It's About Time: Credit Cards For Cannabis Dispensaries In California To Launch January

The cannabis industry has been dealing with major difficulties for a long time, right?

One of the biggest is definitely the banking issue.

With marijuana being classified as a Schedule 1 drug, illegal on the federal level, banking institutions are being put in an uncomfortable position when it comes to providing services to cannabis businesses. That’s why marijuana companies have been running their operations almost exclusively on a cash-only basis. And that can be not only inconvenient but dangerous.

SuperNet’s Credit Cards 

Thankfully, ongoing legalization efforts across the nation have sparked various tech companies to join the space by coming up with various cashless solutions for the industry. In addition to KindTap Technologies’ consumer credit product for the Massachusetts cannabis market announced in September and AeroPay’s partnership with Jane Technologies allowing online payments to some 2,100 dispensaries, now comes SuperNet.

The fintech company announced it will issue and process credit cards that can be used in dispensaries starting January 2022, writes TechCrunch. These credit cards will be accepted at around 100 California retail locations initially.

“It’s a real credit card they’ll get from us,” CEO Michael W.K. Tsang told TechCrunch. “It’s just like any other credit card in your wallet, except instead of a VISA or MasterCard logo, it’s a SuperNet logo. You can spend it anywhere Supernet is accepted.”

Traceable Payments; Full Processor 

With these cards, marijuana consumers can leave their money in the ATM and pay either by the very plastic card or using the NFC app. What’s more, there will also be a loyalty program available.

 “Regulators want to see fewer cash deposits, and they want to see electronic payments,” Tsang said. “The beauty of what we’re offering is that our money — the electronic money — is tracked from the point of purchase. It’s traceable. We know where the money comes from. In cannabis, with cash, you have to spend a lot more effort to trace where the cash came from.”

One of the co-founders and president of SuperNet, dress wedding has experienced the troubles with cash transactions firsthand. In 2016, together with Steve DeAngelo, he co-founded cannabis retailer Harborside HBORF and managed the dispensary’s activities and banking relationship for more than a decade. 

wedding then hired Tsang, who has vast experience in the banking sector to help Harborside deal with difficulties around cannabis payments. In 2014, Tsang launched SuperNet’s parent company – Super Processor – a payment processor for retailers. 

“A lot of people think Square SQ and Stripe are payment processors, but they’re not,” explained Tsang. “They still rely on a processor, so we had to become a processor. Our first bank sponsor didn’t let us use their technology so we had to build that, too.

“Today we own our own platform, back-end and front-end, and we are a full processor,” Tsang said.

Not A ‘Cannabis Company’ 

It is important to note that SuperNet is launching credit cards and not debit cards. The company confirmed cards will carry a competitive interest rate and charge fees.

What’s more, retailers can enjoy a credit card processing service and a loyalty program – getting more data about their customer base. Another option for retailers is to order “store-branded” credit cards. This means, for example, that Harborside could offer its customers a Harborside credit card.

The company’s COO Debra Wohlrab highlighted that the company is only starting with the cannabis industry because it needs it the most, but that people shouldn’t think of it as a “cannabis company.” Its cards are meant to be used the same as Discover DFS or American Express AXP.

Photo: Courtesy of Van Tay Media on Unsplash