Georgia Money Transmitter Bond
Every Georgia money transmitter starts at a flat $250,000 bond — not the $100,000 figure a lot of guides quote (that's actually the separate net worth floor). From there, the Department of Banking and Finance doesn't run a public formula the way Florida does. It runs a quarterly trigger: if your average daily outstanding liability exceeds your current bond by more than 10%, you have 20 days to post more coverage, up to a hard $2,000,000 statutory ceiling.
- Who requires it: The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, under O.C.G.A. §7-1-683.2.
- Amount: A flat $250,000 starting bond. If your average daily outstanding liability exceeds your current bond by more than 10%, you have 20 days to post more coverage, up to a $2,000,000 statutory ceiling. The separate net worth floor is $100,000.
- Timing: We submit complete applications to the carrier promptly; most quotes within one business day.
Three numbers matter — not a volume-to-dollar table
Where Florida licensees can look up their exact bond from a 2%-of-volume table, Georgia licensees work with three fixed reference points instead. Where you sit between them is decided quarterly, not calculated once at intake.
Georgia Money Transmitter Bond — Reference Points
O.C.G.A. §7-1-683.2(b); Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 80-3-2-.03
Every New Licensee
$250,000
The flat starting principal sum — no volume calculation required to reach it.
DBF-Ordered Increase
Variable
Triggered when average daily outstanding liability exceeds the current bond by more than 10%, per quarter.
20 days to post additional coverage from the date of calculation
Statutory Ceiling
$2,000,000
The hard cap. DBF cannot order coverage above this figure regardless of volume.
O.C.G.A. §7-1-683.2(b); Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 80-3-2-.03
How the quarterly 10% trigger actually works
Under Rule 80-3-2-.03, every licensee calculates its average daily money transmission liability for each calendar quarter. That figure gets compared against the bond you already hold. Two different inputs feed the calculation depending on what you do:
Money transmitters
DBF watches average daily outstanding orders to transmit not yet paid.
Payment instrument sellers
DBF watches average daily outstanding balances on money orders and drafts sold.
If either figure exceeds your current bond amount by more than 10%, the clock starts: you must deliver additional coverage — a larger bond, a rider, or another accepted form of security — within 20 calendar days of the calculation. This isn't tied to your renewal date. A licensee whose Georgia volume grows mid-year can face a coverage deadline months before the annual license renewal even comes up.
New applicant or an existing licensee watching the quarterly trigger — we quote both.
Get Your QuoteThe formula Georgia actually publishes — and it's not for the bond
O.C.G.A. §7-1-683.2(a)(1) sets a separate, genuinely formula-driven requirement: tangible net worth. Unlike the bond's quarterly trigger, this one is a fixed calculation you can run before you ever apply.
Georgia DBF Tangible Net Worth Requirement
O.C.G.A. §7-1-683.2(a)(1) — waiver available in whole or part for good cause shown
Because this formula scales with a company's balance sheet rather than its Georgia transaction volume, a large, well-capitalized transmitter with modest Georgia activity can face a multi-million-dollar net worth requirement while still starting at the flat $250,000 bond — the two figures move independently of each other.
A third layer: the statutory trust that survives bankruptcy
Beyond the bond and the net worth test, O.C.G.A. §7-1-683.2(c) requires every licensee to hold permissible investments — of types DBF establishes by rule — at least equal to its outstanding money transmission obligations. Those investments sit in a statutory trust for the benefit of payment instrument holders and claimants, and that trust is structured to survive the licensee's insolvency, bankruptcy, receivership, or other creditor actions. In practice, this means Georgia stacks three separate protections on a licensee: the bond (up to its penal sum), the net worth requirement (balance-sheet solvency), and the trust corpus (ring-fenced from other creditors if the company fails).
Money transmission and selling payment instruments aren't the same license
Money transmission
Under O.C.G.A. §7-1-680, receiving money or monetary value for transmission, or transmitting it, within the U.S. or abroad by any means — wire, order, facsimile, or electronic transfer. Closed-loop transactions (value redeemable only for a limited set of goods or services from the issuer) are specifically excluded.
Sale of payment instruments
Selling or issuing an instrument, order, or device for the payment or transmission of money or monetary value — money orders and drafts, in practice — whether or not it's a negotiable instrument. Article 4 bonds and monitors this activity separately from money transmission, even though both share the same $250,000–$2,000,000 bond structure.
Filing the bond: Georgia's NMLS walkthrough
Georgia is one of roughly 44 states that license money transmitters through the NMLS (Nationwide Multistate Licensing System) rather than running its own separate portal the way Florida does — which makes a multi-state expansion into Georgia comparatively straightforward if you're already NMLS-registered elsewhere.
- 1
Open or confirm your NMLS company record
If you're already licensed in another NMLS state, you add Georgia to the same company record rather than starting a new filing from scratch.
- 2
Submit financials for the net worth test
Provide audited or reviewed financials showing you clear the greater of $100,000 or the tiered percentage-of-assets formula under §7-1-683.2(a)(1), or apply for a good-cause waiver.
- 3
Post the $250,000 surety bond electronically
Your surety issues the bond and files it through NMLS's electronic surety bond process, attached to your Georgia license record.
- 4
Pay the $2,150 application fee, plus NMLS fees
DBF's new Money Transmitter application fee is $2,150, in addition to standard NMLS processing charges assessed through the system.
