As if there weren’t enough obstacles facing dispensaries, the payment method used by most pot shops in the U.S. is now on its way out. Cashless ATMs, which have been a popular and useful workaround allowing millions of Americans access to legal cannabis, are seeing a nationwide crackdown stemming from strong risk aversion by the major U.S. banks and ATM processors. Several states are already reporting complete outages, from small mom and pop pot shops, to larger MSO’s across the U.S.. 

So why is this happening? Cashless ATMs have been operating in a gray area of payment processing, in using a short-term workaround rather than a long term solution. Now that major payment players like Visa have grown wise of the scheme, they are slamming the door shut on these types of transactions to protect themselves, as cannabis is still federally illegal in the U.S.