Many people see federal cannabis legalization as the light at the end of the tunnel, believing a national market will cause the industry’s most pressing problems to vanish unconditionally. One such pressing problem is severely restricted access to traditional banking services. The popular debate centers on whether the federal government’s acceptance of cannabis will lead big banks to flood the market. With legal risks gone, they would start offering their services to dispensaries, cultivators, and distributors, right? That would solve all the cannabis banking troubles, yes? Unfortunately, that simply isn’t the case. In reality, the future of banking will look very different from what most might hope. Although it would be a groundbreaking step in the right direction, federal legalization is only the beginning of the industry’s battle for legitimacy. Nationwide legalization doesn’t mean large institutions automatically will welcome cannabis businesses. It’s unlikely Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and similar institutions will offer their services outright to dispensaries or plant-touching operators.
mg Magazine – Cannabis News & Information, 10/28/2021 07:41:00