- Majority of states have legalized marijuana in some form
- CSA creates financial barriers to cannabis sales, purchasing
- REFG pioneering payment solutions in rapidly expanding market
In what CNN analyst Z. Byron Wolf says may be a tipping point (http://nnw.fm/PSb0e), voters in Oklahoma — generally considered a politically conservative state — approved one of the most permissive medical marijuana initiatives in the country this summer. For those keeping track, that makes a total of 30 states and the District of Columbia (http://nnw.fm/OVs7M) that now have laws broadly legalizing marijuana in some form. Once unimaginable, the legalization of the substance on a federal level is even looming as a possibility.
With this abrupt change in momentum comes unique challenges for companies looking to offer services to both providers and users of cannabis. One of the most significant challenges is payment for the plant.
Since President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) into law in 1970, medical marijuana has been categorized as a Schedule 1 substance. Consequently, the U.S. Federal Reserve System refuses to charter any financial institution that serves marijuana businesses (http://nnw.fm/3i65W), creating an environment where even “transporting or transmitting funds known to have been derived from the distribution of marijuana is illegal.”
Known as a first-tier merchant processing cannabis industry pioneer, Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTC: REFG) offers one of the first and only comprehensive card processing operations of its kind to serve the state-sanctioned medical marijuana industry. The company’s state-of-the-art system tracks sales and tax collection and eliminates the need to deal in cash-only transactions.
REFG’s unique ‘StateSourced’ proprietary system enables authorized operation under FinCEN parameters, ensuring compliance with all regulatory frameworks. The first operation of its kind targeting the legal cannabis industry, StateSourced provides the convenience of modern commercial card processing resources. Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions offers its StateSourced card on a state-by-state basis. The card can be used to purchase product from an authorized vendor, providing a much-needed option for consumers and businesses alike.
To further its pioneering efforts, the company is also collaborating with First Bitcoin Capital Corporation to integrate First Bitcoin’s WeedCoin ($Weed) cryptocurrency with its StateSourced payment gateway. This intriguing collaboration will allow state-licensed marijuana establishments across the nation to accept both StateSourced debit cards and cryptocurrencies such as WeedCoin and bitcoin.
In addition, Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions also allows merchant clients to sign up for payment-processing services online quickly and easily. Within minutes, clients can start collecting payments, move funds to other banks with no compliance issues or spend funds directly from their accounts. Finally, the company offers bank accounts for state-licensed medical marijuana establishments through its www.Take.Green website.
“We believe we offer the nation’s only truly compliant payment and banking solution for state-sanctioned marijuana,” REFG CEO Jeremy Roberts stated in a news release.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Take.Green
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