- 5
Track your outstandings every quarter, not just at renewal
Once licensed, calculate average daily outstanding liability each calendar quarter so you see a 10% trigger coming before DBF's 20-day clock starts.
What Georgia collects on when the bond pays
Under §7-1-683.2(b), the bond runs to the State of Georgia for the benefit of the department and any payment instrument holders, covering damages from a licensee's (or its agent's) noncompliance with the article, DBF's rules, or the bond's own conditions — plus amounts owed to creditors or claimants arising from payment-instrument sales or money transmission in Georgia. Damage payments can also include fees, fines, or penalties owed to DBF itself.
Claimants may bring an action directly on the surety bond. The surety's aggregate liability never exceeds the bond's face amount, no matter how many claims are filed against it — the surety pays valid claims up to that ceiling, then seeks reimbursement from the licensee under the indemnity agreement.
Official Georgia Requirements
"The bond for money transmitters shall be in the principal sum of $250,000.00. The condition of the bond shall require the licensee to pay any and all moneys for the benefit of any person damaged by noncompliance of a licensee or its agent with this article, with the rules and regulations enacted pursuant to this article, or with any condition of the bond."Georgia Department of Banking and Finance • O.C.G.A. §7-1-683.2
More on this bond and Georgia filings
Georgia money transmitter bond questions
Why do some guides say Georgia's bond is $100,000 when others say $250,000?
Because two different numbers live in the same statute and get conflated. O.C.G.A. §7-1-683.2(b) sets the surety bond itself at a flat $250,000 starting principal sum — that's the actual bond. Section (a)(1) separately requires a tangible net worth of at least $100,000 (or a higher tiered percentage of total assets) as a balance-sheet condition of licensure. The $100,000 is the net-worth floor, not the bond. If a source quotes $100,000 as your Georgia money transmitter bond amount, it's describing the wrong line item.
Does my Georgia bond amount scale with volume the way Florida's does?
Not through a published formula table. Florida runs a transparent 2%-of-volume calculation with defined dollar bands. Georgia works differently: every licensee starts at the flat $250,000 principal sum, and DBF only orders an increase — up to the $2,000,000 statutory cap — when your average daily outstanding liability exceeds your current bond by more than 10% on a quarterly recalculation under Rule 80-3-2-.03. There's no public table mapping a specific volume figure to a specific bond amount; it's a threshold-trigger mechanism, reviewed every quarter, not a one-time formula lookup.
What happens if my quarterly liability calculation trips the 10% threshold?
You have 20 calendar days from the calculation — not until your next renewal — to deliver additional coverage that fully accounts for the increase. That can be an increased bond, a rider on your existing bond, or another form of additional security DBF accepts. Miss the 20-day window and you're out of compliance with a licensing condition, independent of whether your underlying business is otherwise sound. Growing transmitters should track average daily outstanding liability every quarter, not just at renewal time.
Is the bond amount different for selling payment instruments versus transmitting money?
The trigger inputs differ even though both fall under the same $250,000-to-$2,000,000 bond structure. For payment-instrument sellers (money orders, drafts), DBF watches average daily outstanding balances. For money transmitters, DBF watches average daily outstanding orders to transmit not yet paid. A business doing both should expect DBF to evaluate each activity's outstandings separately when deciding whether the 10% trigger has been tripped.
What is the statutory trust DBF requires, and why does it matter if I go bankrupt?
Separately from the bond, O.C.G.A. §7-1-683.2(c) requires every licensee to hold permissible investments — of types DBF sets by rule — at least equal to its outstanding money transmission obligations, in a statutory trust for the benefit of payment instrument holders and claimants. The key feature: that trust survives the licensee's insolvency, bankruptcy, receivership, or other creditor actions. In practice, it's a second layer of consumer protection that sits alongside the surety bond — the bond backstops claims up to its penal sum, while the trust corpus is legally walled off from the company's other creditors even if the business collapses.
How do I actually file the bond with Georgia?
Georgia licenses and manages money transmitters through the NMLS (Nationwide Multistate Licensing System), the same electronic platform used by roughly 44 other states — unlike Florida, which runs its own separate portal. The new Money Transmitter application fee is $2,150 plus additional NMLS processing fees. Once your surety issues the bond, it's filed electronically to your Georgia license record in NMLS, and DBF (the Department of Banking and Finance) reviews the filing alongside your net worth evidence and permissible-investments plan.
All content is researched from official state and federal sources (.gov). BuySuretyBonds.com works with Treasury-listed surety carriers.
General information, not legal, financial, or underwriting advice. Georgia money transmitter bond amounts, the quarterly additional-coverage trigger, tangible net worth requirements, and permissible-investment/trust obligations are set by O.C.G.A. §7-1-683.2 and Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Chapter 80-3-2, and administered by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance; specific amounts turn on your average daily outstanding liability, total assets, and business model, and can change with statute, rule, or DBF guidance. Verify current requirements with DBF before filing.
Know which tier you're in before DBF's 20-day clock starts.
Tell us whether you're a new applicant or an existing licensee tracking your quarterly outstandings — we'll confirm the $250,000 floor, a possible DBF-ordered increase, or the $2,000,000 ceiling, and quote the bond accordingly.
Get my Georgia bond quote