WI seller of checks bonds.
From $100. Enter your amount.

Wisconsin’s seller of checks license is now the money transmission license: 2023 Wis. Act 267 replaced Wis. Stat. ch. 217 with the Money Transmission Modernization Act, and the Department of Financial Institutions renamed the license inside NMLS in September 2024. The security is still a surety bond, now sized by 217.10(2) — the greater of $100,000 or 100% of your average daily Wisconsin transmission liability, capped at $500,000. The premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum. Enter the amount your filing calls for and the exact price appears at the application.

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Filed with the DFI Division of Banking — the license Wisconsin used to call seller of checks

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Sized by Wis. Stat. 217.10(2) — the greater of $100,000 or 100% of average daily WI transmission liability, to a $500,000 ceiling

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1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum — enter your amount and see the exact price before you pay

From $1001% of the bond amountA-ratedA.M. Best carriersInstantissued the moment you pay

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How it works

Apply to filed in one sitting.

No underwriting queue on the standard money transmission security — enter your amount, pay, and attach the executed bond to the filing. Here is the whole thing:

TODAY · ONLINE

Apply online

Company details, the bond amount your DFI filing calls for, an effective date and a term. That is the entire application — there is no credit section, because this application collects no credit information.

INSTANTLY

Pay & e-sign

The rate is 1% of the bond amount with a $100 minimum, so the exact premium appears before you pay — and the bond issues the moment you do.

SAME DAY

File with the Division of Banking

Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email, ready to upload with your NMLS company record or send to the Division of Banking with a new application or a December 31 renewal.

About this bond

What it is and who needs it.

What the bond actually guarantees

Wisconsin licensed sellers of checks for decades under Wis. Stat. ch. 217 — anyone in the business of selling or issuing checks, drafts and money orders, or receiving money for transmission. 2023 Wis. Act 267 repealed that chapter and re-enacted it as the Money Transmission Modernization Act, the multistate model developed through the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. Existing licensees were not made to reapply: DFI renamed the license inside NMLS on September 3, 2024, opened applications for the new money transmitter license on October 1, 2024, and required everyone to meet the modernized standards by January 1, 2025. The bond survived the rewrite; only the arithmetic changed.

The repealed statute sized the bond by storefront — a minimum principal sum of $10,000 for the first location plus $5,000 for each additional location, with the division able to demand more and a hard $300,000 ceiling — and it ran to the state for the benefit of any claimants against the licensee or its agents, securing the faithful performance of the licensee’s obligations in the receipt, handling, transmission and payment of money. Today’s 217.10(2) replaces the location count with a volume test: the greater of $100,000 or 100% of the licensee’s average daily money transmission liability in Wisconsin over the most recently completed three-month period, up to $500,000 — and a licensee that simply maintains security at the $500,000 ceiling never has to run the average-daily calculation again. A copy of the security is part of the license application itself under 217.05(3)(b).

It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. Two things commonly send people to this page who do not need their own bond: an authorized delegate operating inside a licensee’s written contract does not hold its own license, and 217.03 exempts federally insured depository institutions, the U.S. Postal Service and its agents, federal and state government agencies, registered broker-dealers and futures commission merchants acting as such, and employees acting within the scope of employment. Everyone else licenses and bonds. Because the amount tracks your transmission volume, it can move between quarters — we track the term and send renewal notices 60 and 30 days out so you can right-size before the filing.

Wis. Stat. § 217.10(2) · DFI Division of BankingChapter 217 of the Wisconsin Statutes, re-enacted by 2023 Wis. Act 267 as the Money Transmission Modernization Act, replaced the former seller of checks law. Section 217.05(1) bars a person from engaging in money transmission, or holding itself out as providing it, without a license, excepting an authorized delegate acting within a licensee’s written contract and persons exempt under 217.03. An application carries a $1,000 nonrefundable fee and must include a copy of the surety bond or other form of security required by 217.10(2). The prudential standards require a tangible net worth above the greater of $100,000 or a graduated percentage of total assets, and security in an amount that is the greater of $100,000 or 100 percent of the licensee’s average daily money transmission liability in this state for the most recently completed three-month period, capped at $500,000 — a licensee maintaining security of at least $500,000 need not calculate average daily liability. Licenses renew annually through NMLS under s. 224.35(7), with a renewal window running November 1 through December 31 and each new term beginning January 1. The repealed statute set a different measure — a minimum principal sum of $10,000 for the first location plus $5,000 for each additional location, capped at $300,000, cancellable by the surety on 60 days’ written notice to the division — which is what an older Wisconsin filing will still reference. Confirm your required amount with the Division of Banking before you file.

You need this bond if you are

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Applying for a Wisconsin money transmission license — the license formerly issued as seller of checks

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Holding a legacy seller of checks bond that has to be replaced or re-sized to the 217.10(2) standard

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Selling or issuing payment instruments — money orders, drafts, stored value — or receiving money for transmission from Wisconsin customers

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Renewing before December 31 — the security has to stay continuously in force through the license year

One application, issued instantly.

These are the actual issuing fields — company details, your bond amount, an effective date and a term. No credit section, because this application collects no credit information.

Start the application →

FAQ

Common questions.

How much is the Wisconsin seller of checks bond?The premium is 1% of the bond amount your filing requires, with a $100 minimum. A $100,000 security and a $500,000 security price differently for exactly that reason — enter your amount and the exact figure appears at the application, before you pay.

What amount should I enter?The amount on your DFI filing. Under Wis. Stat. 217.10(2) that is the greater of $100,000 or 100% of your average daily money transmission liability in Wisconsin over the most recently completed three-month period, capped at $500,000. If you are replacing an older seller of checks bond, enter the amount that filing states — the repealed statute sized it per location and topped out at $300,000. Confirm with the Division of Banking if you are unsure.

Is Wisconsin’s seller of checks license still called that?No. 2023 Wis. Act 267 replaced ch. 217 with the Money Transmission Modernization Act, and DFI renamed the license inside NMLS on September 3, 2024 — existing licensees kept their license but had to meet the new standards by January 1, 2025. The bond is still filed with the Department of Financial Institutions, Division of Banking, through your NMLS company record. People still search for the old name, which is why this page uses it.

Do I pay the full bond amount?No. You pay the premium — 1% of the bond amount, with a $100 minimum. The bond amount is the surety’s maximum liability to the state and to claimants if you fail to perform your obligations in the receipt, handling, transmission and payment of money. Nobody escrows the face amount, and it is not a deposit.

Is there a credit check?The application collects no credit information, and most applications approve instantly. Because these securities run six figures, an underwriter may look at company financials on larger amounts — if a screen ever runs, it is a soft pull that will not affect your score.

Related bonds

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1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum, issued the moment you pay and e-signed for your NMLS record. Free until issued.

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WI seller of checks bonds.From $100. Enter your amount.