Washington, DC: Just over 800 financial institutions have filed paperwork with the federal government to provide services to state-licensed cannabis businesses, according to the latest quarterly data available from the US Department of the Treasury.
This total remains nearly unchanged since the fourth quarter of 2019, when 789 banks and credit unions filed paperwork with the agency.
In total, fewer than ten percent of all financial institutions nationwide provide services to state-licensed cannabis businesses.
Federal law discourages banks and other financial institutions from facilitating relationships with cannabis-related businesses because marijuana remains classified as a Schedule I controlled substance. On seven occasions, members of the US House of Representatives have passed legislation (aka SAFE Banking) to explicitly permit banks and other institutions to engage in relationships with marijuana businesses. However, Senate leadership has never advanced this language to the floor for consideration.
Last fall, President Donald Trump indicated in a Truth Social post that, if elected, he would work with Congress to enact reforms at the federal level, including the passage of SAFE Banking. Federal lawmakers have yet to reintroduce the legislation this session.
According to survey data compiled by Whitney Economics, over 70 percent of participating cannabis businesses say that the “lack of access to banking or investment capital” is their top challenge.
NORML has repeatedly called upon Congress to amend federal banking legislation, opining: “No industry can operate safely, transparently or effectively without access to banks or other financial institutions, and it is self-evident that the players in this industry (smaller and minority-owned businesses in particular), and those consumers that are served by it, will remain severely hampered without better access to credit and financing.”
Additional information is available from the Department of the Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.