Washington § 19.230.020 - Application of chapter — Exclusions.

This chapter does not apply to:

(1) The United States or a department, agency, or instrumentality thereof;

(2) The United States postal service or a contractor on behalf of the United States postal service;

(3) A state, county, city, or a department, agency, or instrumentality thereof;

(4) A financial institution or its subsidiaries, affiliates, and service corporations, or any office of an international banking corporation, branch of a foreign bank, or corporation organized pursuant to the Bank Service Corporation Act (12 U.S.C. Sec. 1861-1867) or a corporation organized under the Edge Act (12 U.S.C. Sec. 611-633);

(5) Electronic funds transfer of governmental benefits for a federal, state, county, or governmental agency by a contractor on behalf of the United States or a department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, or a state or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof;

(6) A board of trade designated as a contract market under the federal Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. Sec. 1-25) or a person that, in the ordinary course of business, provides clearance and settlement services for a board of trade to the extent of its operation as, or for, a board of trade;

(7) A registered futures commission merchant under the federal commodities laws to the extent of its operation as such a merchant;

(8) A person that provides clearance or settlement services under a registration as a clearing agency, or an exemption from that registration granted under the federal securities laws, to the extent of its operation as such a provider;

(9) A person:

(a) Operating a payment system that provides processing, clearing, or settlement services, between or among persons who are all excluded by this section, in connection with wire transfers, credit card transactions, debit card transactions, prepaid access transactions, automated clearinghouse transfers, or similar funds transfers;

(b) Who is a contracted service provider of an entity in subsection (4) of this section that provides processing, clearing, or settlement services in connection with wire transfers, credit card transactions, debit card transactions, prepaid access transactions, automated clearinghouse transfers, or similar funds transfers; or

(c) That facilitates payment for goods or services (not including money transmission itself) or bill payment through a clearance and settlement process using bank secrecy act regulated institutions pursuant to a written contract with the payee and either payment to the person facilitating the payment processing satisfies the payor's obligation to the payee or that obligation is otherwise extinguished;

(10) A person registered as a securities broker-dealer or investment advisor under federal or state securities laws to the extent of its operation as such a broker-dealer or investment advisor;

(11) An insurance company, title insurance company, or escrow agent to the extent that such an entity is lawfully authorized to conduct business in this state as an insurance company, title insurance company, or escrow agent and to the extent that they engage in money transmission or currency exchange as an ancillary service when conducting insurance, title insurance, or escrow activity;

(12) The issuance, sale, use, redemption, or exchange of closed loop prepaid access or of payment instruments by a person licensed under chapter 31.45 RCW;

(13) An attorney, to the extent that the attorney is lawfully authorized to practice law in this state and to the extent that the attorney engages in money transmission or currency exchange as an ancillary service to the practice of law;

(14) A seller or issuer of prepaid access when the funds are covered by federal deposit insurance immediately upon sale or issue;

(15) A person that transmits wages, salaries, or employee benefits on behalf of employers when the money transmission or currency exchange is an ancillary service in a suite of services that may include, but is not limited to, the following: Facilitate the payment of payroll taxes to state and federal agencies, make payments relating to employee benefit plans, make distribution of other authorized deductions from an employees' wages or salaries, or transmit other funds on behalf of an employer in connection with transactions related to employees; or

(16) The lawful business of bookkeeping or accounting to the extent the money transmission or currency exchange is an ancillary service.

The director may, at his or her discretion, waive applicability of the licensing provisions of this chapter when the director determines it necessary to facilitate commerce and protect consumers. The burden of proving the applicability of an exclusion or exception from licensing is upon the person claiming the exclusion or exception. The director may adopt rules to implement this section.