Cannabis Banking Is Happening Despite No Official Legislation In Place
J. Samuel, 19 July 2021
There has been an increase of banks and credits unions that have spoken on working with cannabis businesses. In recent times reports have come out about how these financial institutes have remained stable over the last quarter. This updated info has come from published federal data.
Going back from the last 3 quarters of 2020 those states have been falling consistently. This is partially happening because of overhauled reporting requirements from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. As well this is also due to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet things seem to have been sustainable over the most recent two quarters.
From March 31, there were 684 banks and credit unions that filed reports stating they were working with marijuana businesses. That’s the same number from the prior quarter, even though it still has not climbed back up to its peak of 747 in late 2019.
A significant cause for the prior drop in 2020 was the FinCEN. This organization is part of the Treasury Department, which has stopped including hemp-only businesses in their quarterly reports. This has been happening since the crop was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill. Which has contributed towards a piece of the dip as compared to prior numbers that counted hemp-focused accounts.
