Licensed Financial Services

Our Offices will be closed on:

September 3 and September 6, 2010

The Department of Financial Institutions and Office of Credit Unions will be closed on Friday September 3, 2010 as a result of the day being designated as a Furlough Day for employees of the Department of Financial Institutions and the Office of Credit Unions.

In addition, we will also be closed on Monday September 6, 2010 for Labor Day.

Although the Agency will be closed to the public, Internet Web Services will still be available for individuals who are accessing or filing documents over the Internet. For additional information regarding documents that can be filed or processed over the Internet for a specific program, please visit that program’s information on our web site.

A full list of the days that the Agency will be closed during this calendar year is available by visiting the link shown below:

2010 Closure Dates (PDF: 18 KB / 1 page)

Common Tasks

• Search the Licensee Lists
• Get Answers with Frequently Asked Questions
• View Administrative Orders Issued (last updated: 08/18/10)
• Get Information Regarding Criminal History Reports
  • Wisconsin Residents
  • Residents of states other than Wisconsin

What's New

• Wisconsin Act 405 relating to Payday Lending – effective January 1, 2011 relating to payday lenders and licensed lenders (external link)
• Proposed Rule relating to Payday Lending (PDF: 38 KB / 14 pages)
• The mandatory compliance date for the federal identity theft red flags regulation has been extended to May 1, 2009. The regulation may be found at : www.ftc.gov/os/fedreg/2007/november/071109redflags.pdf (external link) Information about the extension may be found at: www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/10/redflags.shtm

Licensees

• Adjustment Service Companies--Help consumers with budgeting money
• Currency Exchanges--Also known as check cashers
• Collection Agencies--Collect money from overdue accounts
• Insurance Premium Finance Companies--Finance insurance premiums
• Loan Companies--Offer loans to consumers
• Sales Finance Companies--Finance consumer auto loans
• Sellers of Checks--Offer travelers checks and money orders and can transmit funds by wire

The Licensed Financial Services division currently licenses over 2,000 businesses to engage in various financial endeavors. The LFS division is now making applications and statutes available to companies or individuals wishing to either start one of the businesses listed above or add to existing operations.