When you’re exploring cannabis payment processing options for your dispensary or delivery service, it’s crucial to make the right platform decision. Whether its medical marijuana payment processing or adult-use marijuana payment solutions, it is vitally important to research software and hardware compatibility, customer records integration, and state regulatory compliance. Because cash is still king in marijuana sales, many dispensary owners and managers may not know what questions to ask about cannabis credit card payment processing options. That’s OK because we’re providing some guidelines for you.
The Right Tools for a Marijuana Merchant Account
Selecting the right cannabis payment processor can be challenging. Many offer similar services, but what sets a good company apart from one that may keep you awake at night? First, because marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, credit card companies do not permit traditional credit card processing. In fact, Visa®, MasterCard®, and American Express® do not provide merchant codes for marijuana sales. If a processing company representative tries to tell you otherwise, you may want to consider a different merchant account provider. Using incorrect merchant codes can backfire, often resulting in the account’s cancellation. Fortunately, BLAZEPAY offers a seamless, far less risky, and integrated solution for cannabis credit card processing or debit with a pin in dispensaries.
1. Point of Banking
The first thing you need to know is whether a processing company provides a Point of Banking system for card-based transactions. Point of Banking systems, commonly known as a “cashless ATM” enable customers to use their debit card or a credit card with a pin by making withdrawals from their accounts. It’s essentially an ATM withdrawal without utilizing actual cash. Instead, a receipt voucher is generated that communicates with the dispensary’s POS system. If a sale comes to $54.00 and the customer withdraws $55.00, they receive $1.00 in change from the budtender, and the voucher is placed in the register.
2. Transparency and Reputation
Is the processing company upfront and candid about their fees? Are they immersed in the marijuana community and understand our unique needs? Have they abruptly terminated marijuana merchant accounts, and if so, can they provide good reasons for doing so? Are they a U.S. company, or are they a foreign, off-shore entity? Do they answer your questions in a friendly, straight forward way and actively partner with you to quickly solve any issues? These are just a few critical elements to consider when selecting a qualified payment processing company.
3. POS Integration
Does the payment processing software work with a Point of Sale platform? BLAZEPAY integrates with the current BLAZE Retail cash drawer to account for money as it leaves the drawer. This process reduces human error and helps ensure accurate numbers at the end of the shift. Tracking is simplified as every payment generates a corresponding transaction ID, and automatic nightly batching is sent directly to the merchant’s bank account.
4. Reliability
What is their history of service outages, and will they openly share that information with you? To avoid unwanted downtime, BLAZEPAY utilizes multiple processors to ensure high availability for payment processing. To reduce the risk of in-store hardware issues, BLAZEPAY uses industry-leading terminals made by Dejavoo.
5. Scalability
In addition to reliability, is the payment platform scalable? This certainly comes into play when an owner has multiple locations. The last thing he or she needs is different payment processing systems at each dispensary. Reconciling different payment platforms is frustrating, but it also wastes valuable time better spent on growing the business.
We bake scalability and reliable integration into the BLAZE family of services, including BLAZEPAY. According to BLAZE CEO Chris Violas, “We’re thrilled to provide a payment platform to customers! Cashless ATM is the first of many payment options that we are integrating directly into the BLAZE Retail Point of Sale (POS).”
In any business, working with a trusted partner is indelibly important. This is especially true in the cannabis industry, as regulations and compliance processes continuously change. For both dispensary and mobile orders, BLAZEPAY provides a robust and secure platform for better managing your cash flow, increasing cashless sales, and, most importantly, improving profit margins. When customers can rely on using their debit or credit cards for in-store or delivery purchases, the data indicates they spend more per transaction. We encourage you to consider implementing a Point of Banking system to better serve your customers and increase efficiencies. We take pride in our open and collaborative customer relationships, especially when it comes to cannabis payment processing with BLAZEPAY. There are many cannabis credit card payment processing companies out there, and let’s explore how we may be the best choice for you.
