On Monday, March 11th, PayPal General Counsel and Vice President, John Muller, testified as an expert witness before the California Assembly Banking & Finance Committee during an informational hearing entitled “Emerging Technology and The Money Transmission Act”. The hearing was called by Chairman Dickinson to explore ideas for reforming the body of law that authorizes the regulation of money transmitter. While, most people think of companies like Western Union or MoneyGram when they think of money transmitters, PayPal is also regulated as a money transmitter in the various states that require licensure. John’s testimony was provided in order to give the Chair and the other Committee members a better sense of the impact of the law on a company like PayPal, while also providing ideas for refining the law.
Government has always struggled to keep pace with the rate of technology innovation – no small feat at the current frequency of technological change these days. Chairman Dickinson rightly observed that the California Money Transmission Act, like many laws throughout the country, was in need of some reforming and modernization in order to better protect consumers while also allowing new payments technologies to come to market. With his leadership and the input of the various stakeholders we believe that California can lead the way in creating a modern and improved framework for regulating payments so that merchants and consumers alike can continue to participate in commerce anytime, anywhere and anyway that they choose!
Learn more about the hearing below: