marijuana dispensary credit card terminal

“The problem there comes with volume,” Toney said. Other cannabis businesses have constructed paths to merchant services through gift card and vouchering systems. “Miscoding will result in closure very quickly,” Toney said. One common way businesses attempt to skirt the card networks is by using a misleading merchant category code. “The absolute wrong way is to try to provide merchant services where they’re prohibited, and if you do that, you’re going to get shut down.” “There’s a right way and a wrong way for cannabis businesses to transact with cards,” Toney said. Shift Processing tools can benefit businesses in a variety of industries, including cannabis. For companies transitioning into legality, Shift offers support and security. Of course, Shift’s cannabis merchant business works only in states where marijuana is legal. “Our primary customer is the consumer, but they need places to spend money, so we bring businesses onto our platform to give them places to make purchases,” Toney said. The Shift team is dedicated to swiftly and securely onboarding all businesses and getting them transacting with customers quickly. should be open to card transactions, and it aims to make that possible with its innovative technology. In fact, Shift takes the position that all legal businesses in the U.S. The same is true for other high-risk and credit-challenged merchants and their customers. And the risk of employee theft is an even bigger issue than the threat of external theft.Īs the legal availability of marijuana becomes more mainstream in the U.S., Shift presents an innovative integration path for cannabis merchants. Proprietors often have to go to great lengths to protect extensive cash holdings. Although the legalities are different, businesses in other categories deemed high-risk by card companies also face exclusion from merchant processing services.ĭealing in cash presents a variety of problems compared to running a business that accepts card payments. That means cannabis businesses can’t accept card payments from customers or use merchant accounts to pay suppliers.Ĭannabis growers, labs, and dispensaries have had to operate as predominantly cash businesses. But because it remains illegal on the federal level, major card networks continue to block marijuana businesses from accessing merchant processing services.

Many states have now legalized cannabis for medical and recreational use. With Shift, businesses can reduce their reliance on cash while consumers gain the convenience and security of card payments. Shift Processing aims to solve that problem with its closed-loop P2P payment platform, which charges consumers a small fee for access to its processing services. But dealing with cash in cannabis and other locked-out businesses is inconvenient and a possible security risk for proprietors.

In a Nutshell: As more states legalize cannabis for medical and recreational use, major card networks continue to ban marijuana businesses and force consumers to pay with cash.

Marijuana dispensary credit card terminal