State money transmitter laws impose geographic licensing requirements that vary by jurisdiction — offering a payment or lending product in a state without the required license is a strict-liability violation. A product that does not disclose its supported regions forces users from unlicensed states to apply, have their application rejected, and potentially have their personal data collected without regulatory authority. Beyond licensing, geographic availability disclosure is required under CFPB fair lending principles: if a product is not available in certain regions, that limitation must be transparent to prevent disparate impact claims. A user who discovers post-application that their state is not supported has a legitimate data minimization complaint under CCPA and GDPR.
Info because the disclosure gap is a transparency deficiency rather than an active harm, but operating in unlicensed states without geographic availability disclosures creates strict liability under state money transmitter laws.
Add a geographic availability statement to every product page and to the site footer. In app/products/savings-account/page.tsx:
// app/products/savings-account/page.tsx
<aside className="availability-notice">
<h2>Where We Operate</h2>
<p>
Available in all 50 US states and Washington DC. Not yet available outside
the United States. If your state is listed as unsupported during signup,
we are actively working on licensing — join the waitlist to be notified.
</p>
<p>
Customer support: Monday–Friday, 9 AM–9 PM ET. Online access is 24/7.
</p>
</aside>
For products with state-by-state licensing gaps, list unsupported states explicitly rather than requiring users to discover the limitation at application. Add availability information to the FAQ at app/help/faq/page.tsx as well, since users frequently search FAQ before applying.
ID: finserv-disclosure.presentation-quality.availability
Severity: info
What to look for: Enumerate all product pages, the footer, the FAQ, and the about page. For each, check for geographic availability information. Look for at least 1 statement naming supported regions (specific states, countries, or "US only" / "worldwide"). Also check for service hours if the product is not 24/7.
Pass criteria: At least 1 page or the site footer includes a clear geographic availability statement naming specific regions or countries (e.g., "Available in all 50 US states and DC", "US & Canada only"). If the service has limited hours, the hours are listed. Quote the availability text found and the file path where it appears.
Fail criteria: No geographic availability information appears anywhere on the site; users must guess which regions are supported.
Skip (N/A) when: The project is a global service with no geographic restrictions and no region-specific regulatory requirements.
Detail on fail: Quote the product page file path. Example: "Product page at app/products/savings-account/page.tsx does not state which states or countries are supported. No availability info in footer, FAQ, or about page. Users applying from unsupported regions won't know until their application is rejected."
Remediation: Add availability information to your product pages in app/products/savings-account/page.tsx or in the footer component:
// app/products/savings-account/page.tsx
<div className="availability-section">
<h2>Availability</h2>
<p>
<strong>Geographic Availability:</strong> Currently available in all 50 US
states and DC.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Service Hours:</strong> 24/7 online access. Customer support
available Monday-Friday, 9 AM - 9 PM ET.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Coming Soon:</strong> We're expanding to Canada and the UK in Q3
2024.
</p>
</div>
// app/help/faq/page.tsx
<details>
<summary>What states is your service available in?</summary>
<p>
We operate in all 50 US states plus Washington DC. If your state is listed
as unsupported during signup, we plan to expand there soon — sign up for
our mailing list to be notified.
</p>
</details>