Aleksandr_Kravtsov
As the future of the SAFE Banking Act remains uncertain, a new report makes arguments for how it passing could reduce cannabis dispensary robberies and lower current banking costs for marijuana businesses.
The SAFE Banking Act would allow legal cannabis businesses to do business with the US financial system.
Although the report, Dangerous Delays, written by David Borden of StoptheDrugWar.org, focuses on marijuana dispensary robberies, it also examines links between a lack of banking access for cannabis businesses and violent crime.
While Borden acknowledges that SAFE Banking will help the industry, he cautions that it is not as broad as some may think as it only provides depository services, and not the acceptance of electronic payments via debit or credit card.
“There are knowledgeable participants in the cannabis and financial industries who believe SAFE will be enough to bring credit card networks in,” the report states. “Of the people we spoke with, those in banking, or are close to industry processing and administration, were the least optimistic.”
Borden recommended that “language should be crafted to incentivize the major card networks to at least allow other electronic transactions, e.g. debit cards and payment apps and sites, to make use of their networks.”
However, Borden noted that passage of SAFE Banking would also allow dispensaries to less expensively transport cash to banks and more frequently — multiple times a day or daily as opposed to every few days now, reducing cash on hand in stores.
He added that the legislation could also prompt the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and other regulators to amend their guidances, which could further allay concerns from financial services providers.
Multi-state operators: Cresco Labs (OTCQX:CRLBF); Columbia Care (OTCQX:CCHWF); Trulieve Cannabis (OTCQX:TCNNF); Green Thumb Industries (OTCQX:GTBIF); Curaleaf Holdings (OTCPK:CURLF); MedMen Enterprises (OTCQB:MMNFF); Acreage Holdings (OTCQX:ACRHF); Ayr Wellness (OTCQX:AYRWF); Verano Holdings (OTCQX:VRNOF); and Jushi Holdings (OTCQX:JUSHF).
Rep. Earl Perlmutter (D-Colo.), the original sponsor of SAFE Banking in the House, recently said he will try to get the legislation passed by attempting to attach it to a spending bill.
