Are we considered a money services business if we issue branded prepaid cards usable only within a specific shopping mall (in most states)?

In the US, FinCEN would treat Store Value Cards (pre-paid cards) as to be associated with MSB and requires reporting/licensing.

You can read this up on the definition of what an MSB is on FinCEN's website: http://www.fincen.gov/financial_...

ALso you might want to read this ruling: http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_r...