Neither does a client engage Counselor to transmit currency. Instead, a client engages Counselor for counsel on debt management, including making arrangements with creditors to accept payments on terms which may be more lenient than originally contracted for, and for providing the discipline necessary for the successful completion of the debt management plan. The client in this situation is indifferent as to the method by which creditors are paid, so long as they are paid. Counselor is chartered as a non-profit corporation with a charter that specifically limits it to debt management services. Counselor sought and obtained an appropriate Internal Revenue Service ruling on its non-profit status, and maintains that status.
Counselor is a member of a professional association of credit counselors.
Counselor protects client funds by using a segregated account into which all deposits are made, and from which all payments are made. These factors cumulatively evidence the desire and motivation of Counselor to engage in the debt management rather than the currency transmission business. We therefore conclude that Counselor is not engaged in the currency transmission business and is not required to be licensed to engage in its incidental currency transmission activities. Although not specifically addressed in your opinion request, you have indicated that Counselor will issue a check if a creditor will not or cannot accept ACH or electronic payments. In summary, an entity which primarily conducts a business unrelated to currency transmission or check selling, which does not transmit currency or sell checks directly for a fee or to induce customer participation in its primary business, and which incidentally engages in currency transmission or check selling only to the extent reasonable and necessary to accomplish its larger business objectives, is not required to obtain a license as a currency transmitter pursuant to Finance Code, Chapter 153, or as a check seller pursuant to Finance Code, Chapter 152.