TITLE 7 BANKING AND FINANCE

Section 1. Financial Institutions, 7-1-1 through 7-1-1021.

ARTICLE 4 SALE OF PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS

7-1-680. Definitions.

As used in this article, the term:

1. "Authorized agent" means a person designated by a licensee pursuant to Code Section 7-1-683.1 to engage in money transmission, the sale of payment instruments, or the issuance of payment instruments.
2. "Check" means any check, money order, draft, or negotiable demand instrument.
3. "Closed-loop transaction" means a transaction where the value or credit is primarily intended to be redeemed for a limited universe of goods, intangibles, services, or other items provided by the issuer of the payment instrument, its affiliates or agents, or others involved in the transaction functionally related to the issuer or its affiliates or agents.
4. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of banking and finance.
5. "Control," "controlling," "controlled by," or "under common control with" means the direct or indirect possession of power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a person.
6. "Covered employee" means any employee of a licensee or an authorized agent engaged in any function related to the selling of payment instruments or money transmission.
7. "Department" means the Department of Banking and Finance.
8. "Executive officer" means the chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, chief operating officer, each vice president with responsibility involving policy-making functions for a significant aspect of a person's business, secretary, treasurer, or any other person performing similar managerial or supervisory functions with respect to any organization, whether incorporated or unincorporated.
9. "Individual" means a natural person.
10. "Licensee" means a person, including, but not limited to, a money transmitter and a payment instrument seller, duly licensed by the department pursuant to this article.
11. "Misrepresent" means to make a false statement of a substantive fact. The term may also mean to engage in any conduct which leads to a false belief which is material to the transaction.
12. "Monetary value" means a medium of exchange, whether or not redeemable in money.
13. "Money transmission," "transmit money," or "transmission of money" means engaging in the business of receiving money or monetary value for transmission or transmitting money or monetary value within the United States or to locations abroad by any and all means, including, but not limited to, an order, wire, facsimile, or electronic transfer. The term does not include closed-loop transactions.
14. "Money transmitter" means a person licensed under this article to transmit money.
15. "Nation-wide Multistate Licensing System and Registry" means a licensing system developed and maintained by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators for the licensing and registration of certain persons engaged in nondepository activities.
16. "Open-loop transaction" means a transaction using a payment instrument with stored value to redeem for goods or services at any location that accepts such payment instrument.
17. "Payment instrument" means any instrument, order, or device for the payment or transmission of money or monetary value, whether or not it is a negotiable instrument under the terms of Article 3 of Title 11, relating to negotiable instruments. The term includes, but is not limited to, checks, money orders, drafts, stored value cards, and open-loop transactions. The term does not include closed-loop transactions, credit card vouchers, letters of credit, or any instrument that is redeemable by the issuer only in specific goods or services of the issuer.
18. "Payment instrument holder" means a person that has purchased a payment instrument from a payment instrument seller or who has had monetary value transmitted by a money transmitter.
19. "Payment instrument issuer" or "payment instrument seller" means a person licensed under this article to engage in the issuance or sales of payment instruments.
20. "Person" means any individual, sole proprietorship, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, trust, or any other group of individuals, however organized.
21. "Sale" and "selling" mean the passing of title from the payment instrument seller or the payment instrument seller's agent to a payment instrument holder or remitter or an agreement to transfer money or monetary value.
22. "Sale of payment instruments," "selling of payment instruments," or "issuance of payment instruments" means the creation, issuance, or sale of a payment instrument that is redeemable in cash or monetary value.
23. "Signed" shall have the same meaning as provided in Code Section 11-1-201.
24. "Ultimate equitable owner" means a person that:
    1. Owns, directly or indirectly, a 10 percent or more interest in a corporation or any other form of business organization;
    2. Owns, directly or indirectly, 10 percent or more of the voting shares of any corporation or any other form of business organization; or
    3. Exerts control, directly or indirectly, over a corporation or any other form of business organization, regardless of whether such person owns or controls such interest through one or more natural persons or one or more proxies, powers of attorney, nominees, corporations, associations, limited liability companies, partnerships, trusts, joint stock companies, other entities or devices, or any combination thereof.
25. "Unique identifier" means a number or other identifier assigned by protocols established by the Nation-wide Multistate Licensing System and Registry.
26. "Virtual currency" means a digital representation of monetary value that does not have legal tender status as recognized by the United States government. The term does not include the software or protocols governing the transfer of the digital representation of monetary value. The term also does not include units of value that are issued in an affinity or rewards program and that cannot be redeemed for money or virtual currencies. Neither does the term include an affinity or rewards program tied to a credit, debit, or prepaid card that awards points for purchases or other transactions, which points can be redeemed for dollar denominated credit to a checking, credit card, or prepaid account, or for a gift card, goods, travel, or services.

(Code 1981, §7-1-680, enacted by Ga. L. 2014, p. 251, § 1/HB 982; Ga. L. 2015, p. 996, § 3C-2/SB 65; Ga. L. 2016, p. 390, § 1-6/HB 811.)

The 2015 amendment, effective January 1, 2016, deleted "paragraph (39) of" following "provided in" in paragraph (23).

The 2016 amendment, effective July 1, 2016, added paragraph (26).