[shartacct]

> Yet you can't use a credit card to buy cannabis pretty much anywhere AFAIK.

Every dispensary I've visited here in the northeast accepts cash and debit cards, I assume they don't accept credit due to higher processing fees and higher risk of chargebacks rather than processors being problematic (otherwise they would not accept debit since they get ran through the same system anyway).

[micromacrofoot]

That's not true at all. I live in the northeast and my dispensary simply can not take credit cards even if they wanted to; credit card companies are liable for the transaction and they don't want to run up against federal law.

Some dispensaries can take debit card transactions, and they have to do so through "high risk" processors... companies like Square will not work with them because of federal law.

[tmp_anon_22]

Its hyper regional. And when processing solutions are found, they may be gone the next month. You see a similar situation with groups like Eaze in the SFBA. Some months they just don't have a debit option, some months they do.

[nobody9999]

>credit card companies are liable for the transaction and they don't want to run up against federal law.

This. And while it's obviously not the same thing at all, since cannabis is a schedule 1[0] substance, the US government could treat processing credit card transactions for cannabis companies the same as they treated HSBC[1] or worse.

As such, until cannabis is moved off of schedule 1, Congress acts to make cannabis legal at the federal level, and/or the US Department of Justice makes it clear that providing banking services to cannabis companies will not be prosecuted under money laundering laws, US banks won't jump into the pool.

[0] https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling

[1] https://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2013/investing-n...

[jeromegv]

Your assumption is wrong, they are being refused by Square, Stripe, etc, etc. CBD are also in a grey zone which cause them tons of problems accepting credit cards. This isn't because of higher processing fees.

[rootusrootus]

Or they are working the system and making an ATM withdrawal look like a debit from the consumer's point of view.

[shartacct]

How does that make any sense? I put my card into the reader and it debited from my bank account. I didn't pull cash from an ATM and there was no ATM present in the business.