Selecting the right Bank and Payment Processor for your CBD business should be done with care and long-term vision. The quality of your Payment Processor and Banking relationship is the heart of your CBD business as much as the quality of the CBD products you offer. This relationship with your Payment Processor and Bank is key for your business to continue to sell your CBD products and collect payments. This relationship, just like any relationship with our customers or significant other, is based on trust, open communication, and long-term alignment.

This article is to help folks find and most importantly maintain a healthy, fruitful, and long-lasting relationship with your CBD payment processor. We have heard too many stories of companies left high and dry and unable to sell their products and accept payments for weeks and even months. This article is to help you align yourself with a good payment processing partner and keep this relationship strong.

Have COAs for all your CBD products

COAs are important. They are important to ensure trust with your customers. They are important for your banking institutions. COAs are important to your payment processor. Just like your brand that has its customers to answer to, the banking and payment processing partners have the FDIC to answer to. The bank and payment processors are just trying to mitigate risk by ensuring that all products have COA and are under the legal limit of THC.

Bank and Payment payment processors care deeply about potency COA’s from reputable 3rd party labs. Banks and Credit Card Processing institutions just want to see less than .3% Delta 9 THC (THCa + THC) on products sold to customers. This special ratio of THC to the rest of the matter ensures they are not aiding in drug transactions or money laundering.

Be Complaint Proactively

The payment processor will set some basic expectations of what you need to provide and more important not do. Be proactive about this. Have this ready and don’t make the processor wait. If they need this quarterly or annually, send this information in a timely manner.

Make sure your LLC is renewed on time every year, and on time. If you need a sales license, get this and maintain this in a timely matter. Get an EIN number and renew annually. Here is a quick list to keep track of.

• LLC or Corp documents, in good standing.
• Sales Certificate paid to State. and in good standing.
• Federal EIN
• Insurance. Facility and product liability.
• If the State issues a hemp handling or processor license, make sure this is renewed annally.

Don’t cross the FDA

When you don’t follow FDA rules and regulations, you not only put yourself in hot water, but you also put the Payment Processor in hot water. Basically, don’t make claims about hemp or CBD as if it’s FDA-controlled. A full list of what can be said or cannot be said can be found here: https://cannilabs.com/2021/10/15/dos-and-dont-of-labeling-cbd-and-cannabinoids/