Section 203.01 - DefinitionsIn this chapter:
(1) "Business entity" means any corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, or other commercial entity.(2) "Consumer" means an individual who resides in this state.(3) "Consumer-directed wage access services" means the business of delivering to consumers access to earned but unpaid income that is based on the consumer's representations and the provider's reasonable determination of the consumer's earned but unpaid income.(4) "Division" means the division of banking.(5) "Earned but unpaid income" means salary, wages, compensation, or other income that a consumer or an employer has represented, and that a provider has reasonably determined, has been earned or accrued to the benefit of the consumer in exchange for the consumer's provision of services to the employer or on behalf of the employer, including on an hourly, project-based, piecework, or other basis and including circumstances in which the consumer is acting as an independent contractor of the employer, but has not, at the time of the payment of proceeds, been paid to the consumer by the employer.(6) "Earned wage access service" means the business of providing consumer-directed wage access services or employer-integrated wage access services, or both.(7)(a) Except as provided in par. (b), "employer" means any of the following: 1. A person who employs a consumer.2. Any other person who is contractually obligated to pay a consumer earned but unpaid income in exchange for the consumer's provision of services to the employer or on behalf of the employer including on an hourly, project-based, piecework, or other basis and including circumstances in which the consumer is acting as an independent contractor with respect to the employer.(b) "Employer" does not include any of the following:1. A customer of an employer.2. Any other person whose obligation to make a payment of salary, wages, compensation, or other income to a consumer is not based on the provision of services by that consumer for or on behalf of the person.(8) "Employer-integrated wage access services" means the business of delivering to consumers access to earned but unpaid income that is based on employment, income, or attendance data obtained directly or indirectly from an employer.(9)(a) Except as provided in par. (b), "fee" includes any of the following: 1. A fee imposed by a provider for delivery or expedited delivery of proceeds to a consumer.2. A subscription or membership fee imposed by a provider for a bona fide group of services that include earned wage access services.(b) "Fee" does not include a voluntary tip, gratuity, or other donation.(10) "Licensee" means a business entity that is licensed by the division under s. 203.03 (1) as an earned wage access services provider.(11) "Nationwide mortgage licensing system and registry" has the meaning given in 12 USC 5102 (6).(12) "Outstanding proceeds" means proceeds remitted to a consumer by a provider that have not yet been repaid to the provider.(13) "Proceeds" means a payment in U.S. dollars to a consumer by a provider that is based on earned but unpaid income.(14)(a) Except as provided in par. (b), "provider" means a business entity that is in the business of providing earned wage access services to consumers.(b) "Provider" does not include any of the following:1. A service provider, such as a payroll service provider, whose role may include verifying the available earnings but that is not contractually obligated to fund proceeds delivered as part of an earned wage access service.2. An employer that offers a portion of salary, wages, or compensation directly to its employees or independent contractors prior to the normally scheduled pay date.Added by Acts 2023 ch, 131,s 5, eff. 9/1/2024.