With federal banking still out of reach, Gov. Jared Polis unveiled new strategies Monday to entice Colorado banks, credit unions and money transmitters to work with cannabis companies and become leaders in providing financial services to marijuana and hemp businesses.
Polis’s plan renews the state’s commitment to creating a regulatory landscape that affords cannabis businesses access to services widely available to other legal industries, while offering financial institutions support to navigate the industry’s federal grey area.
Because marijuana remains a controlled substance under federal law, Colorado’s dispensaries, cultivations and other businesses have been prohibited from obtaining conventional financial services, such as lines of credits or loans, and the ability to accept credit cards.
