One of the biggest headaches for cannabis companies is the scarcity of banks willing to take their cash cash deposits, which are substantial given the nature of the business. Sundie Seefried, CEO and president of Partner Colorado Credit Union located in Denver, Colorado, has built a full-scope cannabis-banking program, its Safe Harbor Private Banking division, which was launched in 2015. One of its clients is LivWell Enlightened Health, one of the largest cannabis companies in Colorado, according to Credit Union Journal.
According to American Banker, the credit union, which has 70 clients running about $500mm each year through it, also provides services to Colorado Harvest Company, which generated $7mm in sales last year. The company gladly pays $2500 a month just to have a deposit account, according to owner Tim Cullen. The credit union charges a monthly fee of 0.3% of deposits, with a $3500 per month cap. The extra work required to service the accounts leads to these higher fees for cannabis companies, as almost 25% of the credit union’s 40 employees devote their full time to servicing these clients, which represent about 5% of the deposits.
Read John Engen’s “Dangerous Haze: Banking Is Not Yet Going to Pot”: http://www.americanbanker.com/news/law-regulation/dangerous-haze-banking-is-not-yet-going-to-pot-1090464-1.html?zkPrintable=1&nopagination=1
