Want to start selling CBD online or at a retail location? Great! But there are a few items you should be aware of before getting started.
CBD Credit Card Merchant Account
Cannabidiol, aka CBD, is one of the fastest-growing health products in terms of its popularity here in Canada, the United States, and globally. Because it is derived from hemp or cannabis plants the law hasn’t always looked kindly upon its growers, producers, sellers, or consumers. But as marijuana legalization spreads far and wide that stigma and legality is no longer a true concern for many states in the USA and everywhere here in Canada.
But despite the legalization of Cannabis for recreational use, CBD is looked at quite differently by Health Canada and the American equivalent Food and Drug Administration. So when you’re looking to start selling CBD there are some important items you must do first.
Purity Certification of CBD for Sale
This is a lab check that not only checks the CBD for foreign contaminants, but that also looks at the THC composition of any particular CBD product or variety. THC levels (the psychoactive drug in Cannabis) must be at or below 0.3% THC. If a product is tested with more than this level it is denied the right to sell it as it contains more than the legal level of THC.
It would be illegal to sell a product as CBD that has more than this level of THC and this is really what the tests are looking for. Considering Cannabis is still a class A narcotic in the United States, this will be a major deal-breaker for any merchant, not to mention it could come with major fines and even being arrested. So, you must make sure you have all of the proper lab tests and certifications for every product you sell.
Licensing is Required for CBD Sales
CBD falls into the realm of products that can only be sold to those 18 years of age or older. Sale to minors is not only prohibited it is simply wrong from a moral and legal standpoint. Selling CBD requires more than your typical DBC or Tax ID # that anyone can get when they are starting a business. Selling hemp or Cannabis-derived products is relatively new and there is much scrutiny from all parts of the banking and government chain.
These facts though shouldn’t ruin your business plans. By ensuring you are complying with every local, state (provincial), federal, and merchant service (credit/debit processing) requirement, you can get up in running in less time than you think.
Setting up CBD Credit and Debit Card Processing
Getting a merchant account approved for CBD sales is also more complicated due to the nature of the products being sold. Many payment processing companies like Stripe or Paypal are very strict and scrutinize every aspect of a CBD business unfairly. After all, these are not illegal products and if they have the certifications to prove they don’t have too much THC, what is the problem?
Major banks in the USA like Chase, Bank of America, and others flatly refuse to work with any cannabis or CBD retailers since cannabis is still federally illegal.
So how do you get set up so you can take card transactions over the web? What about card transactions in a physical store? Taking cash sales is fine but obviously, it’s impossible on an e-commerce website, and making large cash deposits weekly at the bank carries its own risk (not to mention blind faith in your employees).
We have been specializing in merchant service account approval for CBD and Cannabis businesses of all shapes and sizes here in Canada and throughout the United States. We make the complicated approval process for CBD businesses painless and as we are investors in the Cannabis industry, we understand the specific requirements to get things set up right the first time.
Call us today to discuss your business and how you can get a CBD Credit Card Merchant Account set up in a shorter time frame than you may think whether you live in Canada or the USA.
