Popular payment processor for the CBD industry recently notified all of their e-commerce customers who sell cannabidiol that they will no longer be able to process Visa payments at the end of the month.
Since the beginning of May, many CBD business had yet another obstacle thrown in their path when they were notified by Evalon – a commonly used credit card processor for the industry – that they could no longer accept Visa payments on their sites. Although some have already stopped accepting Visa payments, other companies claim they have two weeks before they will be forced to find a new payment processor.
While this does give them a bit of cushion, finding a reliable and affordable company to process payments can be a daunting task when you’re working with cannabis products. CBD businesses have had a notoriously difficult time maintaining regular access to banking and payment processing services.
What’s more, Visa is the largest credit card issuer in the world with 323 million cardholders, many of which might have to find another CC to purchase their CBD products. Business owners we have spoken to claim that nearly 70 percent of their transactions are Visa purchases.
Hopefully it will be a smooth transition for those in the industry, who have everything riding on the success of their businesses. For now, we will continue to cover this developing story to keep our readers updated with the most accurate information on the topic. With expected passage of the SAFE banking act, and PayPal’s newfound openness to the industry, ideally, CBD merchants won’t have to deal with this breed of financial uncertainty for much longer.
Please note that this is only impacting online businesses at the moment. It’s undetermined if or when brick and mortar stores will be affected.
This is a major “earthquake” for the CBD industry, unfortunate that it harms the legit players just as it harms the “snake oil” companies.