Only 30 percent of companies in the marijuana industry have a bank account. As the industry makes billions of dollars in sales, a small startup out of Arizona is here to help make sure all that cash has a safe home.
Although selling marijuana is now legal in 24 states and the District of Columbia, doing business as a legal marijuana company is a logistical nightmare. That's because marijuana is still federally illegal, and banks open themselves up to potential seizure by the FDIC if they take money that is the result of a federally illegal act.
Despite the fact that President Obama has given financial institutions the green light to serve the legal cannabis industry (so long as they monitor closely for potential money-laundering and other violations), most banks won't work with the $6.7 billion marijuana industry. The result is that 70 percent of cannabis companies don't have a bank account. The few banks that do take on marijuana clients do not advertise what they're doing.
Enter Hypur, a startup in Scottsdale, Arizona, that for the past year has been quietly convincing banks that it is safe and profitable to work with cannabis businesses.
