Marijuana banking

Banking industry advocates are urging the Senate to follow the House's lead and pass the National Defense Authorization Act with a provision that includes a safe harbor for financial institutions working with cannabis firms.

Infrastructure will command most of lawmakers’ attention, but expect banks to keep pushing for bills that would ease the transition away from a key benchmark rate and help them serve legal cannabis businesses.

Victor Ngo, 33, has pleaded guilty to making a false statement to JPMorgan Chase when he said his medical marijuana dispensary was a wellness and fitness company.

Congress had been close to passing legislation to help banks serve cannabis firms. Now Democratic leaders have all but abandoned the effort, prioritizing a riskier proposal to decriminalize the drug.

Credit unions have gotten stronger support from their regulators to do business with pot companies, but banking agencies are showing signs of softening just as more states legalize marijuana.

Michael Moeser, senior analyst at PaymentsSource, talks to Dustin Eide, CEO of CanPay, about payments innovation in the legalized cannabis industry.

The 2020 elections buoyed hopes that Congress would finally make it easier for financial institutions to serve cannabis businesses. But Democrats’ push to decriminalize marijuana — a nonstarter for most Republicans — threatens the more targeted effort.

The SAFE Banking Act would prohibit federal banking regulators from penalizing banks and other depository institutions for providing banking services to cannabis businesses. It passed Monday night on a 321-101 bipartisan vote.

The legislation easily passed the House in 2019 but was never considered in the Senate. Observers see a more promising path forward this time.

Seven years after regulators issued guidance to financial institutions, a small Michigan credit union was ordered to stop opening new accounts for marijuana businesses.