A new year and an ever-changing Cannabis landscape are upon us. 2021 was a big year as more states in the USA approved recreational Cannabis legalization and CBD sales saw a calendar year. But it isn’t all smooth sailing. But, there are still about half of US states where cannabis remains illegal, and this means the patchwork of banking and financing continues. Hopefully, that is one of the changes we see in 2022, a more unified cannabis banking and merchant services landscape. Only time will tell.
Regional Banking Relationships Provide a Solution
Cannabis Merchant Services in Canada
We’ve learned a lot through working within the Cannabis industry for nearly a decade. It remains a fact that banking is one of the hardest pieces for a marijuana-related business to sort out. This is because there is a patchwork of banks and merchant services even willing to work with cannabis or CBD businesses. Varying views on these plants as a whole continue to persist despite the incredible amount of medical research that has been completed to date.
In the USA, federal illegality and public opinion prevent national publicly-traded bank companies from providing banking services. Because they operate on a federal level, they must comply with federal laws regarding Cannabis’ illegality. This means smaller regional banks operating only where cannabis is fully legalized can provide comparable services. We’re talking about things like:
- Cannabis / CBD credit + debit card processing
- Cash Management systems
- Cashless ATM‘s
- POS systems & e-commerce
- Direct deposit
- Tax filing assistance
- and more
For this growing industry, smaller banks are the right fit. They have a real opportunity to take advantage of this where international banks cannot.
Working Together is Part of Long Term Success
Running any business can be difficult. Running a business where you’re seen as only quasi-legal or federally illegal has serious challenges. Why should a 100% legal business be denied banking services and have no choice but to accept cash-only sales? Cash has its problems including cleanliness and safety concerns when transporting it to and from the bank for deposit. Not every small business can afford to pay for armored car cash pickups every day or at the end of every week. Most cannot.
Relationships are how this industry started and, relationships are how this industry will prosper. It takes an entire hierarchy of individuals, organizations, and businesses to make a single cannabis plant for legal sale. From growers to producers to distributors to end-users, it takes more than a few people to make it happen.
Cannabis Merchant Services in Canada or the USA
We’re proud to work with CBD and cannabis-related businesses of all shapes and sizes. Over the past decade, we’ve built lasting relationships with regional partner banks willing to offer services to our clients. Do not be denied a merchant account again.
Call us today and let’s discuss your business processing needs and how we can get you set up right away.
