Tech Companies Launch First All-Digital Payment Platform for Cannabis

Finance is one of the longest-standing challenges facing the cannabis industry. More specifically, mainstream financial institutions, including banks and credit companies, typically are hesitant to get involved with cannabis because it remains illegal at the federal level.

Without access to normal financial tools, much of the cannabis industry is forced to rely heavily on cash. And that leads to all sorts of other problems. Specifically, slower payments, heightened security concerns, and more.

Ultimately, this lack of access to financial services impacts the entire industry, from the backend supply chain to the end consumer.

But now, two tech companies have teamed up to launch a brand new platform that they say could revolutionize how the cannabis industry handles its finances.

Wayv, which has already rolled out an Amazon-like platform to facilitate the movement of products throughout the entire cannabis supply chain, has teamed up with Hypur. Together, they are launching a new platform called Wayv Payments, which goes live today.

Wayv Payments Aims to Revolutionize Cannabis Finance

Wayv and Hypur describe the new Payments platform as giving cannabis companies “credit card like” transactions. Essentially, brands can extend a line of credit to retailers, which Wayv auto debits on the due date.

At the same time, the Wayv Payments dashboard lets brands easily keep track of payments coming in and going out, due dates, and more. Additionally, it automatically calculates taxes and fess.

Importantly, the entire platform is focused on ensuring compliance every step of the way. In fact, compliance is fundamentally baked into all aspects of the Payments platform.

This level of compliance and transparency makes it possible for cannabis companies to transact digital payments like any other business.

“We integrate compliance into each of our solutions to where you can’t actually make a non-compliant action in any of these tools,” Keith McCarty, CEO of Wayv, told High Times. “This creates a huge comfort level for banks to support this and get on board with it.”

Ultimately, Wayv Payments gives the entire cannabis supply chain access to fast digital payments, just like any other industry. And this, Wayv and Hypur believe, has the ability to fundamentally change how the industry works.

“This is arguably the largest issue within the supply chain right now,” McCarty told High Times. “And at the end of the day, it has effects on consumers. If brands can’t get enough money flow coming back down they can’t reinvest in raw materials and infrastructure to keep up with demand.”

The Final Piece in the Puzzle

Wayv Payments is not the first product from Wayv. In fact, McCarty told High Times that this newest platform is the final piece in a much more comprehensive suite of solutions for the cannabis industry.

Earlier this year, Wayv launched its Dynamic Distribution platform. This technology transformed the cannabis supply chain into an Amazon-like, streamlined process.

Specifically, it facilitates orders between cannabis retailers and brands. Retailers can shop brands, select products, and place orders from an easy-to-use interface.

From there, products are shipped on a standard next-day turnaround using Wayv’s specialized logistics protocols.

McCarty said today’s rollout of Wayv Payments completes the circuit. Now, Wayv has a suite of technological solutions for moving products and money more efficiently than ever before.

For now, Wayv services are only available in California. But the company has built its technology for scalability. This could allow the company to roll out in other markets in the future.

“We are a turnkey solutions platform purposely built for the cannabis industry,” McCarty told High Times. “Our solutions are built by cannabis experts with extensive background in cannabis. With built-in compliance, we’re offering solutions for the things that are really critical to run a cannabis business.”