As used in this chapter:

(1) "Applicant" means a person that files an application for a license pursuant to this act.

(2) "Authorized delegate" means a person a licensee designates to provide money services on behalf of the licensee.

(3) "Bank" means an institution organized under federal or state law which:

(a) accepts demand deposits or deposits that the depositor may use for payment to third parties and which engages in the business of making commercial loans; or

(b) engages in credit card operations and maintains only one office that accepts deposits, does not accept demand deposits or deposits that the depositor may use for payments to third parties, does not accept a savings or time deposit less than one hundred thousand dollars, and does not engage in the business of making commercial loans.

(4) "Commissioner" means the South Carolina Attorney General.

(5) "Control" means:

(a) ownership of, or the power to vote, directly or indirectly, at least twenty-five percent of a class of voting securities or voting interests of a licensee or person in control of a licensee;

(b) power to elect a majority of executive officers, managers, directors, trustees, or other persons exercising managerial authority of a licensee or person in control of a licensee; or

(c) power to exercise directly or indirectly, a controlling influence over the management or policies of a licensee or person in control of a licensee.

(6) "Currency exchange" means receipt of revenues from the exchange of money of one government for money of another government.

(7) "Executive officer" means a president, chairperson of the executive committee, chief financial officer, responsible individual, or other individual who performs similar functions.

(8) "Licensee" means a person licensed pursuant to this act.

(9) "Monetary value" means a medium of exchange, whether or not redeemable in money.

(10) "Money" means a medium of exchange that is authorized or adopted by the United States or a foreign government. The term includes a monetary unit of account established by an intergovernmental organization or by agreement between two or more governments.

(11) "Money services" means money transmission or currency exchange.

(12) "Money transmission" means selling or issuing payment instruments, stored value, or receiving money or monetary value for transmission. The term does not include the provision solely of delivery, online or telecommunications services, or network access.

(13) "Outstanding", with respect to a payment instrument, means issued or sold by or for the licensee and reported as sold but not yet paid by or for the licensee.

(14) "Payment instrument" means a check, draft, money order, traveler's check, or other instrument for the transmission or payment of money or monetary value, whether or not negotiable. The term does not include a credit card voucher, letter of credit, or instrument that is redeemable by the issuer in goods or services.

(15) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited-liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality, public corporation, or another legal or commercial entity.

(16) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

(17) "Responsible individual" means an individual who is employed by a licensee and has principal managerial authority over the provision of money services by the licensee in this State.

(18) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or a territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

(19) "Stored value" means monetary value that is evidenced by an electronic record.

(20) "Unsafe or unsound practice" means a practice or conduct by a person licensed to engage in money transmission or an authorized delegate of such a person, which creates the likelihood of material loss, insolvency, or dissipation of the licensee's assets, or otherwise materially prejudices the interests of its customers.

HISTORY: 2016 Act No. 266 (H.4554), Section 1, eff May 25, 2018.