Providing merchant services to despensories that distrubute medical marijuana
- 24/7 Customer Service Support
- High Risk Merchant Compatible
- Easy Qualification Process
- Lowest Rates In the Country
- Near 100% Approval Rating
Medical Marijuana Dispensary Merchant Processing
Are you a Medical Marijuana Dispensory and have recently been dropped by your current merchant processor?
Are looking to set up your medical marijuana dispensary for the first time and can’t find a processor who’ll work with you?
Are you looking for better rates for merchant processing?
Are you getting the run around with your current merchant processor and just need better service and support?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, YOU NEED TO GIVE US A CALL.
No matter what type of business you have, accepting credit cards is essential to remaining competitive. Unfortunately, 99.9% of banks and processors will not accept Medical Marijuana Dispensaries and due to a significant shift in the legal opinions of most banks and processors, most dispensaries that did have processing have found themselves dropped in recent months. Fortunately with PREFERRED Merchants dispensaries will continue to have access to merchant processing specifically designed for Medical Marijuana Dispensaries!
We have long been recognized as industry leader in every type of merchant processing from retail to high risk and off-shore. Our experience and expertise in merchant processing makes us uniquely qualified to provide owners of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries with the merchant payment processing services they need to remain competitive. So while others claim to have recently developed processing solutions for Medical Marijuana Dispensaries, we have been providing them with merchant processing for years and will continue to do so.
Don’t let other processors snow you into thinking that fewer choices mean you have to accept poor rates and service! We want to earn your business. We take great pride in providing you with great service, support and great rates on merchant processing. And remember, we have the highest acceptance rate in the industry, so IF YOU CAN’T GET APPROVED BY US, THEN YOU CAN’T GET APPROVED ANYWHERE!
Regardless of credit history, processing volume or business type, within 48 hours your business could be accepting all major credit cards. We welcome all merchants. We know how difficult it is to start and run a business, so figuring out how to accept credit cards should be the last problem taking you away from running your business. Apply today and we’ll take care of everything so you can get back to business.
You Can Accept Credit Cards at Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Medical marijuana dispensary credit card processing is not only available it's a great service to offer your clients. Many of the clients that come into your business will be making rather expensive purchases. Like any other consumer, many of them would prefer to make these purchases on a credit card. It's much more convenient for them to do it this way than it is to come in with a large sum of cash. It's also more convenient for you as a business.
Who Provides It?
If you've been given the runaround about finding credit card processing as a medical marijuana dispensary, it's probably because you are looking at the wrong providers. There are providers out there that specialize in working with businesses that other providers call high risk. These merchant account service providers can offer you medical marijuana dispensary credit card processing services that are affordable.
If you've recently been dropped by your merchant account provider, look for a medical marijuana dispensary credit card processing service that will gladly work with businesses in this market. If you can make certain beforehand that they don't have a problem with providing services for a medical marijuana dispensary, you can avoid the hassles that come with being dropped by your merchant account provider because they suddenly decided that your business was too controversial for them to be associated with.
The Fees
Not every merchant account provider that is willing to offer medical marijuana dispensary credit card processing services is going to charge you an outrageous fee for it. This is why it's worth your while to look for a merchant account provider that typically works with accounts that other banks would consider high-risk. Some of the other types of accounts that these providers will generally accept will include overseas businesses. Like medical marijuana dispensaries, some of these overseas businesses are outstanding in terms of how they are managed and in terms of the profitability but are treated as if they were fly-by-night operations by regular merchant account providers.
Depending upon what your merchant account provider needs, you may have to get a machine to accept credit card payments at your business. Sometimes, medical marijuana dispensary credit card processing can be done over an Internet interface, as well. It depends upon what the business providing your merchant account services wants to do and how they normally do business.
Having medical marijuana dispensary credit card processing services set up is a great way to make your business more accessible and more flexible for your customers. It's also affordable enough, provided you use the right merchant account provider, that any medical marijuana dispensary should be able to afford to set up the service. When your customers are able to pay with credit cards, they will likely be willing to make larger purchases and you will make it easier for them in terms of providing a way for them to get their medication, which is what running a medical marijuana dispensary is really all about. Having the right merchant account provider makes all this possible.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA LATEST ARTICLES:
Processing Credit Cards and Merchant Account Services for Medical Marijuana
Medical Marijuana Payment with Credit Cards
Medical Marijuana Dispensaries and Finding Credit Card Processing
Finding Credit Card Processing for Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Credit Card Processing and Medical Marijuana Dispensary Services
Dispensaries and Merchant Account Services Credit Cards for Medical Marijuana
Providing Credit Card Payment Services for Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Credit Card Payment Acceptance for Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
MEDICAL MARIJUANA LATEST NEWS:
Intuit Cancels Medical Marijuana Consultant’s Merchant Account
Posted on 23 February 2011 by Jim Walrod
Intuit, the financial software giant behind Quicken and Quickbooks, has revoked the merchant services account of Alternative Medical Choices Inc. (AMC), a medical clinic in Portland that offers consultations with doctors for the approval of medicinal cannabis use under Oregon law, claiming that service is an “unacceptable business practice”.
