Payqwick: the debit card for buying cannabis

You read that right: Payqwick is a debit card used exclusively to purchase cannabis—whether medical or recreational—in Washington State. In fact, it’s the only way in the state to buy cannabis with a card; the banks staying away from the cannabis industry.

In the United States, cannabis is indeed illegal at the federal level but is sometimes legal at the state level. Banks operating at the federal level are therefore very reluctant to handle funds from cannabis sales, as this could land them in legal trouble. With the strong growth in the cannabis industry, she finds creative ways to overcome her obstacles.

Until now, patients had to bring cash to their clinics. Clinics sometimes provide ATMs for patients, but withdrawals may incur fees for customers.

PayQwick is now the only financial services company authorized to work with the cannabis industry and approved by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions.

Cardholders can now pay at health clinics without having any cash on them, discreetly, without providing any personal information to the clinic, and at no cost. The money is loaded onto the card and is not linked to their personal bank account. PayQwick also lets you send money to anyone with just an email address.

Until the U.S. Government Legalizes Cannabis Nationwide, banks will not be able to do business with the cannabis industry. Other solutions have also emerged, such as GreenStar Payment Solutions, a Denver-based company that operates in the same way as PayQwick, or Serica, which operates based on the blockchain, the Bitcoin algorithm.