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How To Use MSB Data

MSB data returned from Microsoft's Datamarket will contain the identity information for a list of money service businesses resulting from your search. Optionally, an HTML formatted report on the MSB is returned by setting the INCLUDEHTMLREPORT parameter to 'TRUE'.

MSB data has multiple uses:

• For banking institutions, it provides the means of verifying whether one of their existing customers or new accounts are involved in a money service business.
• For law enforcement it provides the means of assessing potential robbery risks by knowing where cash is being transacted with a particular geographic area.
• For municipal or business planning it provides the means of estimating socio-ecomomic impact.
  
• For marketing it provides the means of identifying potential targets for goods and services that are compatible for money service businesses.

How To Retrieve MSB Data

You can search for MSB data in two basic ways:

• Search for a particular MSB by name using a phonetic search.
• Search for all the MSBs that are located within a certain proximity of a given location.

How To Search By Name

Parameters Used:

SEARCHNAME | SEARCHMINSCORE | SEARCHSTATES | SEARCHMAXMATCHES

Using the Datamarket interface, provide the name of the MSB that you are searching for via the SEARCHNAME parameter.

The search uses a phonetic matching algorithym and takes into account special words like CORPORATION, CORP, LLC etc. If the name is a person's name it also takes into account nicknames like JIMMY for JAMES, etc. To control how the match performs you can provide a point score percentage value between 1 and 100 percent in the SEARCHMINSCORE parameter. This will limit the search to matches that fall within that range. Typically, 85 is a good place to start as it has been shown to filter out most of the false positive matches.

While the MSB database contains information on money service businesses throughout the United States and its outlying areas, you may only be interested in money service businesses in a particular state or states. To limit the search to only particular states, enter a list of 2 character state codes seperated by a comma in theSEARCHSTATES parameter. See the list of available state codes below.

Lastly, you may want to limit the number of matches returned. To limit the matches set the SEARCHMAXMATCHES parameter to a value from 1 to 100.

How To Search By Geographic Proximity To a Fixed Point Using a Free-form Target Address

Parameters Used:

SEARCHADDRESS | SEARCHDISTANCEMILES | SEARCHSTATES | SEARCHMAXMATCHES

Using the Datamarket interface, provide a target address as an area reference point from which to search for money service businesses in theSEARCHADDRESS parameter. This search determines the latitude and longitude of the target address and then finds money service businesses near that geographic point.

You can establish the search area from the target address within which you wish to search by setting the number of miles in the SEARCHDISTANCEMILES parameter.

While the MSB database contains information on money service businesses throughout the United States and its outlying areas, you may only be interested in money service businesses in a particular state or states. This is handy when the search area spans multiple states. To limit the search to only particular states, enter a list of 2 character state codes seperated by a comma in theSEARCHSTATES parameter. See the list of available state codes below.

How To Search By Geographic Proximity To a Fixed Point Using a Target Latitude and Longitude

Parameters Used:

SEARCHLATITUDE | SEARCHLONGITUDE | SEARCHDISTANCEMILES | SEARCHSTATES
SEARCHMAXMATCHES

Using the Datamarket interface, provide a latitude and longitude of a target address as an area reference point from which to search for money service businesses in theSEARCHLATITUDE and SEARCHLONGITUDE parameters.

You can establish the search area from the target address within which you wish to search by setting the number of miles in the SEARCHDISTANCEMILES parameter.

While the MSB database contains information on money service businesses throughout the United States and its outlying areas, you may only be interested in money service businesses in a particular state or states. This is handy when the search area spans multiple states. To limit the search to only particular states, enter a list of 2 character state codes seperated by a comma in theSEARCHSTATES parameter. See the list of available state codes below.

Available State Codes

State Code	State Name
AK	Alaska
AL	Alabama
AR	Arkansas
AZ	Arizona
BC	British Columbia
CA	California
CO	Colorado
CT	Connecticut
DC	District of Columbia
DE	Deleware
FL	Florida
GA	Georgia
GU	Guam
HI	Hawaii
IA	Iowa
ID	Idaho
IL	Illinois
IN	Indiana
KS	Kansas
KY	Kentucky
LA	Louisiana
MA	Massachusetts
MD	Maryland
ME	Maine
MI	Michigan
MN	Minnesota
MO	Missouri
MP	North Mariana Islands
MS	Mississippi
MT	Montana
NC	North Carolina
NE	Nebraska
NH	New Hampshire
NJ	New Jersey
NM	New Mexico
NV	Nevada
NY	New York
OH	Ohio
OK	Oklahoma
ON	Ontario
OR	Oregon
PA	Pennsylvania
PR	Puerto Rico
RI	Rhode Island
SC	South Carolina
SD	South Dakota
TN	Tennessee
TX	Texas
UT	Utah
VA	Virginia
VI	Virgin Islands
WA	Washington
WI	Wisconsin
WY	Wyoming

Returned MSB Data Fields

The following is a list of fields that will be returned as a result of your search:

PAYLOADVERSION:	The version number of the MSB Database being searched. MSB Databases are generally updated monthly.
PAYLOADDATE:	The date and time the payload was created. The data is extracted from FINCEN, phonetically indexed and geocoded.
SEARCHMESSAGE:	Contains display-ready text of the current status. Can also contain specific internal error messages.
SEARCHSTATUS:	OK ERROR
SEARCHNAME: (Only returned for the Name Search).	Contains the name used in the search.
SEARCHADDRESS: (Only returned in the Geographic Address Search).	Contains the target address used in the search.
SEARCHLATITUDE: (Only returned in the Geographic Searches).	Contains the latitude of the target address used in the search.
SEARCHLONGITUDE: (Only returned in the Geographic Searches).	Contains the longitude of the target address used in the search.
SEARCHSTATES:	Contains the state codes if any, used in the search.
SEARCHMINSCORE: (Only returned on Name Search).	Contains the minimum score used in the search. If no score was specified, the default value of 1 is assumed.
SEARCHDISTANCEMILES: (Only returned on Geographic Searches).	Contains the distance in miles from the target address or target lat/long to search within.
SEARCHMAXMATCHES:	Contains the maximum number of matches value. If no value was specified, the default value of 100 is assumed.
REPORT: (Only if includehtmlreport=true was set)	Contains an HTML formatted report on this money service business.
MATCHESRETURNED:	Contains the actual number of matches returned.
MATCHSCORE: (Only returned on Name Search).	The match percentage. 100% is an absolute match.
MATCHDISTANCEMILES: (Only returned on Geographic Searches).	The distance from the target address or target lat/long.
MATCHKEY:	The name information from the MSB record that represents the match.
MATCHID:	The physical identity of this match within the current payload.
MATCHINFO:	Textual information regarding how the MSB record was matched.
LEGALNAME:	The legal company name. For searching purposes, this name is considered the alias of the primary name.
DBANAME:	The company name under which the company operates publicly. This is considered the primary name.
STREETADDRESS:	The physical address of the MSB company.
LATITUDE:	The physical latitude of the address of the MSB company.
LONGITUDE:	The physical longitude of the address of the MSB company.
CITY:	The physical address city name of the MSB company.
STATE:	The physical address state of the MSB company.
ZIP:	The physical address zip code of the MSB company.
BRANCHES:	The number of branch offices that the company operates.
SIGNED_DATE:	The date on which the company signed the FINCEN registration document.
RECEIVED_DATE:	The date on which FINCEN received and processed the registration document.
SERVICES_PROVIDED:	A list of services provided including the alphabetic service code from the FINCEN registration form.
STATES_OFFERED:	A list of states in which the company is allowed to operate.