Iva Cunningham, owner of AMC, says her company had been approved for use of Intuit’s Merchant Services. The service allowed the clinic to bill for services by credit or debit card. The clinic had successfully billed for a number of appointments until Intuit informed Mrs. Cunningham they were terminating the account because AMC is “involved with medical marijuana”.
She explained to the Intuit representative that medical cannabis was not sold nor kept at the business.
Intuit responded that the decision to drop AMC was due to “unacceptable businesses practices”, charging that Cunningham had not mentioned medical marijuana in her application for services. She responded that nothing in Intuit’s application required that disclosure and that her service is a “medical consultation” and just one of many medical and educational services the clinic offers.
The Intuit rep continued to explain that they had discovered AMC’s involvement with medical marijuana by looking up the clinic’s web site. She asked why her clinic was being singled out and would they be shutting off the accounts of the 3,000 plus doctors in the state who have legally recommended medical cannabis use.
Intuit responded that they wouldn’t and that AMC’s case is different because medical marijuana is featured on the website. “So if we were to take down all reference to medical marijuana on our website, would you then reinstate our account?” Mrs. Cunningham wondered.
“No, because now we know,” was the Intuit rep’s reply.
Mrs. Cunningham contends that the choice by Intuit to terminate merchant services for a lawfully-operating medical clinic offering cannabis as a medical option is purely a moral prejudice that should not be tolerated. “If Intuit decided homosexuality and abortion were immoral and then terminated services with HIV/AIDS clinics and Planned Parenthood clinics, they’d be blasted for their intolerance,” she suggested.
“Our patients are suffering with cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, neuropathic pain and so on,” she continued. “For many patients it is the best treatment option and for some who are allergic to certain pharmaceuticals like me, it is the only option. We require extensive medical documentation of a legally-qualifying condition before the patient even sees the doctor. We deserve the same business respect as clinics that provide any consulting service, whether it’s weight loss counseling, couples therapy, or legal permission to use a medicinal herb.”
Intuit’s decision to reject medical marijuana referral clinics is just one financial service that has refused to do business with legal businesses that aren’t buying, selling, or growing cannabis.
Like to tell them what you think? Intuit’s Corporate Headquarters are located at 2632 Marine Way, Mountain View, CA 94043. They can be reached by telephone at 650-944-6000.
And best of all there are some dandy alternatives to their software packages.
Arizona’s Tough Medical Marijuana Dispensary Rules
Posted on 06 December 2010 by Jim Walrod
Now that Arizona voters have narrowly approved a ballot measure legalizing medical marijuana, state officials are preparing for a green rush of sorts. They expect to be inundated with up to thousands of applications from would-be marijuana dispensaries, and with only 124 spots approved statewide; the majority will have to be turned away.
Arizona’s medical marijuana measure won by just 4,341 votes this month of more than 1.67 million ballots counted, making the state the 15th to approve a medical marijuana law. Arizona officials are hoping to avoid the problems they perceive in other states, including California, where patients are reported receiving a pot recommendation from a doctor for having a headache. In Colorado, dispensaries opened without any regulation from state officials.
Arizona officials are currently considering three methods to decide who gets dispensary licenses and who will be turned away: Approve qualified applicants on a first-come, first-served basis, choose the winners from all applications using a lottery system, or closely examining each applicant and picking the 124 with the best business and security plans.
They say they are favoring the third and most time-consuming method. No matter the method, dispensary hopefuls will have to pay up to $5,000 to apply for a license. In their application, they’ll need to include addresses for their pot shops and offsite marijuana cultivation facilities, detailed security plans to prevent break-ins, procedures for accurate record-keeping, information about employees for background checks, a sworn statement that they’re meeting a given municipality’s zoning requirements, and a statement pledging they will not sell pot to anyone who isn’t a registered patient.
The department is working to post a draft of proposed requirements on December 17. Finalized rules will come out at the end of March after a public comment period.
Arizona’s measure will allow patients with diseases including cancer, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and any other chronic or debilitating disease that meets guidelines to buy 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks or grow a limited number of plants themselves if they live 25 miles from a dispensary. Patients must get a recommendation from their doctor and register with the state health department.
