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 

“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 (OTCQX: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 (NYSE: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.

Photo: Courtesy of Van Tay Media on Unsplash