“If the act was to be passed, it will certainly improve cannabis banking - however, it will not be a universal solution to the existing challenges, and roadblocks will remain,” says Kevin Hart, CEO of Green Check Verified. The company helps to build trusting relationships between financial institutions and legal cannabis businesses to facilitate growth while minimizing the time, cost, and risk required to maintain compliance. “In the past year, demand for our solution has increased dramatically, especially as the news surrounding the SAFE Banking Act has continued to remain in flux.”
Kevin Hart
Reaching the full potential
So what is it exactly that the company does? “We’ve developed a suite of cutting edge cannabis-focused regulatory banking software and service solutions, underscored by a data-driven approach that provides cannabis brands with the insights and economic support to help efficiently scale their businesses and reach their full potential,” Hart explains.
The GCV team is made up of experts with a deep understanding of cannabis banking, regulations, and compliance, giving organizations an advanced SaaS banking solution that’s helping them grow their businesses. “Through this solution, banks and credit unions are able to develop an end-to-end cannabis banking program built on a foundation of efficiency, transparency, and scalability for long-term success.”
Their platform is powered by a compliance rules engine, which serves as the preventative control for financial institutions. This automatically verifies sales and inventory data against applicable cannabis rules and regulations, helping customers determine what’s compliant on a state-by-state basis. “Through our software solution, Green Check Verified’s customers are able to manage all of their banking activities in one place, sharing updates, automating interpretation and analysis, sending new documents, and satisfying reporting requirements directly into the platform. It also allows financial institutions to interface directly with cannabis-related businesses, ensuring that no suspicious activity goes undetected.”
The influence of the SAFE Banking Act
Hart explains that the demand for their solution has increased dramatically in the past year, especially as the news surrounding the SAFE Banking Act has continued to remain in flux. “With the legislation now up in the air, many cannabis-related businesses across the country are facing the fact that there simply may not be enough bipartisan support for the act to be passed. If the act was to be passed, it will certainly improve cannabis banking - however it will not be a universal solution to the existing challenges, and roadblocks will remain.”
“The passage of the bill will make it smoother for CRBs to get businesses off the ground, but even if and when it passes, it doesn’t give a clear sense of what the new rules will be. The SAFE Act doesn’t mean that strict cannabis compliance and regulatory laws will suddenly disappear, it just simply codifies current rules and regulations that banks and CRBs will continue having to navigate. Business-wise, technology will continue to be the key in ensuring compliance, and the financial institutions will still need our support and solutions to overcome these obstacles.”
The most pressing challenge
According to Hart, financial institutions and cannabis-related businesses are currently facing many challenges. “There is a widespread misconception within traditional banks that cannabis remains a highly scrutinized industry to partner with. However, the most pressing challenge is the ever-changing market, regulatory, and operational conditions that occur within the cannabis space. We address these issues around differing state-by-state policies by utilizing its compliance rules engine, which automatically verifies sales and inventory data against applicable cannabis rules and regulations as new legislation is put in place. This helps customers determine what is compliant on a state-by-state basis, streamlining the regulatory process.”
“For institutions with existing manual or semi-automated programs, we are able to dramatically reduce the compliance burden by automating the most time-consuming processes related to onboarding, transactions, account monitoring, and reporting. Green Check Verified’s software also helps the financial providers shorten the process to understand how to stay within the regulations of their jurisdiction, and navigate unknown territory if they are funding a cannabis-related business in another state,” adds Hart.
Expanding the business
To date, 85 financial institutions have signed with Green Check Verified, which expanded their growth to over 2,000 unique cannabis-related businesses on the platform which is connected to these 85 financial institutions. In addition to this growth, the company has expanded the team by 50 percent in order to accommodate the demanding need for their services. “Next year, we are looking forward to expanding our services into new states across the country, as well as adding additional financial institutions as customers. As the industry continues to mature, these positive developments will hopefully demonstrate to cannabis businesses across the country that regulations are changing and the misconceptions surrounding the cannabis industry will soon be obsolete. Our mission is to continue being a key partner in helping to bring cannabis to that next level in order for the industry to realize its full potential, whether that be through banking, lifting prohibition, or legislation.”
For more information:
Green Check Verified
www.greencheckverified.com