Marijuana Shops Can’t Take American Express or Deposit in Banks

Every month, Elliott Klug or one of his business partners walks into the Colorado Revenue Department with a messenger bag holding thousands of dollars in cash and watches as state employees start counting.

Klug, co-founder of PinkHouse Blooms LLC, a chain of five medical-marijuana dispensaries in Denver, has to pay his sales taxes in cash because federal law bars banks from offering accounts to pot shops, even as Colorado allows and taxes them.

“It highlights the awkward situation we’ve been placed in,” Klug, 36, said by telephone. “We are paying taxes, but despite our best efforts to be good citizens, we’re still paying in cash.”

Colorado is among 18 states that allow the medical use of marijuana, and 11 that permit sales through dispensaries like Klug’s. But federal law labels the drug a controlled substance and requires banks to report related transactions as suspicious activity. The inconsistency creates a gray area for dispensary operators, who have to choose between operating as a cash-only business, susceptible to robbery, or finding creative ways to open checking accounts and accept credit and debit cards.

“They’re encouraging cash operations, which are a threat to public safety, and much more difficult to track and audit,” Aaron Smith, executive director of the Washington-based National Cannabis Industry Association, said by telephone, referring to the conflicting rules.

Dispensaries pay federal, state and local taxes, in addition to state and local licensing fees “that often run up to tens of thousands of dollars annually” and many government agencies don’t accept cash, Smith said.

Seeking ‘Solution’
“We’re just looking for a solution where we can bank legitimately like any other industry,” Smith said. “Wherever you stand on the marijuana issue, it serves everybody’s interest to have banking access.”

Klug said that until 2011 he had checking accounts with Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), which “welcomed us with open arms and then changed their minds.”

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets, “opted not to bank these businesses in view of the complex and inconsistent legal environment,” Jim Seitz, a spokesman, said by e-mail. The bank conducts regular internal reviews and “if we identify a situation in which a policy is not being followed correctly, we act accordingly,” he said.

Klug now uses cash to pay about $45,000 a year in licensing fees to the state and remits about $35,000 a month in sales taxes to Denver and the state.

Innocent-Sounding
Some dispensaries get around the rules by setting up a shell business with an innocent-sounding name and not divulging that it’s tied to medical marijuana, said Dale Gieringer, director of the California office of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a pro-pot group. California was the first state to legalize medical-marijuana use in 1996.

“As long as the bank doesn’t find out, you should be safe,” Gieringer said by telephone. “Or you can use a family account or a personal account. Some people have another business on the side and they use that account.”

If the subterfuge is discovered, “the bank terminates services with no explanation,” Gieringer said.

Bank officials say they are complying with federal law.

At Wells Fargo, “our policy of not banking marijuana dispensaries is based on applicable federal laws and our own assessment of our responsibility,” said Seitz, the bank’s spokesman.

Credit Cards
Similarly, American Express Co. (AXP), the biggest U.S. credit-card issuer by customer purchases, “has made a decision to not allow card acceptance for medical marijuana,” Sanette Chao, a spokeswoman for the New York-based company, said by e-mail. “It is our policy to adhere to federal law in such matters.”

Some financial institutions look the other way.

“There are some locally owned banks that medical marijuana companies are utilizing,” Daria Serna, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Revenue Department, said by e-mail.

Banks risk losing their deposit insurance or their federal charter if they violate the law, said Robert Rowe, senior counsel at the American Bankers Association, a Washington-based industry trade group.

Under federal law aimed at preventing money laundering, “banks are supposed to know their customers,” Rowe said by telephone. “One of the expectations is banks will do some checking into their customer and what kind of business they are doing.”

Marijuana Shops Can’t Take American Express or Deposit in Banks, 10.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating