Who requires it
South Dakota Division of Banking — Money lenders
License & permit · South Dakota
South Dakota Money Lender Bond
South Dakota money lenders—including payday and title lenders licensed under SDCL chapter 54-4—must submit a surety bond with the license application. SDCL 54-4-42 establishes a bond in an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars for the first license and two thousand five hundred dollars for each additional license, issued by a surety company qualified in this state and satisfactory to the director. The bond runs in favor of the state and persons with chapter 54-4 claims, and it is conditioned on faithful performance and payment of amounts due during the calendar year for which the bond is given. The Division of Banking requires a separate license for each money-lender location, so additional sites add the two-thousand-five-hundred-dollar increment. Certain nonprofit and development entities remain subject to licensure but are exempt from the bond under SDCL 54-4-40 and Banking guidance.
Common bond amount
≤ $10,000 + $2,500 per additional license
SDCL 54-4-42: not to exceed $10,000 for the first license and $2,500 for each additional license; each location separately licensed.
How you file
File electronically through NMLS with the Division of Banking
Renewal
Stays in force while licensed; December 31 license year via NMLS
Who requires it
Applicants for and holders of South Dakota money lender licenses under SDCL chapter 54-4 filing with the Division of Banking through NMLS, other than entities the statute exempts from bonding.
How much is required
SDCL 54-4-42 caps the bond at $10,000 for the first license and $2,500 for each additional license. Confirm the exact amount the Division of Banking expects for your location count before filing.
How to get and file it
Arrange a director-satisfactory surety bond sized for your first license and any additional locations, then file proof of bond with the NMLS money-lender application as Banking instructs. Licenses expire December 31 and renew through NMLS. Keep bond proof current for every licensed location. Nonprofit partial exemptions still require registration but not the bond.
Cost note
The statutory figure is the required bond amount, not the premium you pay. See bond amount vs premium. Bond amount vs premium →
Requirement checklist
- First license
- Bond not to exceed $10,000
- Each additional license / location
- Bond not to exceed $2,500
- Partial exemptions
- Listed nonprofits may be licensed without the bond
Official sources
Related resources
Frequently asked questions
Does every branch need its own bond amount?
Each money-lender location must be separately licensed. SDCL 54-4-42 adds up to $2,500 for each additional license beyond the first $10,000 license.
Is this the same bond as the mortgage lender bond?
No. Money lenders bond under chapter 54-4. Mortgage lenders, brokerages, brokers, and originators bond under chapter 54-14 with a different volume schedule.
Related South Dakota bond guides
Mortgage Lender / Broker Bond
$25,000–$50,000
South Dakota mortgage lenders, mortgage brokerages, mortgage brokers, and mortgage loan originators must keep a surety bond under SDCL 54-14-24. The statute sets a floor of twenty-five thousand dollars and requires an amount that reflects the total dollar amount of loans originated by the licensee and its employees and agents, on a form and in an amount the director prescribes. ARSD 20:07:19:07 supplies the current schedule: twenty-five thousand dollars when prior-year South Dakota originated, brokered, or serviced volume is under twenty-five million dollars; thirty-five thousand dollars from twenty-five million one dollar through one hundred million dollars; and fifty thousand dollars above one hundred million dollars. An employee or exclusive-agent originator or broker may rely on the employing licensee’s bond instead of posting a separate personal bond. The bond may stay in force while you are licensed, and the surety company may cancel on thirty days’ notice to you and the director. After a claim action starts, the director may require a new bond, and any recovery triggers an immediate replacement filing.
Money Transmitter Bond
$100,000–$500,000
Under South Dakota’s money transmission act, SDCL 51A-17-100, every applicant and licensee must keep security on file with the Division of Banking. That security is either a director-approved surety bond or—only with the director’s consent—a deposit that stands in for the bond. Size the instrument by comparing one hundred thousand dollars against one hundred percent of the firm’s average daily South Dakota transmission liability for the most recent completed three-month window, then take the larger figure, stopping at five hundred thousand dollars. Firms whose tangible net worth tops ten percent of total assets instead post a flat one-hundred-thousand-dollar bond. Once a licensee already holds the maximum amount the statute allows, it does not have to keep recomputing average daily South Dakota liability for this section. File through NMLS on Banking’s money-transmitter workflow and leave the security in force for the full license year ending December 31.
Debt Adjuster Bond
$50,000
South Dakota generally forbids engaging in the business of debt adjusting. SDCL 37-34-2 makes a violation a Class 2 misdemeanor except as provided in SDCL 37-34-3. One commercial exception is subdivision (10): a person who files and maintains with the Attorney General a fifty-thousand-dollar bond approved by that office, conditioned on faithful performance and payment of debt-adjuster obligations and damages. The Attorney General’s official bond form and instructions set the same fifty-thousand-dollar amount, require original signatures from you and the surety company, a South Dakota resident-agent countersignature, and Attorney General approval. Nonprofit or charitable debt adjusters and several other listed categories are separate exceptions that do not use this bond path. This bond is not a statewide third-party collection-agency license bond.
Surety basics (not repeated here)
Universal surety concepts explained once—linked here instead of repeated on every state or bond page.
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Last verified 2026-08-12. This guide is based on verified educational content and official sources.
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