Illinois money transmitter bonds.
From $1,000.
Illinois' Uniform Money Transmission Modernization Act requires every applicant and licensee to maintain a surety bond of the greater of $100,000 or 100% of average daily Illinois money transmission liability, up to $2,000,000, under 205 ILCS 658/10-2, filed in NMLS. The premium is 1% of the bond amount.
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How much does an Illinois money transmitter bond cost?
1% of the bond amount, from $1,000 at the $100,000 minimum. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
Enter your amount, pay, and satisfy the NMLS bond requirement. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Business details, the bond amount your liability calculation requires, an effective date, and a term. No credit check up to $25,000.
Pay & e-sign
The premium is 1% of the bond amount — a $100,000 floor bond prices at $1,000 — and the bond issues the moment you pay, executed bond and power of attorney on the spot.
File with your NMLS record
Submit the bond against your money transmission license record so IDFPR can verify coverage. Illinois requires the bond maintained in NMLS for the life of the license.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
Illinois adopted the Uniform Money Transmission Modernization Act (205 ILCS 658, P.A. 103-0991) to align its money transmitter licensing with the multistate NMLS framework. Section 10-2 requires every applicant and licensee to provide and maintain a surety bond in a form satisfactory to the Secretary — the greater of $100,000 or 100% of the licensee's average daily Illinois money transmission liability for the most recently completed quarter, up to a $2,000,000 maximum.
It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the State of Illinois (the obligee). The bond runs to the State for the benefit of any claimant with respect to the receipt, handling, transmission, and payment of money by the licensee or its authorized delegates — the customers whose transfers you carry.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. The Act requires the bond filed and maintained as an electronic surety bond in NMLS, and coverage continues after you stop doing business in Illinois until outstanding obligations run off; we track the term and send renewal notices 60 and 30 days out.
You need this bond if you're
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
File with your NMLS record. Submit the bond against your money transmission license record so IDFPR can verify coverage. Illinois requires the bond maintained in NMLS for the life of the license.
What sets the price
The premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
No credit check up to $25,000. Above that, the carrier may run a soft pull, which never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields — business details, your bond amount, an effective date, and a term. That is the application.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Illinois bonds.
The same bond in nearby states.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Money transmitter bond, issued today.
1% of the bond amount, issued the moment you pay. Free until issued.