The Rhode Island Money Transmitter License guide (Faisal Khan LLC, July 2026) opens with a correction most summaries miss: Rhode Island's statute never actually uses the term "money transmitter." The licence is a Currency Transmission License under R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 19-14.3, read together with ch. 19-14, where the fees, bond, capital and enforcement provisions sit.
The standout figure is the bond: a flat $50,000 under § 19-14-6(b)(4), with no volume scaling and no location multiplier — a company moving $2 million and one moving $200 million post the identical bond. The guide is blunt that any bond table showing figures rising with volume "is describing a rule this state has never had." A 2024 law, H.B. 7282, then imported the MTMA's tangible net worth and permissible investment standard onto this older framework — what the guide calls "the thinnest MTMA adoption in the country."
What the guide covers:
- Regulator — RI Department of Business Regulation, Banking Division, with NMLS participation mandatory by statute
- Fee structure — $1,500 at filing ($1,000 licence fee plus $500 investigation fee, non-refundable even on denial)
- Net worth — the standard 3%/2%/0.5% MTMA scale over a $100,000 floor, keyed to total assets, not transaction volume
- The consumer-facing scope qualifier — "currency transmission" applies to funds received "primarily for personal, family, or household purposes"
- 2025 kiosk rules — licensing, prior DBR registration, and daily transaction caps of $2,000 for new customers and $5,000 for existing ones
- Continuous licensure — no expiry date, but a $1,000 annual fee due 31 December with a $25-per-day late penalty
Examination costs are billed to the licensee at 150% of examiner salary and benefits plus travel, and operating without a licence carries penalties up to $5,000 per day. Year-one costs run roughly $19,500 to $125,000 depending on business model.