The Michigan Money Transmitter License guide (Faisal Khan LLC, July 2026) covers a licence that asks for less capital and far more bond than most states — and a modernization bill that could rewrite both figures within a year.
The bond is the number the guide insists on correcting: MCL 487.1013(5)(b) sets a floor of $500,000, not $100,000, for a single location with no delegates, rising by $10,000 per additional location or delegate to a $1,500,000 cap. "A single-location internet-only fintech with no delegates still posts a $500,000 bond." Watch House Bill 5544, which passed the House 97–10 on 25 June 2026 and would replace the current Act with a Money Transmission Modernization Act version, cutting the bond floor to $100,000 — but it is not yet law, and any 2027 filing should be planned against both regimes.
What the guide covers:
- Regulator and statute — Michigan DIFS, Lansing, under MCL 487.1001–487.1047 (Act 250 of 2006)
- Fees — $3,500 licence base plus $600 investigation fee, plus $50 per licensed location capped at $3,000
- The two-tier net worth test — over $100,000 for a single location with no delegates, or the lesser of a per-location formula or $1,000,000 for multiple locations
- A genuine 120-day deemed-approval clock under MCL 487.1014(2), triggered by the written completeness notice
- The crypto gap — "money" excludes virtual currency by statute, but the undefined term "monetary value" is what actually pulls exchanges into scope
- A live renewal date discrepancy — the statute says 1 December, the DIFS checklist says 15 December; the guide advises working to 1 December
There is no insurance company exemption, and the agent-of-a-payee exemption requires a formal written request to the DIFS Director. Year-one costs run roughly $20,700 to $126,500 excluding capital.