Friday, September 22, 2023
"We've noticed a trend over the past year that while the number of banks and credit unions that serve the cannabis industry listed in our Cannabis Banking Directory has grown 20%," Radbod said in a statement, noting the cannabis industry has a shortage of trained cannabis banking compliance professionals and PBC wants to bridge that gap.
To solve for this issue, Radbod unveiled the PBC Cannabis Banking Certification Program, a first-of-its-kind credentialing tool designed to help financial institutions and cannabis industry stakeholders meet the growing need for cannabis banking talent. Banks that serve the growing cannabis industry need banking compliance professionals, and this program will benefit the broader cannabis banking ecosystem, he added.
Noting that the program will offer three certification levels, Radbod said candidates can obtain Level 1 and II certifications through online training and pursue the more advanced designation of PBC Certified Cannabis Banking Professional by attending in-person training and the annual PBC Conference. In addition, select banks and credit unions that achieve certification criteria will also be eligible for a PBC Certified badge, program administers noted, adding that the program will be beta tested later this year. PBC encouraged interested banks, credit unions and individual bankers and compliance professionals to apply online at share.hsforms.com/1xqrvqq8cSRWc9muaGRLcdQ32whi.
PBC noted its next annual cannabis conference will be held Sept. 4 to 5, 2024, in Washington D.C., adding that it will continue its pioneering efforts to promote emerging industries such as cannabis and cryptocurrency. Additional information about PBC, including upcoming events and memberships, can be found at www.pbcconference.com.
Despite efforts by state legislators to legalize the sale and use of cannabis-related products, the industry remains a primarily cash-based business with few available banking options. As previously reported in an Oct. 22, 2023, view column, "Addressing the cannabis conundrum," by Patti Murphy, senior editor at The Green Sheet, cannabusiness owners, financial institutions and payment providers have been actively lobbying federal regulators to provide legal access to legitimate businesses.
"FIs aren't happy about being locked out of the cannabis market, and have been lobbying Congress for legislation that provides the legal cover needed to bank cannabusiness," she wrote. "That legislation, known as the SAFE Banking Act, has bipartisan support in Congress and the public at large."
Murphy further noted that in the absence of legitimate banking options, mobile apps such as CanPay, a closed-loop debit app directly tied to consumer bank accounts, are filling the gap and emerging real-time networks have the potential to create faster, more convenient payments throughout the cannabis ecosystem.
In his Dec. 20, 2020, article, "Legal pot sales: a billion dollar opportunity," in The Green Sheet, Max Miller, founder and CEO of Paybotic, agreed cannabusinesses need safe, legitimate payment and banking options.
"While cannabis dispensaries are the most obvious businesses in need of payment processing services, the cannabis value chain is extensive," he wrote. "It includes tens of thousands of other businesses that require modern electronic payment options—businesses such as growers; testing labs; distributors; and companies selling cannabis-related products, like CBD products, hemp clothing, and smoking and extraction devices." 
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