When Will Colorado Dispensaries Finally be Able to Accept Cards?

Since Colorado legalized the sale, possession, and consumption of marijuana for medical and recreational purposes for adults, dispensaries have been popping up all over the state and have been making vast amounts of revenue.

If you’ve been to one of these dispensaries you more than likely had to pay in cash or grab some cash from an ATM beforehand. Because marijuana is still federally illegal, banks and credit card companies will typically not be able to process payments of this nature.

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However, a bill that would change all of this has moved one step closer to becoming law.

What is the Bill that Would Allow Colorado Dispensaries to Take Credit Cards?

The bill, which was initially introduced roughly a decade ago, is known as the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act, or SAFER Banking Act. If passed, the bill would allow dispensaries to accept payments via credit cards, as well as other banking-related things like keeping payroll and deposit accounts.

The main reason for the bill is the fact that these dispensaries are forced to have massive amounts of cash on hand, which makes them a target for theft and other criminal activity.

On Wednesday, September 27, 2023, the SAFER Banking Act finally moved to the United States Senate after the Senate Banking Committee voted for it to move forward. Prior to this landmark vote, the bill had been sitting stagnant with the committee for roughly five years.

However, this is just the first in numerous steps needed to be taken before dispensaries will be allowed to operate like other small businesses as far as financial matters are concerned, as it must now pass the Senate, then the House of Representatives must pass it, after which it will land on the desk of the President.

For now, dispensaries will still have to accept cash, or in some rare instances, debit cards, but a solution appears to be on the horizon.