Marijuana banking

The midterm elections virtually eliminate the chance that progress will be made on financial services legislation.

The focus since the 2016 election on easing rules, tax cuts and expanding access to credit is about to be turned on its head.

The focus since the 2016 election on easing rules, tax cuts and expanding access to credit is about to be turned on its head.

This week marks the official start of Canada’s legalized recreational cannabis industry — and American Express, Visa and Mastercard are ready to handle the new market's payments, in a stark contrast to their stance in the U.S.

Currently running for a fourth term in Congress, former credit union employee Denny Heck is a vocal proponent of changes to NCUA's risk-based capital rule and other industry priorities.

The $506 million-asset GFA Federal Credit Union says it will begin accepting clients in the recreational marijuana business, making it the first Massachusetts financial institution to do so.

How the 'Best Banks to Work For' get employees to love their jobs; Comerica works to address fraud in prepaid benefits program; how to tell if you're banking a pot business; and more from this week's most-read stories.

Readers weigh in on bank overdraft policies, react to megabank capital standards, respond to Sen. Heidi Heitkamp's tough re-election bid and more.

Despite legal cannabis category's regulatory complexity — or perhaps motivated by it — a new breed of merchant acquirers is slicing through the thick government red tape to process cannabis payments, one state at a time.

Many financial institutions are unaware that they're banking marijuana-related businesses, pot bankers and regtech experts say.

Wells Fargo isn't making a political statement, it's following the rules. So goes the bank's response to backlash over terminating a pro-medical marijuana politician's banking relationship because of her advocacy and contributions from industry lobbyists.

The bank said the candidate planned to accept money from the medical marijuana industry; the crash in digital currency prices’ long-term consequences.

A Florida politician who has run a pro-medical marijuana campaign said Wells Fargo closed her account over her ties to the industry, adding that the incident was an example of the challenges legal cannabis businesses face from the U.S. financial system.

Because the legal cannabis industry is typically considered too high-risk for most banks and payment processors to work with, most technology solutions are designed to duplicate the familiar process of paying by card.

Banks and marijuana dispensaries are getting closer to having a more cohesive relationship. But not close enough to bring cannabis sellers out of the high-risk category.

Seeing an opportunity to address the multi-billion dollar cannabis industry’s needs for payments processings, Zodaka is launching with a system that focuses more on price than process.

Federal bank regulators consider roughly a dozen new rules; firms tout tools to help financial institutions bank legal marijuana-related businesses; Mick Mulvaney defends CFPB enforcement powers; and more from this week's most-read stories.

Readers respond to Mulvaney's changes to the CFPB's consumer board, weigh a proposal regarding fair lending, react to adoption of pot banking regtech and more.

Several firms are touting tools to help financial institutions bank legal marijuana-related businesses, an industry expected to yield $10 billion in retail sales this year.

First Green Bank in Florida had to stop holding deposits for licensed marijuana sellers as a condition of making a deal.