There has been a lot of discussion surrounding cannabis and its legality in the market. Classified as a Title IV drug in the United States, cannabis product sellers have a hard time processing payments because banking institutions either refuse or are unwilling to provide their services to them.
That is why cannabis businesses have been operating almost exclusively on a cash-only basis and resorting to different means of managing their revenue that fall in a gray area (Koren, 2017), limiting their options for growth and even putting them at different types of risks.
New Credit Card for Cannabis Purchases
But in late 2021, SuperNet, a payment network exclusively for the cannabis industry, announced that it would be releasing credit cards that can be used to process payments in more than 100 California dispensaries.
CEO Michael W.K. Tsang explained: “It’s a real credit card they’ll get from us. It’s just like any other credit card in your wallet, except instead of VISA or MasterCard logo, it’s a SuperNet logo. You can spend it anywhere SuperNet is accepted.”
What this means for cannabis consumers in California is that they can already buy cannabis products conveniently and safely in various retail locations without the need for cash.
Cannabis businesses, on the other hand, can benefit from processing payments online because they can keep cash off-site. SuperNet even offers a loyalty program to consumers who pay exclusively with this credit card.
So, what prompted SuperNet to offer this kind of solution to the cannabis industry? It’s simple, Tsang said. “Regulators want to see fewer cash deposits and they want to see electronic payments. The beauty of what we’re offering is that our money—the electric money—is tracked from the point of purchase. It’s traceable. We know where the money comes from. In cannabis, with cash, you have to spend a lot more effort to trace where the cash came from.”
By providing a more efficient way of processing payments, SuperNet is not only helping consumers shop for their favorite cannabis products more conveniently, but it is also helping the cannabis industry find a better footing in the market by allowing more transparency in processing payments.
With money management and payment transactions being huge challenges for this type of business, having a credit card solely dedicated to their service will give cannabis businesses the opportunity to improve the efficiency of their operations and make their dispensaries safer by not storing huge amounts of cash in them.
The Future of the Cannabis Industry Is Looking Good
There has been a lot of positive movement towards making cannabis products more accessible to consumers. This credit card officially launched in January 2022 and is set to help both consumers and businesses in the cannabis industry.
Of course, any cannabis business should still look for the best high-risk merchant accounts to help them process payments more efficiently while protecting both their interests and the rights of their customers. The future is definitely looking good for cannabis businesses and we can look forward to better things soon
Citation
Koren, J. R. (2017, July 7). Why some pot businesses hide their cash — and others truck it straight to a federal vault. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cannabis-banking-20170707-story.html