<p>As cannabis becomes more and more popular in our everyday lives, making a trip to the dispensary has become more of a regular thing for a lot of folks. Buying weed at the dispensary has become so ordinary that a lot of people have forgotten that cannabis is still considered a federally illegal substance. Yes, some cannabis dispensaries do accept credit card as a form of payment but that doesn't mean they're following the rules to do so. Even though cannabis isn't federally legal and there are no set processes to accept credit card payment for marijuana products, dispensary operators have figured out solutions to just that.</p>
<p>Cannabis is considered a Schedule I substance by the US government. Being a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, means that it has a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision. Since weed isn't technically legal, the credit card companies and banks don't want to touch it. That's why dispensary owners have to go through alternative solutions to be able to provide their customers the ability to pay with a credit card.</p>
<h2 id="0">Do Dispensaries Take Credit Cards?<br /><br /><img title="https://res.cloudinary.com/timj111/image/upload/v1675313573/articles/x0vjdk262drcxjaac0ig.jpg" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/timj111/image/upload/v1675313573/articles/x0vjdk262drcxjaac0ig.jpg" alt="Dispensary taking a credit card" width="250" height="250" /></h2>
<p>Yes, some cannabis dispensaries in America do accept credit cards. It's not an easy process for them, but they manage to get it done. Customers love using credit cards to shop, so accepting credit cards as a payment method open your business up to a lot more revenue. You may wonder how these dispensaries are able to accept credit cards if cannabis is not federally legal, and we have the answers.&nbsp;</p>
<h2 id="1">Some Ways Dispensaries Accept Credit Card Payments</h2>
<h3 id="2">Using a Different Merchant Category Code</h3>
<p>When signing up with Visa or Mastercard, you must provide all kinds of business information. One of the required fields of information is called a Merchant category code (MCC). The MCC is what is used to determine your business type and the interchange rates to charge you. Visa &amp; Mastercard do not have a MCC for cannabis related businesses, as it's still federally illegal and they don't want to get involved with it.</p>
<p>Dispensary owners who are accepting credit card payments may have attached another MCC to their account when signing up. Common alternatives that cannabis businesses use include code 5999 (which is for Miscellaneous Retail) and code 5193 (a code for Florist Supplies, Flowers, &amp; Nursery Stock). This is a common tactic that may work for a while, but will likely eventually lead to account closure and more headaches.</p>
<p>Visa and Mastercard monitor things like your average ticket size and may ask for proof to support the sales that you show. Intentionally incorrectly classifying your MCC is a breach of the Visa and Mastercard rules. Getting caught up in this can cause a whole lot of problems for the processors and merchants who are involved. Processors who are involved in this practice can be fined and even dropped by their bank and merchants who operate under a false MCC may have their funds frozen at any given moment. Until there is a MCC class created for cannabis sales, people will continue to misclassify their MCC to accept credit card payments. It's a game of cat and mouse, but for some people it's worth it if it lasts long enough.</p>
<h3 id="3">Using a Shell Company</h3>
<p>Using a shell company is what most people who are playing with their MCC do. Most cannabis dispensaries who want to be a bit more cautious won't even try to get credit card processing under their dispensary business. Instead, dispensaries will open a shell corporation to sign up to credit card processors with. Using a shell company that's registered with a legitimate looking MCC to accept your dispensary payments may buy you more time, but eventually you'll get cracked down on.&nbsp;<br /><br />Using a shell company to accept payments for your cannabis business is a breach of policy with both Visa and Mastercard. If a processor finds out that a company was processing marijuana payments by misclassifying their MCC, they may unleash a load of problems. The processor may be able to file charges against you for deception and will definitely freeze your funds and close your account.</p>
<h3 id="4">Dispensaries Near Me That Take Credit Cards</h3>
<p>We know that the search for a dispensary that accepts credit cards can be pretty frustrating. Since cannabis isn't legal federally, not all dispensaries want to jump through the loops required to accept credit cards. Since it's not legal, it's not too common. Whenever you want to find a dispensary near you that takes credit card, just go over to the <a href="https://weedzly.com/dispensaries">dispensaries</a>&nbsp;page and start browsing. You can look at dispensary profiles and see if any accept credit card as a payment method.&nbsp;</p>
<h3 id="5">Are There Any Good Alternatives To Credit Cards?</h3>
<p>It's a no brainer as to why customers would want to use credit cards to shop. By using a credit card to make purchases, you get cash back, build a credit profile, and have time to pay off your purchases. It would really be convenient for customers and dispensaries if the existing laws were to change to allow credit cards. Dispensaries wouldn't have to be holding so much cash all the time and customers would have a way more convenient way to shop. Sadly, it doesn't seem like the existing law is going to be changed soon, so it's better to look for alternative solutions.</p>
<h3 id="6">Using Cashless ATMs&nbsp;<br /><br /><img title="https://res.cloudinary.com/timj111/image/upload/v1675314393/articles/fj2qm6lioidjwhqyf8qc.jpg" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/timj111/image/upload/v1675314393/articles/fj2qm6lioidjwhqyf8qc.jpg" alt="Cashless ATM System" width="125" height="125" /></h3>
<p>A lot of dispensaries say they accept card payment, but what they're really doing is using a "Cashless ATM" or "Point of banking system". This system allows dispensaries to accept card as a payment method. It is technically illegal under federal law, but there are thousands of dispensaries across the country that use this exact method. It's way less likely to cause problems for dispensary owners than using a shell company or misclassifying a MCC code.&nbsp;</p>
<h3 id="7">How do Cashless ATMs work?</h3>
<p>Dispensaries use third party softwares to make the system think that the purchases are like legitimate ATM withdrawals. For example, if a customer was to make a $45 purchase at the dispensary, the POS system would charge their card for $50. The dispensary budtender would then give the customer back the $5 difference in cash. This makes the dollar amount being withdrawn a flat amount so it can look like an ATM transaction and not a purchase. Like mentioned above, using these Cashless ATM systems is also technically illegal, but some of the most trusted dispensaries across the United States are taking advantage of this method to offer card sales to their customers.&nbsp;<br /><br />If your going to a dispensary it's best to take cash with you, as it's not too likely that the dispensary is going to accept debit or credit card. Dispensaries have been operating as cash only businesses for years, so they are already familiar with these restrictions. Hopefully the United States government can change the existing laws on cannabis so that cannabis businesses can start begin to use the banking system.&nbsp;</p>