, is occurring, or will occur in connection
with transmitting the money.
B. For purposes of this Section, money is considered to have been transmitted when
it is mailed, released to the relevant payment system for delivery, or is otherwise available
to the person designated by the consumer and, where possible, a reasonable effort has been
made to inform the designated person that the money is available.
C.(1) Any provision in a money transmitter licensee user policy or user agreement
which provides a financial penalty or stipulated damages against a consumer or charitable
organization as defined by R.S. 51:1901 for executing a lawful and valid transaction under
federal and state law is contrary to public policy and shall be null and void.
(2) A money transmitter licensee shall provide notice to a consumer of any
transaction that the money transmitter finds to be or is suspected of being in violation of the
user policy or user agreement and for which the licensee seizes the transaction funds, unless
such notice is prohibited by law. Any funds seized by the money transmitter prior to
providing such notice, unless such notice is prohibited by law, and found to be from a lawful
and valid transaction under federal and state law shall be processed by the licensee in
accordance with Subsection A of this Section.
D. The enforcement of any choice-of-law provision in a money transmitter licensee
user policy or user agreement that would result in a contravention of the public policy of this
state as expressed by Subsection C of this Section shall be null and void to the extent of such
contravention.
E. A money transmitter licensee that seizes or holds funds pursuant to a user policy
or user agreement provision that is subject to nullification as provided by this Section shall
return to the consumer any funds held or seized as a result of such violation, including any
financial penalty or stipulated damages assessed, and such money transmitter licensee may
cancel the service contract.
F. The commissioner of the Office of Financial Institutions shall have the authority
to enjoin a violation of this Section, and any such violation shall be considered an unfair
trade practice and shall subject violators to the provisions of R.S. 51:1401 et seq. Entities
covered by this Section shall be subject to the enforcement powers of the commissioner of
the Office of Financial Institutions as provided in R.S. 6:121.1. For purposes of this Section,
the provisions of R.S. 51:1406 shall not apply to a money transmitter licensee.
G.(1) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to any federally insured financial
institution, its subsidiaries, and affiliates.
(2) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to an operator of a payment system
or its subsidiaries and affiliates which are exempt from licensing under The Sale of Checks
and Money Transmission Act, R.S. 6:1031 et seq., to the extent that the operator of a
payment system provides processing, clearing, or settlement services, between or among
persons, in connection with wire transfers, credit card transactions, debit card transactions,
stored value transactions, automated clearing house transfers, or similar funds transfers.