Cannabis banking updates for Q2 – scam alert!
Are you a state legal cannabis business owner? Are you (like most) having trouble finding solid cannabis banking or transaction processing for your business? Have you been approached by someone claiming to be selling a Wells Fargo/First Data solution?
If so, jump straight to the podcast link below and listen to our cannabis banking update about the situation. It’s a veritable scam and you don’t want to be caught in it.
[LISTEN: Cannabis Banking Updates – Q2 – 2018 PODCAST EPISODE]
In case you’re wondering, neither Wells Fargo nor First Data is offering a cannabis banking product for anyone in the industry at the moment. As a matter of fact, Wells Fargo is going so far as to revoke mortgages for real estate that allows cannabis industry businesses to operate on the premises.
There’s also a lot going on in Congress with all things cannabis right now – last week the House voted again to provide protection for medical marijuana business owners – from the DOJ and AG Sessions. Of course with the way the current regime flip flops on nearly all things (Korea summit, anyone?) it’s hard to say that these things won’t have changed again by the time you read this post, but it’s very unlikely that WF is going to change their tune any time soon.
What else is going on in cannabis banking?
It’s hard to say, since it’s like finding a needle in a haystack while the whole wagon is running down the highway at a hundred miles per hour. California continues to look into a public bank for cannabis business owners to utilize, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to come any time soon or actually be able to function as a real bank.
The number of cannabis, and cannabis banking, related bills in Congress continues to climb, but will mid terms offer enough of an opportunity to propel legislation that is friendly and permanent to the industry? It’s still hard to say right now.
Canada keeps rolling along towards adult use legalization at the federal level, although they’ve pushed the timeline out from July to summer, and now from summer to September. It will be interesting to see how they plan to maneuver with the cannabis banking situation, especially in light of what happened with Uruguay last year.
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New rules and regulations in Canada regarding advertising restrictions keep piling up and that’s also going to be something to navigate safely in order to stay on the right side of the law. California is re-working a number of policies, licensing procedures and more as well, and its going by in a blur.
One of the premier cannabis banking outlets, a Colorado based credit union, has taken to social media with strange LinkedIn messages. The same credit union is also involved in a wrongful termination lawsuit with two former employees who are making allegations of unfitness towards senior management.