No Cash For Cannabis? No Problem: KindTap Launches Credit Payment Solution In Massachusetts

KindTap Technologies, a company behind a financial technology platform for highly regulated industries, revealed Tuesday that it has launched a consumer credit product that will initially be used in the Massachusetts cannabis market. 

The Boston-based company noted that this is “a first-of-its-kind” service for the marijuana industry and will provide consumers with revolving credit lines for upfront cannabis purchases and enable stores to utilize digital credit payments. While initially, the compliant credit service will be available only in Massachusetts, the company plans to expand to other markets, such as Florida, Maine and New York. 

With cash and cashless ATM-only payment options available in the cannabis space due to federal restrictions, the marijuana industry has had to operate in an “inconvenient, unreliable and dangerous” fashion. With KindTap’s web-based application, consumers can pay for their cannabis products via a pre-approved credit line, both in-store or online. 

This way, marijuana purchases are no longer limited by the amount of cash consumers have on hand or in their bank accounts.

“Without a form of digital credit payments in the cannabis industry, transactions must be made in cash or via cashless ATM transactions, putting dispensaries, their employees and consumers at risk,” said Cathy Corby Iannuzzelli, co-founder and chief payments officer of KindTap. “After two years of product research and development, we’re thrilled to launch our KindTap credit solution and bring greater safety and efficiency to the cannabis industry with frictionless payments. Legal cannabis businesses have long been denied basic financial resources and banking services, and consumers are forced to deal with unnecessary charges and complexities in the shopping experience.”

Frank A. Segall, chairman of Burns & Levinson’s National Cannabis Business & Law Advisory Group added that while many other companies are claiming they offer similar solutions, they usually don’t have the same level of compliance as KindTap, or “are simply smoke-and-mirrors.

“KindTap’s vendor ecosystem includes best-in-class, U.S.-based payment vendors and regulated financial institutions. KindTap is providing cannabis consumers with real credit, and this is truly a game changer for cannabis operators and their customers,” Segall concluded. 

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