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ry owners I've interviewed have described traveling to banks with
Insider’sreport bags containing $30,000-plus in cash. These businesses and their
employees are also prime targets for thieves, which is why many
on payments employ armed guards.

Outlook brightens The situation has been so troubling in California that state lawmak-
ers proposed setting authorizing limited purpose banks to serve
companies in the cannabis market there. That bill has been ap-
for cannabis proved in the state senate, but not in the state assembly. Lead author
of the legislation, Sen. Bob Hertzberg, said he is hopeful the mea-
sure will garner approval from both legislative bodies next year.
banking Card brands remain intransigent

By Patti Murphy Even if the Hertzberg bill were approved, however, it wouldn't
make it any easier for cannabis businesses in California to accept
ProScribes Inc. card payments. The card brands have taken a firm stance against
knowingly allowing transactions tied to cannabis businesses to
fforts to bring cannabis businesses into cross their networks, in keeping with federal cannabis prohibitions.
the banking and payments mainstream It is worth noting, however, that the card brands don't seem to be
may soon bring wide adoption of mod- troubled by the fact that several retail chains openly sell CBD prod-
E ern payment methods to this thriving ucts. CBD (shorthand for cannabidiol) is a non-intoxicating chemi-
industry. Legislation passed by the U.S. House of cal compound found in cannabis plants that often gets extracted,
Representatives and now awaiting action in the diluted with a carrier oil (for example, grape seed) and adminis-
Senate would create a safe harbor for banks that
want to offer deposit and payment services to
these businesses. Cannabis businesses comprise
one of the fastest growing industries, according
to U.S. New Frontier Data, which keeps tabs on
the market. It estimates sales for the U.S. legal
cannabis market (to medicinal and recreational
users) will reach $13.6 billion this year, a 31.7 per-
cent increase over 2018.
Total combined legal sales in the 33 states with
legalized medical marijuana programs and the
11 states allowing adult recreational uses are pro-
jected to grow at a compound annual rate of 14
percent, to reach $30 billion by 2025. (Some states
have legalized cannabis for both recreational
adult use and medicinal uses. Cannabis remains
fully illegal in just nine states.) Illicit cannabis
sales still exceed legal sales, at $64.3 billion last
year, but the illicit market will shrink to just $7
billion, by 2025, according to New Frontier's pro-
jections. FORGET PRODUCTS,

Cash-only troubles legislators
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quirements, like filing suspicious activity reports
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We're talking satchels filled with cash. Dispensa-
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