“Sorry, we don’t handle money service business accounts.”
For those who have contacted banks to find out if they entertain MSBs, this apology is relatively good. You’ve at least received your answer in one phone call. Other conversations take a few rounds of phone tag end in disappointment. Often, the bank’s eager account manager gets shut down by the bank’s compliance team.
The temptation increases to not check the box for “money service business” when going through the bank’s application. This may work short-term, but being reported for fraud will make the current situation look like an oasis. Not wise.
Same response can apply to crypto.
Similarly, although a handful of financial institutions have emerged catering to crypto clients, they are relatively new, while the established ones are still playing coy. There was a top ten US bank that was rumored for handling crypto clients. Accurate but ultimately remains highly selective, and our team has worked hard to make those inroads.
Of course, the double whammy is if you’re a crypto business and an MSB. Add being a startup to your mix, and you better have a good narrative to get that bank account. Or your horse is shot before getting started.
How we help
Yokip Consulting has snuffed out the financial institutions with the proper infrastructure and appetite for these markets to manage the perceived risks. We’ve built relationships with these bankers to understand what sort of customers they are trying to attract. As a result, we’re familiar with the following:
- Qualities of prospects the financial institution would entertain
- How to present prospects in a way that aligns with the objectives of the financial institution
- Who to speak with at the financial institution that will champion your application
Because of the anti-money laundering controls required for MSBs and the untested risks of crypto, the pre-underwriting process (determining whether or not they can bank you) is expensive and intensive. For this reason, the banks also appreciate the qualified leads we generate for them saving them time and resources on the vetting process. The overhead also tends to lead banks to give a premature, “no”, if your application does not immediately appear palatable, even if it ultimately could be.
With our insider knowledge and relationships, we help position you in the best light so that you can have a chance at explaining your business to the relevant financial institutions. Your business plan, pitch deck, online footprint, and business status will be reviewed. We can also recommend our vetted compliance professionals, legal counsels, accountants, and other relevant professionals to help build any missing documents you’ll need.
Our process
If you’ve been struggling with finding banks that will entertain MSBs or your specific crypto needs, we’d be happy to set up a time to discuss your needs. Here is what you can expect from the initial 30-minute consultation:
- Understand your banking needs and your business
- Review the status of the key documents and compliance controls you’ll likely need for a strong application
- Determine if your business case is strong enough to be a good candidate or advise you on what you need to do to become one
If we can assist, we’ll provide an estimate of our services, which include:
- Review and put together an executive summary of your business to entice financial institutions and a detailed flow of funds document
- Present your application to appropriate financial institutions
- Collect soft “yesses” from financial institutions where their underwriting team has approved you pending that everything we have presented is accurate
- Coordinate the submission of due diligence documents for the application
- Successful opening of bank accounts
There may also be fees to expect from the financial institution depending on your status, which will be explained.
The Results
With our knowledge of the banking landscape for MSBs and crypto companies, we provide a strategy to streamline the successful obtainment of the bank account(s) needed to operate. If your documents are prepared, we often can get bank accounts open and approved in as short as two to three weeks (often a four to six week process) by putting you in the best light, choosing the correct target banks, and keeping communication consistent. Since we can tell early on whether or not you’ll be a viable candidate for our banks, we currently enjoy a 100% success rate among the clients we take on. Furthermore, we structure our contracts so that we’re incentivized to get you approved so that you’ll pay our full fee with the successful opening.
Have questions? Email o@yokip.consulting or