Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (REFG)
Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (REFG), headquartered in Cheyenne, Wyoming, is a first-tier merchant processing cannabis industry pioneer, offering one of the first and only comprehensive card processing operations of its kind to serve the state-sanctioned medical marijuana industry. The company's state of the art system, which also tracks sales and tax collection, and eliminates the need to deal in cash-only transactions.
Through its robust, closed-loop merchant processing system, the company's unique "StateSourced" proprietary system enables authorized operation under FinCEN parameters and complies with all regulatory frameworks. StateSourced is tailored to deliver full-spectrum merchant processing services, providing the convenience of modern commercial card processing resources and making it the first operation of its kind geared to the legal cannabis industry.
With an eye on emerging markets, Net Element is pursuing growth opportunities and footholds in a number of industries. The company's most recent application of its technology is to the cannabis industry, which is paced to hit $591 million and could increase 40 times in the next four years. This rampant growth also creates heightened need for smooth transactions between merchants and consumers. Payment processing and compliance for the cannabis industry has become increasingly complex, and Net Element's Unified Payments subsidiary is addressing the challenges by offering a compliant, seamlessly integrated payment solution that makes it simple to transact.
StateSourced is not a prepaid or gift card, which is an important variable for merchants since standard banking institutions have not offered this form of payment processing to the legal cannabis industry. Federal law still considers marijuana illegal under the Controlled Substances Act, although 29 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the plant either for medicinal or recreational uses or both. This restriction has kept financial institutions at bay since most banks are federally insured and haven't been inclined to venture into the nascent industry.
Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions is able to offer its StateSourced card on a state-by-state basis where the card can be used in purchasing product from a legal, authorized vendor, providing a much-needed option for consumers and businesses alike. In another first, the company is collaborating with First Bitcoin Capital Corporation to integrate First Bitcoin's cryptocurrency ($Weed) with Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions' StateSourced payment gateway. This collaboration will allow state-licensed marijuana establishments across the nation to accept both StateSourced debit cards and cryptocurrencies such as WeedCoin and Bitcoin.
Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions president and CEO Jeremy Roberts and his executive team are working with state lawmakers to introduce legislation in an effort to address the growing problems in banking for the medical cannabis industry. For companies in the emerging legal cannabis industry, where retail and non-retail transactions such as vendor payments and payroll are almost exclusively paid for with cash, the solutions offered by StateSourced can help businesses avoid the inherent risks associated with a cash-intensive sector. Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions has also signed its first StateSourced contract with a Las Vegas-based vertically integrated marijuana establishment.
"We've completed our transition from development stage to revenue stage," says Roberts. "We have just started our business development efforts and the market is responding very well. We anticipate having many more, similar releases."
Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions provides end-to-end management across multiple systems for medicinal marijuana operations. The company solves the fragmentation problem experienced by many of these rapidly growing companies by identifying tools that are important to dispensaries and customizing those tools to meet the specific needs of this unique industry.
