POSaBIT Rolls Out Mobile POS For Cannabis Merchants

FinTech firm POSaBIT is hoping to solve the problem of mobile payments for the fast-growing cannabis industry by delivering a unique blockchain-enabled payment processing and point of sale (POS) system. 

The new fully compliant system will focus on the marijuana industry and will roll out across medical and recreational cannabis states. The handheld device allows for mobile delivery and could extend across the 25-plus states that allow marijuana delivery, the company said in a July 30 press release. POSaBIT’s system will also work with other cash-only businesses. 

“Delivery is one of the fastest-growing segments of the cannabis industry and an area that many dispensaries are moving toward,” said Ryan Hamlin, POSaBIT CEO and co-founder. “Our fully compliant solution allows businesses to feature a state-of-the-art retail customer experience for both in-store and delivery, while also providing in-depth business analytics and increased revenues for businesses.”

The all-in-one handheld device seamlessly allows dispensaries and affiliated delivery drivers to scan the consumer ID, process the purchase of the product, add a tip for the delivery driver and print a receipt.

POSaBIT, based in Seattle, already manages millions of transactions for over 120 dispensaries across Washington, California, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and Oklahoma.

Even though legal marijuana industry keeps gaining traction — according to one official state estimate, the market in California alone will reach at least $5.1 billion by 2020 — the industry is largely cash-based. The next year or so could see federal law offer safe harbor to financial institutions that service the pot industry, which in turn would spark more payments innovation and participation.

In May, Nevada authorized what the Associated Press called a “limited marijuana banking system” for the state, where recreational cannabis is legal. The three-year pilot program is intended to ease the payments situation for the local cannabis industry and create an online system for digital currency. According to the report, state Treasurer Zach Conine “likened the system to gift cards or digital wallet apps, such as Venmo, and said the program would not include broader banking services like loans.”