MasterCard moves to prohibit cannabis purchases on debit cards

MasterCard has told financial institutions to stop allowing marijuana transactions on their debit cards, a blow to an industry that is already on the outskirts of the US financial system.

Since marijuana is still illegal on a federal level despite several states legalizing it for medicinal and recreational purposes, the majority of banks in the nation do not provide banking services to cannabis businesses.

A MasterCard spokesperson claimed on Wednesday that, after becoming aware of the situation, they launched an immediate investigation. The team gave orders to the financial institutions that connect cannabis merchants to MasterCard and provide payment services to them to stop the activity in accordance with MasterCard’s policies.

The spokesperson explained that since the federal government views the sale of cannabis as illegal, no purchases were permitted through their systems.

In a statement, the CEO of Sunburn Cannabis, Brady Cobb, said that this action was yet another setback for the state-legal cannabis market and for patients and consumers who wanted to take advantage of this emerging market.

The head of the marijuana company Verano, Darren Weiss, promised to continue advocating for cannabis reform in Washington through further discussions with elected officials and stakeholders to advance discussions promoting the expansion of secure, legal cannabis across the US.

Republican Senator John Cornyn referred to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's proposal to pass a marijuana banking bill as wishful thinking earlier this month.

A key piece of legislation that would facilitate the cannabis industry's access to banking services is the SAFE Banking Act.