Marijuana banking

Legislators' attempts to reopen the government could hamper credit union advocacy priorities as the new Congress convenes.

A state-backed bank would not be financially feasible because capital requirements would be too high and it likely wouldn’t return profits to the state for at least 30 years, consultants concluded.

As more states permit medical or recreational use, and legal uncertainty persists at the federal level, CUs' decision whether to do business with marijuana firms is trickier than ever.

Hostilities toward the legal U.S. cannabis industry are softening considerably, with signs of further removing cash and digital workarounds from a market that has long been shunned by traditional payment cards.

Banks hoping to make working with the cannabis industry easier saw a positive sign this week when Congress removed the prohibition on a less potent substance.

Royal Bank of Canada's investment-banking division will advise on stock sales and arranging takeovers for companies in the marijuana industry, joining Bank of Montreal's BMO Capital Markets in serving an industry that didn't exist five years ago.

As Congress races to fund the government, a criminal justice reform bill could also include the STATES Act, which would provide safe harbor for credit unions serving the legal marijuana industry.

The financial industry is not expecting movement on a lot of legislation given a divided Congress, but one measure is beginning to attract widespread attention.

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The regulations for legal cannabis are slowly loosening, but whether they have loosened enough to support a “normal” online shopping experience in the U.S. is being put to the test by a new mashup of digital ordering and payment tools.