Please learn from experience, if you don't have deep pockets and a well established business plan then you will end up far in debt. Currently owning 5 it took thousands just to finalize my MSB license with the revenue of canada and without that they can and will take you for everything you own.
After that you need to make sure that you have really deep pockets to be able to handle the conversions of money because yes people do use the machines and they do run out fast if not attended properly.
Also you will need insurance and well established business plan to get the proper insurance policy for a MSB.
Anything happens to the location your machine is in and is result of your machine being there then the location owner will hold you accountable and you will be in financial crisis.
I suggest do your research before making the purchase of a machine, most people just buy a machine and then realize these things after loosing all there money.
This discussion is getting more and more informative! Thank you all for the inputs!
More factors come into the picture such as insurance, and overcoming local laws & regulations. Did you have any problems with getting your machines insured? I assume you are protecting against theft/loss of funds? I am interested to know what is the coverage.
Secondly, when it comes to overcoming local regulations, what is the lead time and the typical challenges they posed to you?
Any types of insurance that have anything to do with any type of MSB is not easy to get, its more costly to acquire this insurance as not every broker can provide it. For MSB Insurance there is a minimum of 2 Million liability and then you need to individually insure any and all equipment. Its a time consuming process that can take months if lack of knowledge is present.
When it comes to registering with the government there are a lot of things that come into play, they require a reputable business lawyer to submit your application and deal with them directly and there are a ton of fees that they request little by little as they see fit.
Many think you can just buy a machine and put it in a store not realizing that the government right away sees that as a type of money laundering as you are exchanging local currency.
If you play all your cards right and do everything asked of them you can be licensed and up and running within a month but then there are a lot of other things that come into play. Have you ever wondered why banks have limits on amount of money that you can take out of a machine?
Same comply s with BTC ATM's, when converting up to a specific amount per day they start to require documentation and such. Again its regulated against laundering laws.