SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — Numerica Credit Union is the first financial institution in the state of Washington that will accept business from recreational marijuana processors and producers, according to the Washington Liquor Control Board.
But the $1.4 billion CU will only work with Spokane-area marijuana businesses, said Becky Smith, the Liquor Control Board's marijuana licensing manager: "They want to keep it local," Smith told The Spokesman-Review.
“We decided to do this because the credit union is concerned about the crime involved with all-cash businesses,” said Kelli Hawkins, Numerica communications manager. “We feel it is in the best interests of our members and our communities that legitimate businesses are able to safely and securely manage their finances at a financial institution.”
Although recreational use of marijuana is legal for private use by adults in Washington, it is difficult for licensed marijuana processors and producers to find a bank or credit union that will accept their business.
The inability for licensed marijuana businesses in Colorado to find a bank or credit union to accept their deposits led to a bill that is now working its way through the Colorado state legislature. The
Smith told The Spokesman-Review that six of the 25 licenses the agency has issued for marijuana growers or processors are inside Spokane County, the most of any county in the state at this point.
Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing marijuana in some form. So far, only Colorado and Washington states have legalized marijuana for recreational use.
