A Chicago-based startup said it has developed a system that will allow legal cannabis retailers to sell their products without taking cash or making a standard debit card or credit card transaction.
According to Bill Drevant, president of VertePay.com, the company has partnered with an established Illinois software firm called Bestinc that writes software platforms for check cashing and has been open since 1982. The firm modified the software to create an essentially closed loop system that will allow a cannabis customer to purchase cannabis without having to use cash or make a transaction with a bank card.
"It's an approach that is more secure, less expensive and makes compliance easier," Drevant said.
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Drevant explained that customers in the Illinois system can use a prepaid card to load money at a convenience store or another location that supports prepaid cards, and then use the card to purchase cannabis at a participating retail shop. The shops' software can take cash from the cards as well as other information state regulators require and deposit it through a link to a credit union.
Drevant explained three banks have expressed interest in using the software package to serve small cannabis business customers, and one has been helping provide informational webinars about the package, but he added that no retail cannabis stores have started using it yet because none have opened. Illinois only recently legalized medical marijuana and no stores have actually opened yet.
Still, Drevant said the firm has tailored the software to Illinois, but that it could also tailor it to meet the rules and requirements of other states. He added that it would help credit unions and banks that want to serve the legal cannabis market, which is currently almost exclusively reliant on cash.
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