The limit of 124 dispensaries is based on the medical marijuana measure’s wording that says dispensaries will be limited to 10 percent of the number of pharmacies in the state, but that every one of Arizona’s 15 counties will have at least one dispensary.
Medical Marijuana Festival Coming To Michigan
Posted on 26 July 2010 by Jim Walrod
NOTE THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED KEEP CHECKING FOR UPDATES HERE AT NEWSPIRATES.COM
Plans continue to move forward for a huge medical marijuana expo at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan that will run from October 29th to the 31st. The expo, tagged health, Wellness and Cannabis Expo.
With a website already launched (www.harmonyharvestfest.com) and booth sales underway it is expected to be the largest event of its kind in the Midwest.
A similar event, The Indoor Garden Show, in Los Angeles this past June saw exhibitors and vendors from as far away as Amsterdam and huge crowds. The company putting the expo together say they expect the same vendors from the California expo will be participating in the Michigan event.
One of the daily seminars will be with Ed Rosenthal to speak and teach a 3 1/2 hour course each day of the Expo. Ed is a California horticulturist, author, publisher, and Cannabis grower known for his advocacy for the legalization of marijuana (cannabis as a drug) use. He served as a columnist for High Times Magazine during the 80s and 90s and is the author of the Bible of growing medical marijuana: “Ed Rosenthal’s Marijuana Grower’s Handbook
San Jose Medical Marijuana Show Success
Posted on 09 August 2010 by Jim Walrod
There was one thing you couldn’t do at the HempCon Medical Marijuana Show in San Jose, California: smoke marijuana.
But you could step across the street away from convention center South Hall, nestle back in the shade and light up — as dozens of devotees did.
The event was one of the increasing number of meetting of the minds where medical marijuana users, cannabis growers, paraphernalia peddlers and even insurance companies that specialize in coverage for the marijuana industry rubbed shoulders to help promote medical marijuana — and it was all legal.
Young people mingled with old. Counter culture types talked with the buttoned down. And anyone with a medical marijuana ID card was allowed entry to a marijuana goods emporium, which was screened off from the general crowd. There you could meet Magic Ellingson, also known as Henry Hemp, who wore a marijuana headdress, with a hole in the middle for his face, sniff various marijuana bud samples and edibles on display but not for sale.
“In the future, if it becomes legalized nationally, we will have a marijuana event,” instead of a trade show, said Matthew Fox, HempCon coordinator. Like most people there, Fox is a medical marijuana user, smoking it for “everything from stress to depression.” He insisted that the three-day show is all part of the movement to legalize marijuana for medical use in the U.S.
San Jose is in the midst of developing a licensing plan for medical marijuana dispensaries and the city council has placed a measure on the November ballot that would tax medicinal marijuana sales up to 10 percent, which would be the highest rate in the Bay Area.
But the three-day show, while steeped in politics, also allowed for a few giggles and the display of lots of novelty items from candy pipes that you can munch after smoking to refined technology for growing the medicinal herb.
Colorado County Bans Medical Marijuana
Posted on 22 December 2010 by Jim Walrod
One Colorado County has opted out of the state’s approval of medical marijuana use.
The Prowers County Commission unanimously passed a resolution prohibiting the operation of medical marijuana facilities.
“It is unlawful for any person to operate, cause to be operated, or permit to be operated a medical marijuana center, optional premises cultivation operation or facilities for which a medical marijuana-infused products manufacturers license could otherwise be obtained within the unincorporated portion of Prowers County and all such uses are hearby prohibited in any location in the unincorporated portion of Prowers County,” the resolution stated.
The new law applies to everything except private use. The county has prohibited the use of medical marijuana to the maximum of Colorado standards according to the county attorney.
The resolution is effective immediately.
The decision to ban the medical marijuana was made by the board because of the cost it would have incurred to place it on the ballot for a vote, Commissioner Gene Millbrand said.
The approximate cost would have been $20,000 and a previous vote had gone significantly against allowing the use of medical marijuana in Prowers County.
“It seemed frivolous to spend that extra money to put the ballot before the voters again,” Millbrand said.
Medical marijuana sellers can't take their money to the bank
Pot-sellers find few options for banking, accepting credit cards
By Susan Ladika
Conflict between state and federal laws over the legality of marijuana has left owners of medical marijuana dispensaries finding that their financial services can go up in smoke. They're caught in a legal gray area that makes big banks wary or downright hostile.
Alpine Herbal Wellness in Denver has been open just 10 months, and co-owner Sue Harank has already switched banks four times. Two banks and a credit union closed her account with just a couple of weeks' notice.
