Frequently asked questions

1. Please describe what Golden Money Transfer, Inc dba Inyo (‘Inyo’) does? Inyo is an independent Money Service Business (MSB) that works with firms in the United States and Canada to complete an end-to-end transaction. Inyo’s licensing, operating bank accounts, and proprietary compliance system (for transaction monitoring and regulatory coverage) ensure end-to-end control of the flow of funds from origination to delivery to the beneficiary. Inyo directly manages a transaction from origination to distribution of funds, as follows:

a. Origination (via a PCI compliance proprietary payment gateway)

b. Compliance & anti-fraud (including KYC/KYB)

c. Foreign exchange

d. Settlement (i.e. treasury)

e. Distribution (to a vast proprietary distribution network)

1. Where is Inyo licensed to operate? Inyo holds required Money Transmission Licenses (‘MTL’) in all U.S. states (with the exception of Hawaii which is in the final stages of approval), Puerto Rico, Canada (including a separate license to operate in Quebec); Licenses in Europe (SEPA) and the UK (FCA) are under application.

2. Is Inyo regulated? Inyo is regulated federally by the Department of Treasury (FinCEN), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS Title 31), and cooperates on a federal level broadly with law enforcement agencies (such as Homeland Security, the FBI, and local law enforcement). Also, Inyo is regulated by the local department of banking and financial services in each jurisdiction in which it originates payments, via Money Transmission Licenses, across all states and Canada. Inyo acts and operates as a Financial Institution. In addition, Inyo is regularly audited by its banking partners (e.g. Wells Fargo and JPMC). In addition, the firm conducts an external independent audit annually. The firm’s 2024 independent audit will be conducted by the former Deputy Commissioner of Banking for the State of California (Mr. Oscar Lumen).

3. Does Inyo have FDIC insurance coverage to protect consumers? Inyo is not regulated by the OCC as a bank, and hence does not participate in the FDIC program. Rather, each state’s department of banking and financial services requires that Inyo hold bonds which act like an insurance policy in the unlikely event of financial loss. The bond amount is determined as a % of money transmitted in each state. These bonds are put in place to ensure all consumer funds transmitted via Inyo’s platform are fully protected.

4. How does Inyo support clients' operations? Inyo’s global headquarters is in Cambridge, Massachusetts - nestled right between the Harvard University and MIT campuses. The firm also has offices around the world to be able to support the firm’s global operations and provide local compliance and service across multiple time zones. The firm operates B2B2C and B2B2B via Authorized Delegates, such that the firm’s Agents normally handle the front line customer service. Inyo’s customer service and operations teams therefore support back office operations and customer service, and are very familiar with local laws and compliance.

5. Does Inyo conduct its own compliance checks? Yes, the firm reviews all information provided with each transaction to ensure compliance with all federal and local laws and to ensure compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act (‘BSA’). Inyo's compliance system is proprietary, developed over many years of input from federal and state regulators. The system constantly (roughly every ~15-30 minutes) pulls pertinent information from various governments (i.e., sanction lists, OFAC, Fintrac, His Majesty’s List), and relevant non-governmental global organizations (e.g., FATF, UN lists, amongst others).

6. What kinds of customers does Inyo serve? Inyo serves banks (both foreign and domestic), Fintechs, SMBs, and large multi-national merchants (including several large Fortune 500 companies).

7. What are the different types of payment methods Inyo supports? Via its proprietary payment gateway, which is PCI compliant, Inyo supports electronic payment methods, such as: remote debit card capture, point of sale debit and credit card transactions (proprietary terminals/software), ACH, wire, RTP, Fednow, and is working on supporting all Visa Direct products (such as, AFT, OCT, OCT XB, VDA, VDW, Currency Cloud) as well as Mastercard Send. Inyo can also support cash deposits domestically in the United States and Canada (we use partners for transportation, for example Brinks & Loomis). Around the world, Inyo caters to local market needs, and can support payouts via its proprietary network. Common pay out methods include: cash pick-up (depending on the corridor), mobile wallets, and bank deposits.

8. Does Inyo support fraud prevention measures? Yes, Inyo's platform can conduct KYC/KYB, including liveness checks and enhanced due diligence, and can assess over 55 data points to prevent fraud, including IP address, and other factors. The gateway is also integrated into CardinalCommerce for 3DS.

9. Can a merchant settle with Inyo in other currencies (e.g., deposit € if expected payout is in €)? Inyo’s preference is always to settle in USD ($) in U.S. bank accounts. That being said, the firm can receive funds in a few currencies (e.g. €) through local bank accounts around the world if required.

10. Can Inyo's services be used by U.S-based banks for domestic money movement? Yes, Inyo can support domestic P2P and B2B payments. In addition, Inyo has developed a solution that offers an embedded UX/UI front-end experience for clients - to keep money transmission in-house - so that banks don’t have to refer users to third parties for the purposes of sending money abroad.

11. What kinds of transactions does Inyo restrict? Inyo will not support money movement for the purposes of purchasing firearms, payments related to adult entertainment, the sale of pharmaceuticals online, human trafficking, gambling, or cryptocurrency.

12. What integration options does Inyo offer? Inyo provides both API and SDK integrations. The SDK offers an ‘out-of-the-box’ solution (with minimal modifications for look and feel/logo) for faster setup, while API integrations are more customizable but may require longer implementation times and heavier lift on behalf of the client.

13. What steps are required to become a customer of Inyo? In order to do business with a locally and federally licensed money service business, a prospective client must undergo an enhanced due diligence process. Inyo’s compliance team is required to review all pertinent information regarding the ownership, structure, licensing, financial position, and more, to ensure compliance with all local and federal rules. There is a required and standard set of documents that must be signed by the prospect in order to engage with Inyo.

14. What’s the resource lift and timeline required for a bank or FI to implement Inyo's platform? For SDK integrations, implementation is swift, typically requiring minimal technical lift. API integrations are more resource-intensive.The SDK can often be implemented within weeks, while API integrations may vary depending on the client's needs and technical resources.

15. Can Inyo’s policies and system process B2B payments for commercial banking clients? Yes, Inyo can support B2B payments. Compliance documentation requirements vary for B2B, and larger transaction amounts, and the enhanced due diligence process is more complicated, and therefore will be priced differently.

16. Is there a minimum transaction amount? While there is no strict minimum yet, pricing for very low-value transactions (e.g., $1) may be challenging due to the high overhead and compliance involved to conduct transaction monitoring.