Senators Urge FinCEN to Expand Guidance Regarding Marijuana Businesses

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 4, 2017 / With eight more states recently voting to allow or expand some form of legal cannabis use, ten members of the U.S. Senate have wisely appealed to FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) to issue further guidance to financial institutions regarding the ability to provide financial services. Yes, one can make an argument depending on your side of the aisle as to whether or not the word wisely can be used when referencing the US Senate however, in this case, we stand firmly with them regarding this request.

Like it or not Cannabis, or let’s just say it… Marijuana is here to stay. It is an emerging industry that is being legitimized by voters, investors, entrepreneurs, innovation and technology; not to mention the tens of thousands of jobs, tens of millions in tax revenue and billions in economic activity in the U.S.

IN 2014, FinCEN and the DOJ did issue guidance regarding legalized marijuana businesses and the financial industry, however they made no distinction between state sanctioned marijuana businesses and the indirect businesses that service or support the marijuana industry. That’s a real problem that has resulted in the resounding denial of banking services for legal cannabis support merchants. So lawyers, landlords, security companies, online directories, software providers and any other vertical that has any tie whatsoever to the marijuana industry is subject to indiscriminate closure or outright denial of financial services. Lacking clarity from FinCEN, the vast majority of federally regulated banks have declined to offer bank accounts, merchant accounts, and investment services siting “reputational risk” while fearing unknown repercussions. Complicating the collection of state and federal taxes while simultaneously welcoming robberies and other criminal activity, these legitimate, indirect businesses have essentially been forced underground into a cash environment by the simple denial of banking services.

MIDsource is a global gateway and merchant accounts provider. “We work with some of the best banks and credit card processing companies all around the world,” says Greg Augustine, CEO and Co-founder of MIDsource. He goes on to say, “Collectively, as an industry we just need clarity from FinCEN and hopefully they will realize that our ability to offer credit card processing services to these indirect marijuana service businesses under clearly defined parameters will have a positive economic impact for the country.” Hopefully FinCEN will respond and issue positive guidance to the U.S. Senate without delay.

MIDsource (www.gomidsource.com) offers Merchant Accounts, Gateways, Virtual Terminals, ACH Processing and
Chargeback Mitigation Tools for retail and e-commerce merchants everywhere. With an extensive network and banking relationships domestically and internationally, we pride ourselves in our ability to obtain direct merchant accounts and processing solutions for merchants worldwide.

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SOURCE: MIDsource

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