Cannabis retailers stung by big bank rejection

Nearly three years after Canada legalized cannabis, many retailers in B.C. claim they still struggle to find access to basic financial services from banks. Industry experts say international pressure and decades of stigma plague the fledgling industry.
More on this story: www.cbc.ca/1.6205932

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38 Comments

  1. vmitchinson on December 6, 2021 at 3:11 pm

    Credit unions are required to have a bank. This restriction should be removed. The banks have too many privileges.



  2. ricky starduster on December 6, 2021 at 3:14 pm

    they could always pull a switch and say they are a smoke shop instead of a cannabis store and omit certain details or go full business like and have a bare minimum explanation and a business name that doesn’t match their store for the bank and then they would qualify fir the loans many businesses have done that for years.



  3. Tonemeister 23 on December 6, 2021 at 3:14 pm

    Why exactly does anyone “WANT” to belong to a big bank? Own big bank stocks. Don’t get ripped off by their services



  4. Danish Meman on December 6, 2021 at 3:19 pm

    It’s really just the US holding the banks back. Same issue there with the Safe banking act. Once it goes legal there they will change their tune.



  5. Kushfarmer13 on December 6, 2021 at 3:19 pm

    All the B C black market dispensaries have bank accounts you can e transfer and use to make transactions. Seems like everything this government does is half assed!



  6. Cindy Reid on December 6, 2021 at 3:19 pm

    Use your owe money…it is the worst thing anyone can do…
    Making excuses…live with it…take responsibility for it…



  7. G Lewis on December 6, 2021 at 3:21 pm

    It’s almost as if the liberal government rolled out a policy without considering the challenges associated with it. I’m shocked



  8. Mike and Lynn Wemyss on December 6, 2021 at 3:21 pm

    It’s a bank account . Lmao



  9. PACO on December 6, 2021 at 3:23 pm

    Very well. Is a DRUG. And 20 meters from any public place or apartment buildings. There are laws: secondary smoke or smell and if this affecting your normal life. Go for it. Is worth.



  10. J on December 6, 2021 at 3:24 pm

    Start you own credit unions. Forget the banks. Customers will join you.



  11. Jerry Robitaille on December 6, 2021 at 3:25 pm

    Even some municipalities opted out of having cannabis retailers in their towns most likely to avoid people smoking it in their towns. This is completely ridiculous as the next town over allows it and they can smoke it anyway! This is due to old fashioned Conservative thinking and it loses revenue for the area when it is most needed.



  12. El Sucio Federali on December 6, 2021 at 3:25 pm

    William Shatner is now officially an astronaut A great day for Canada – A great day for America – A great day for mankind.



  13. jumping jack hash on December 6, 2021 at 3:26 pm

    Fascism should rightfully be called corporatism



  14. JRPROFILE on December 6, 2021 at 3:28 pm

    Nothing to add to that, except… – Free Admission



  15. mikecorbeil on December 6, 2021 at 3:29 pm

    @CBC News : You display text to tell viewers what’s said by various people speaking in this video and there’s a bit that strikes me as quite odd. At 2:12 or so, the man speaking, according to your text representation, says " _If you wanted to lined upper money, which is probably the key concern, you can do that through a florist, …_ ". What the heck is " _lined upper money_ ", might what the man be actually saying is is " _laundered_ ", rather than " _lined_ ", for the audio sounds like he said laundered? I’ve heard and read of laundering money for decades, but never have I heard or read of lining money. If laundering or laundered is what he said, then these bankers are rather hypocritical. I’m sure that plenty of wealthy or rich people in Canada launder without it having anything to do with cannabis ; and, maybe some of these bank chiefs also practice laundering. Maybe some people do it with respect to cannabis, but it surely would be little relative to the other means. And it isn’t for the banks to make the law, so they should comply with the govt’s law. I’m sure that they wouldn’t hesitate to help booze producing cies and booze is more dangerous or risky than cannabis could ever be in its natural form. I hope for success for these cannabis businesses that bank chiefs need to accept are legal and cease their hypocrisy, for I imagine that hypocrisy is involved, besides other likely ill characteristics.



