MSB Friendly Banks

MSB Friendly Banks

Are you looking for a Money Service Business (MSB) friendly bank? If you are money transfer operator (MTO) based in either the US or outside the US and are seeking a bank account for your MSB business, I can possibly help.

Access to banking for money transfer companies is becoming extremely difficult all around the world, not just the US. Finding a bank to work with is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

We can provide banking services in the US for MSBs and MTOs. We find you a MSB Friendly Bank.

Money Service Business Bank Account

We have partnered up with a Bank processor that provides ACH processing (both domestic and international) for its clients. When you become a client of the bank’s processor for processing your ACH transactions, you automatically qualify for a bank account.

The funds are held in the banks’ name and you are designated as FBO (For Benefit Of). You can receive funds into your account or payout using ACH or FedWire (both domestic and international).

Some salient features & pricing are:

  • Fully Licensed US Bank (just about US$ 500 Million in deposits)
  • Member Federal Reserve System
  • You get domestic ACH (Rates vary from as low as 25 cents to US$ 3.50/transaction)
  • You get domestic Wire Transfer (US$ 15/transaction)
  • You get international Wire Transfer (US$ 55/transaction)
  • Incoming Wire into your account are US$ 5
  • Maintenance Fees varies between US$ 0 to US$ 199 thru US$ 2,999 per month (depending on your volume and value processed). This is levied directly by the counter-party and I have no control over this. It all depends on your risk-assessment.
  • FDIC Insured
  • Outgoing Payments will bear your name.
  • Outgoing Payments can also bear the name of your originating customer when acting as an intermediary for money transfers.
  • Full dashboard access to your funds and payments
  • One-time Bank signup fees: US$ 1,500
  • Referral fees: US$ 7,500.
  • Capacity to process monthly up to US$ 50 Million

Your final price is dependent on the business model you have, your flow of funds and the risk assessment outcome. 

FAQ on Bank Account for Money Service Business

Q. Have you confirmed the account will be in the company’s name with the President and CEO as the sole signatory on the account?

A. Not exactly. Almost no bank is willing to open an account for an MSB, as you have experienced. The proverbial hack around this is to find a payments processor (who has an association with a bank). You essentially open a processing account with the payment processor and in this unique arrangement you get access to a bank account.

With this bank account, the way you access your money is via the dashboard of the payment processor. You can do ACH / Wire transfers, check your balances, etc. The payments that go out will bear your name, etc. You will have a bank account into which you can ACH or Wire transfer money into.

The custody of this account is with the bank in the name of the Bank. The sub-account that you have is FBO – your company. In the unlikely event should anything happen to this money, the claim/title is yours.

In short: The bank account is in the name of the Bank itself. The money is under FBO for your name.

Q. How long does it takes to get the bank account?

A. It typically takes about 3 weeks to complete the due diligence to be approved. If everything is ready, the process can be as short as one week.

Q. When is the referral fees to be paid?

A. The Referral Fees is due when your account is approved.

Q. Is this a genuine bank?

A. Yes it is. It is FDIC insured and Member of the Federal Reserve System.

Q. With whom will my contract be?

A. Your Money Service Business Bank Account will be with the Bank’s processor. The Bank’s processor is an authorized delegate of the Bank.

Q. Does the bank know that the account will be used for money transmitter, money transfer related activities?

A. Yes, the bank is aware of this, and this is why they have especially made this product with their authorized delegate, who also happens to be their ACH/FedWire processor. So the bank is very much on board with this.

Q. Do you offer a free-trial account?

A. Subject to due-diligence review, a 14 days free trial account would be provided for. If you agree to continue after 14-days, you will then be subjected to pay for the charges (one-time, referral, monthly, etc.) Any transactions done during the free-trial period, you will pay for the transaction charged.

Q. Do you work with Bitcoin companies??

A. Yes, if your Bitcoin flow of funds do not include anonymous &/or cash transactions, you can qualify for a bank account. Anonymous transactions are those defined as transactions not accompanying any KYC information.

Q. Can we deposit money (cash) into the account?

A. No. The bank depository mechanism is electronic only, so all deposits have to be ACH or Wire Transfers (Domestic) or International Wire Transfers.

Q. Can we deposit checks into the account?


Q. How different is this from a regular bank account?

A. The differences have been made clear in the FAQ. It is an FBO account, as maintained by the processor of the bank. This is the only workaround that I have and can currently offer.

Q. Can there be a denial?

A. Yes, ultimately, the bank is the one that is keeping a check on the risk profile of each client. They can (at will) disallow the account or even not approve you. Whilst most entities do qualify, some don’t based on their risk profile (which usually stems from Cash dealing &/or KYC compliance program).

Q. How do I keep track of the payments, deposits and payments we need to make?

A. The dashboard. Your account dashboard would allow you to check balances, make ACH/Wire payments, check on deposits, download summaries, etc. 

Q. Can we get better rates?

A. I would love for you to have better rates, but they are what they are. To push the bank and their processor to offer lower rates mean alienating them on their business model, and between have and have not, this is certainly a better option of having an account and paying this money.

If you’re interested, please get in touch with me for further discussion.

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