AFP, New York :
Credit unions are the fuddy-duddies of US finance: unimaginative community banks that shy from risk, leaving the sexy business to the big-time Wall Street banks.
But one business that the big banks find way too risky is proving to be manna from heaven for credit unions: marijuana.
The industry of pot for recreational or medical use, newly legal in parts of the United States, has a big problem: how to handle huge amounts of cash rolling in when banks, conscious that federal laws still deem marijuana illegal, won’t take the chance to let the marijuana growers and vendors open accounts.
That’s where credit unions, essentially local savings banks that do home, car and small business loans, come in. With many only regulated by state authorities, they are opening their doors to marijuana entrepreneurs, helping to buoy what is projected to become a $20 billion industry by 2020.
Mostly concentrated in the US Northwest, the marijuana business has been frozen out by regular banks, which are closely regulated by Washington and could lose their licenses if they are involved in illegal business.
That forces legal pot purveyors to carry around large amounts of cash for salaries, supplies, rents and tax payments. They can’t make electronic transfers or write checks.
Credit unions are the fuddy-duddies of US finance: unimaginative community banks that shy from risk, leaving the sexy business to the big-time Wall Street banks.
But one business that the big banks find way too risky is proving to be manna from heaven for credit unions: marijuana.
The industry of pot for recreational or medical use, newly legal in parts of the United States, has a big problem: how to handle huge amounts of cash rolling in when banks, conscious that federal laws still deem marijuana illegal, won’t take the chance to let the marijuana growers and vendors open accounts.
That’s where credit unions, essentially local savings banks that do home, car and small business loans, come in. With many only regulated by state authorities, they are opening their doors to marijuana entrepreneurs, helping to buoy what is projected to become a $20 billion industry by 2020.
Mostly concentrated in the US Northwest, the marijuana business has been frozen out by regular banks, which are closely regulated by Washington and could lose their licenses if they are involved in illegal business.
That forces legal pot purveyors to carry around large amounts of cash for salaries, supplies, rents and tax payments. They can’t make electronic transfers or write checks.
