While cannabis payment solutions remain elusive, the serious players in the industry are searching for possibilities and establishing partnerships with other payments entities. This is precisely why Instabill, a provider of merchant accounts for high risk industries since 2001, is attending MJBizCon 2018 in Las Vegas Nov. 14-16.
Instabill is seeking to schedule meetings with like-minded folks – competing payment service providers, ISOs, agents and banking professionals – who are interested in exploring alternative payment solutions for cannabis dispensaries as well as discussing credit card payment processing for related industries such as CBD, hemp and kratom.
Schedule a meeting
“We have long said that the cannabis industry is the next giant opportunity in payments,” said Founder and CEO Jason Field, who recently attended the Cannabis World Conference and Business Exposition in Boston Oct. 17-20. “At the moment, payment solutions are limited for cannabis, but with recent events, we feel that will change. And Instabill will be on the forefront when it does.”
All signs pointing toward cannabis payment solutions, but when?
It seems to be the question of the decade: When will the federal government and card brands authorize viable, payment solutions and banking services for cannabis? Of course, using a MasterCard, Visa or any other credit card to pay for cannabis is next to impossible as it only happens when the merchant is violating federal regulations.
We strongly feel that streamlined, seamless solutions in the US will become a reality based on recent events in the industry:
- On Oct. 17, recreational cannabis became legal in Canada (Uruguay was the first country to legalize in 2017). We firmly believe that the US government is monitoring our neighbors to the north closely, using Canada as a litmus test of sorts, watching the process unfold before it commits; specifically watching for:
- Oversight of Canada’s enforcement of laws, such as limited hours for retail sales, prevention of sales to minors, and home cultivation.
- The feds are also keeping a sharp eye on banking processes and as well as the internet sales of cannabis (Cannabis sales are currently online in Ontario).
- There are currently nine US states and the District of Columbia which have legalized the use, possession and sale of recreational cannabis, though with different laws governing each. More states – we’re predicting New Jersey, Michigan, Rhode Island and Ohio – are certain to follow.
- Imperial Brands, a large tobacco company recently invested in a cannabis research startup, Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies. We feel Big Tobacco doesn’t invest in unicorns.
We hope to have news about cannabis payment solutions…soon
Instabill is currently in promising discussions with several cannabis and banking industry professionals, and is hopeful of announcing possible alternative cannabis payment solutions over the next few weeks.
We offer cannabis-related merchant accounts
While we wait on cannabis payment solutions, we do offer merchant accounts for several related industries including CBD and hemp, paraphernalia and kratom. We advise prospective merchants seeking solutions to have the following criteria:
- Sound payment processing history and documentation of such including business banking statements, credit card processing statements and a bank reference letter.
- A functional website detailing products, terms of service and contact information
- Proprietor documentation
A full list of KYC documents we require can be here. We also strongly recommend having a 10-minute conversation with an Instabill merchant account manager, enabling to find out more about your business, at 1-800-530-2444.
