The Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (OAPIA) organized an information session with Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) on “License Processing for ATM Machines and Check Cashing” that was held on January 8, 2008.  The Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) regulates all financial service businesses in the District of Columbia by administering District of Columbia insurance, securities and banking laws, rules and regulations. The information session was a result of OAPIA and DISB’s previous constituent services improvement meeting in December.

The event attracted 15 local Asian Pacific Islander retail merchants. Thomas Hampton, Commissioner DISB, and his staff were guest speakers.   The workshop discussed the top 10 common mistakes that merchants commit which delays processing their application. Some of the common mistakes mentioned were inconsistent and insufficient information on the application forms, lack of complete financial statements, and checks that were written to the wrong agencies.  In addition, DISB provided a 30 minute individual case handling.