"It's been one heck of a nightmare," says Harank, who recently opened a bank account and switched her credit card account to Colorado Springs State Bank, the only bank in the state now openly offering accounts to those in the medical marijuana industry.
She's far from alone. "People have gotten their credit card accounts shut down without them even knowing it," Harank says.
And it's not just Colorado that's been hit. Don Duncan, California director of the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access and a member of the board of the medical marijuana collective Los Angeles Patients and Caregivers Group in West Hollywood, says his own account was shut down about a year ago, He's heard many similar stories around the state. "They just summarily close accounts. Banks are very unsure if it's OK to do business with medical cannabis organizations. It ripples out to credit card and merchant services accounts." merchant services accounts let vendors accept credit cards.
Federal, state laws conflict
The main sticking point is the clash between federal and state marijuana laws.
According to the lobbying group NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), 16 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical use. But the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use.
California and Colorado are far ahead of the pack when it comes to establishing medical marijuana dispensaries, with hundreds of these facilities in the two states.
Last spring, Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and 14 other members of Congress sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner seeking reassurance for financial institutions. Among the letter's signatories were Barney Frank, D-Mass., and former presidential candidate Ron Paul, R-Texas.
The two are co-sponsors of a bill to repeal the federal law that makes marijuana use a crime and instead allow states to decide whether to legalize the drug.
The letter to Geithner asks his office to "issue formal written guidance for financial institutions assuring that Department priorities do not include targeting or pursuing institutions whose account holders are involved in a business ostensibly operating in compliance with a state medical marijuana law."
No response has been received, Duncan says.
In contrast, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder issued a memo in October 2009 telling federal prosecutors they "should not focus federal resources in your states on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana."
Big banks back away
Yet many banks are either hesitant to enter the fray or have backed away after initially offering accounts to medical marijuana dispensaries.
A representative of Wells Fargo, which previously offered accounts to such businesses, said in a statement to CreditCards.com: "In view of the complex, inconsistent legal environment relating to medical marijuana dispensaries, Wells Fargo Regional Banking has opted not to bank these businesses.
"While medical marijuana dispensaries are legal in some states, they are still illegal under federal law. The policy extends to all medical marijuana dispensaries, and based on our customer information, we have advised all such businesses that bank with us that they will need to close their deposit accounts. Additionally, it has been our policy not to provide merchant card processing services to businesses of this type."
Entrepreneurs see budding opportunity
Instead, smaller companies are stepping in to fill the merchant card processing gap.
In January, MarijuanaPOS.com, based in Los Angeles, announced it was offering merchant account services, with a focus on providing debit and credit card processing services to the medical marijuana industry.
Jesse Cretaro, marketing director for MarijuanaPOS.com, said the company has been in business around six months and has about a dozen medical marijuana collectives signed up for its services.
He said his company works with banks that accept high-risk clients, even though he thinks the higher risk is "going into a (medical marijuana) collective and paying cash," which can be a lure for robbers.
Martin Khemmoro, executive vice president of Direct Bancard of Livonia, Mich., which also provides services to the medical marijuana industry, says some of the merchant services processors his company works with are overseas.
He's found some medical marijuana dispensaries bill themselves as a vitamin shop or herbal shop in order to get financial services.
Khemmoro says his business processes credit card payments, handles gift cards and rewards, along with point-of-sale systems to keep track of inventory, patients and sales.
Smaller banks better prospects
Lance Ott, chief executive officer of Guardian Data Systems in Thousand Oaks, Calif., says smaller domestic banks and credit unions may be more likely than larger financial institutions to service the medical marijuana industry. Though in some cases, bigger banks will essentially grandfather in existing accounts, but not accept new ones. "There's a huge stigma associated with the industry."
Guardian Data Systems offers services such as credit card and debit card processing, gift and loyalty card programs, online payment processing for merchandise -- such as clothing -- financial reporting and inventory tracking.
For the past three years, Ott's been "trying to offer honest, secure services to an emerging industry," and he says he only works with those businesses that are licensed and set up properly under state law.
That matches the desire of people like Duncan and Harank. Duncan says clinics that are on the up and up want to "operate with transparency." But all the controversy over financial services "forces banking into the shadows."
Merchant service accounts often are administered through third parties and tend to come under less scrutiny than banks, he says.
Harank says when she switched her bank account to Colorado Springs State Bank, she also brought the bank her credit card business, rather than remaining with a third-party processor.
"Accepting credit cards is critical for our business," she says, as they serve as a convenience for customers. One recent day, every transaction at Alpine Herbal Wellnessx was done via credit card.
Duncan says, "We just want to obey the law and do what's normal. At the end of the day, we're all going to be better off if the cash is in the bank and not tucked under a mattress somewhere."
Published: February 8, 2011