  16. Potrero Grande TV on December 6, 2021 at 3:31 pm

    Safe Deposit Box… Duh…



  17. JeSuisPasVacciné on December 6, 2021 at 3:31 pm

    Just buy your weed online stop wasting time and money …. MOM 4 THE WIN



  18. Joe Chip on December 6, 2021 at 3:33 pm

    They’d rather deal with nice & reputable industries like strip clubs and casinos and tobacco companies.



  19. Sapper Firefox on December 6, 2021 at 3:33 pm

    Pass the chips



  20. deepbigeyes on December 6, 2021 at 3:35 pm

    It’s because big Pharma is a massive client. And they pull their strings.



  21. ED S on December 6, 2021 at 3:36 pm

    Doesn’t it now mean that they aren’t Canadian Banks anymore if other countries can dictate what happens here.



  22. Keith Mc on December 6, 2021 at 3:36 pm

    I only know of one person who buys cannabis from a store.

    They are just too expensive.



  23. R V on December 6, 2021 at 3:37 pm

    Hahaha pot was a bubble before they even opened a store



  24. TelosBudo on December 6, 2021 at 3:39 pm

    Bars and restaurants are also high risk.



  25. Westcountry Oddities on December 6, 2021 at 3:40 pm

    I’ve been trading in cannabis seeds here in the UK and it is an absolute nightmare to get the facilities to accept card payments, I’ve been trading locally for a decade and I still cannot find a good stable way to add the facilities to my website. If anyone has any advice for me in UK I’d love to hear and be grateful.
    CBD is a little easier, but even my bongs, skins and grinders are as difficult as seeds! Banks don’t mind rubber fists and strap on willy’s and smut like that, PayPal accept gambling but for a little bong or a few seeds it’s a no go, strange narrow minded world we live in!!



  26. Randy Daigle on December 6, 2021 at 3:40 pm

    Some rich dude should start a ‘Green for Green’ bank. 🏦



  27. Tullock on December 6, 2021 at 3:44 pm

    They are literally over selling the cannabis though and they still want more money.



  28. Peter Chaloner on December 6, 2021 at 3:44 pm

    She is a perambulating warning against the munchies.



  29. BeeCee Bud 👄💨 on December 6, 2021 at 3:46 pm

    Dem banks ain’t too bright.



  30. Twilight Gardens presentations on December 6, 2021 at 3:46 pm

    So they don’t want assured repayment on loans?



  31. PM D on December 6, 2021 at 3:47 pm

    Forget the big banks!! Go to other banks, make your own banks. The big 5 have too much powers and do not deserve your money. They suck!!



  32. Kathy Piazza on December 6, 2021 at 3:49 pm

    The USA’s big stick casts a giant shadow. I am glad that this story includes the unfair reach of the USA upon other sovereign nation’s business practices.



  33. Leonard Fudge on December 6, 2021 at 3:53 pm

    Try NOT being stoned and reeking of weed when you go in the bank 🙂



  34. Yan Alonso on December 6, 2021 at 3:58 pm

    Are banks tied up with the Christian right ? What’s going on!?



  35. John S. Greene on December 6, 2021 at 3:59 pm

    That’s only B.C.



  36. Jeff Winter on December 6, 2021 at 4:00 pm

    Once Big Banks see the profits involved they’ll be just like Republicans vying to get in on it.



  37. Constantin Dima on December 6, 2021 at 4:01 pm

    Banking system stinks all the way. Uber driver is not recognized as a job when you need a loan. RBC gave me as interest on my savings account with them 13 Cents for 3000 $ last month. Canadian banking system stinks altogether not only for the canabis industry. Welcome to Canadian banking system 👎👎👎



  38. Pseudonim Aktualny on December 6, 2021 at 4:02 pm

    What experts ? What stigma ? Common sense! Do you really need zillion Cannabis Stores at every intersection ?