Money transmitters operating in 40 or more US states are set to benefit from a new multi-state compliance programme, enabling them to more easily extend their business across state lines.

The initiative, from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) will require nationwide payment firms to undergo a single comprehensive exam to satisfy all state regulatory requirements.

Known as MSB Networked Supervision, the new regime will apply to 78 of the nation’s largest payments and cryptocurrency companies that combined move more than $1 trillion a year in customer funds.

Under the new arrangement, a group of examiners from a handful of states will jointly supervise a business, instead of each individual state.

The move has been welcomed by money transmission firms such as Western Union and PayPal as a significant breakthrough in removing burdensome complexity and reducing compliance costs.

Rosemary Gallagher, Western Union associate general counsel, says: "We firmly believe that the impact of this new approach to multistate exams will be significant in terms of driving harmonisation and streamlining of state supervision across the board.”