As medical marijuana goes mainstream – 33 states now have legalized medicinal uses of marijuana – access to banking and payment processing services continues to be a major pain point for businesses throughout the medical marijuana value chain. Even doctors authorized to prescribe medical marijuana to patients are getting squeezed by the mismatch of state and federal laws regarding cannabis products like marijuana and CBD oils.
The consequences of this mismatch of state and federal law has been well documented. Businesses large and small find themselves awash with cash for lack of card acceptance and bank deposit accounts.
The presence of large amounts of cash in medical marijuana businesses, like medical marijuana doctors’ offices, poses serious threats to those businesses, their employees and clients. Yet, many doctors continue to be denied access to payment card networks because of what they prescribe: medical marijuana and/or CBD. Those “lucky” enough to find payment processing companies willing to set them up for credit and debit card acceptance typically pay “high risk” premiums.
Doctors play a vital role in the burgeoning medical marijuana industry. Millions of Americans have come to rely on these professionals’ medical cannabis prescriptions and recommendations for treating what are often debilitating medical conditions. Conditions like anxiety, depression, post- traumatic stress, chronic pain and cancer. So why is it so difficult for medical marijuana doctors to offer patients the same noncash payment options consumers have come to take for granted? Because in the eyes of most payment processing companies medical marijuana doctors exist in a legal grey area. Medical marijuana doctors may not touch or sell cannabis products, but they are considered guilty by association.
Paybotic isn’t like most payment processing companies. We understand the medical marijuana industry – an understanding gained from years of working with businesses throughout the medical marijuana value chain. We have policies, procedures and partnerships in place that allow us to offer card acceptance services to doctors, dispensaries and other businesses in the medical marijuana value chain. Our solutions are tailored to individual client needs, and use domestic networks to support the clearing and settlement of card and mobile payments.
Every medical office, indeed every business, deserves fair and equitable access to modern financial services, like credit and debit card acceptance. No medical office should be denied access to the card payment networks just because their patients seek out prescriptions for medical cannabis products sanctioned under the laws of their states.
At Paybotic we’re committed to providing medical marijuana doctors with fairly-priced and equitable access to card and mobile payment acceptance and related services.
