Cannabis and cannabis products are marijuana products. If they are legal products in your state, you may buy and sell them according to your state laws. However, you will need to set up a cannabis merchant account to conduct business, receive money for products ordered, and supply refunds when necessary. Here is why you need this special account.
1. Cannabis Products Are Still Federally Illegal
On a federal level, cannabis products are still illegal. That means any and all federally-backed institutions are off-limits for use by cannabis sellers. In case you have not looked at your local banks and credit unions lately, they are ALL federally-backed institutions. That means that they cannot legally set up an account for you to conduct cannabis business through them. If they did, they would be shut down by the federal government, and all of your funds and accounts with that bank or credit union would be seized by the federal government.
2. Credit Card Companies Also Have Problems with These Transactions
It is not just banks that have problems processing cannabis-related transactions. Credit card companies also have limitations. Cannabis merchant account companies can manage the transactions such that cash comes and goes to you through your credit cards and through your consumers' credit cards without the credit cards getting into hot water.
3. Stop Bank and Credit Card Payments from States Where Cannabis Is Still Illegal
Let's say that you own and operate a medical marijuana dispensary in California. Now you have an order come in with a credit card number. If you do not catch the fact that the order belongs to a consumer who lives in a state where medical marijuana is still illegal, the merchant account processors will catch that. They act as the first line of protection against consumers who place online orders that could shut down your business. It also protects the consumers, who may not realize that they could be busted by the police for making and receiving their orders.
4. Set up an Account or Take Cash Only
Most dispensaries only currently accept cash payments, which makes taking online orders difficult. If you really want to branch out and take online orders, you have to be able to accept credit and debit card payments. The ONLY way you can do that is by finding a cannabis account merchant who can help process payments.
For more information, contact your local merchant service.
