NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 16: Traders work on of the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) September 16, 2008 in New York City. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met today and announced they will hold the federal funds rate at 2.0 percent, despite the recent turmoil among investment banks on Wall Street. U.S. stocks were mixed following yesterday's Dow Jones Industrial Average plunge of 4.4% or 504 points, being the worst single day loss since the terrorist attacks of September 2001. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

How the cannabis industry could act as a catalyst for the evolution of our stagnant banking system

The banking industry has “reef effect,” says Lamine Zarrad, a former banking examiner who now heads a mobile payment startup in the cannabis space.

The modern bank can be considered a dilapidated structure teeming with life from the “vibrant ecosystem of finance,” he says.

Enter the cannabis industry as a new species joining the fray.

Zarrad, who heads payment company Tokken, joins The Cannabist Show to discuss how the cannabis industry could force an evolution of the banking industry.

“You have this archaic system that couldn’t support the life of the species,” Zarrad says, referencing the banking collapse of nearly a decade ago. “And I think human history sort of shows that those large, archaic monstrosities … need a serious nudge to move in a direction of evolution. And I think the cannabis industry could be that catalyst.”

Cannabis presents a risk that banks cannot account for and analyze effectively, he says, adding that if those in the industry create a series of banking models — it could force wide-scale changes.

Watch the full episode of The Cannabist Show

Subscribe to The Cannabist Show podcast:

Subscribe with iTunes

Subscribe with Pocket Casts

Subscribe with Stitcher

Subscribe on Google Play Music

Subscribe via RSS