Insurance premium finance companies and budget planners can transition to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry on May 1, the New York Department of Financial Services announced.

Starting on that date, licensees will have the option to use the online system for license activities, which is expected to ease the process for them. Premium finance companies advance funds to insurance companies to pay premiums on behalf of insureds, and receive repayments over time from them. Budget planners are nonprofit organizations such as credit counseling and financial planning agencies, which contract with debtors to pay money periodically to them while they, in turn, redistribute the funds among the creditors. Both types of businesses are licensed by the DFS.

The action is the next step in the plan by the financial services department to manage the licensing and regulation of all nondepository institutions in New York through the multistate system created by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, which began operating in 2008, according to DFS. DFS previously used the NMLS to regulate mortgage providers licensed in the state. Last July, New York also transitioned money transmitters to NMLS.

DFS Superintendent Maria Vullo said in a news release on Wednesday, “DFS is pleased to add budget planners and premium finance companies to the growing list of nonbank financial institutions, including fintech firms, that will benefit from the efficiencies and robust oversight that the NMLS platform provides for state regulators.”

At least 62 state and territorial agencies process licensing applications through NMLS, according to the financial services department. The system allows companies to apply for, renew and update licenses in many states using one platform.

Starting on the first of next month, financial service companies with budget planner and premium financing licenses can switch those licenses to NMLS and companies applying for new licenses can apply through NMLS.

The CSBS is trying to transform the NMLS platform for more automated licensing of nonbanks and financial technology companies as part of its Vision 2020 initiative, which some observers see as a reaction and possible rival to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's proposed special purpose bank charter. The proposed charter was introduced in draft form in March 2017, and would allow fintechs to apply to operate as nationally chartered banks.

The CSBS filed a lawsuit against the OCC over the fintech charter claiming the comptroller overstepped its authority, and the OCC filed a motion in July 2017 in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia to dismiss the suit, Conf. of State Bank Supervisors v. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Case 1:17-cv-00763-JEB. In December, a federal district court judge in Manhattan dismissed a lawsuit by DFS, Vullo v. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, S.D.N.Y., 17-cv-03574, claiming that federal regulators can't issue a federal charter for fintechs.