Step 1:

To access the system you must be a registered Secure Access Washington (SAW) user. Registration is simple; please visit https://secureaccess.wa.gov and follow the prompts to sign up.

Once you are a registered user you will then add the “Consumer Loan Online Services” service to your account. To add this service click on “Add a New Service.” Then choose the Department of Financial Institutions on the right hand side of your screen.

  • You will be required to provide your company’s DFI Reference Number to start your filing. This number is located on your prior year payment receipt starting with (5CLAR) followed by a series of numbers. If you are unable to locate this number or if you were newly licensed in 2023 please submit your request online by selecting the “Request DFI Reference Number” and submitting the required information.

    Issuance of your DFI Reference Number may take up to two business days for processing. Please do not wait until the deadline to start your filing to ensure a timely filing.

Step 2:

Read through the assessment questions to see which questions apply to your business. Gather total loan count numbers and total dollar volume numbers.

Step 3:

If you have more than 30 loans to provide you must prepare your loan supporting data in the CSV or XML File Specification format for upload. If you have under 30 loans to provide you may either manually input the loan data directly into the system or prepare a CSV or XML file for upload.

  • CSV file (Recommended)
    • Use Excel template provided, input loan data, & save as CSV (comma delimited)
  • Manual entry (30 loans max)
  • XML file

Step 4:

Determine how you will pay your annual assessment fee – DFI’s online system accepts E-Checks or credit cards. If you plan to use E-Check and you have an ACH debit block on your bank account, you must notify your financial institution to allow the E-Check to be processed.

Removing the ACH debit block for DFI can take as long as two business days. DFI’s company identification number is G911443137. If you plan to use a credit card, the system only accepts payments for up to $10,000.

Step 5:

Once you have gathered all of your information, you are ready to begin your filing.

To access the system simply log in through your Secure Access Washington (SAW) account that you created in Step 1 by visiting https://secureaccess.wa.gov. The system is self-explanatory but there are a few things to note:

  • You will not be able to go back to the prior question to make corrections once you’ve selected continue to move on to the next question– however you will have the opportunity to make any corrections during the review/edit portion of the assessment.
  • You will be able to Save & Exit the system to continue filing at a later time.
  • If you are not the responsible individual for making a payment, simply log out of the system and notify the person who is responsible. Please note each person accessing the system will need their own SAW account to log in.
  • Online System Guide
    For illustrative purposes only*