Stacy Litke is vice president of banking programs at Green Check, a leading provider of cannabis banking and advisory services for financial institutions.

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Not a week goes by without an article or social post claiming the cannabis industry has no access to the banking system. Yet that narrative doesn’t withstand scrutiny. More than 50,000 licensees nationwide use financial institutions every day — whether to pay each other, remit taxes to state and federal governments, or move money to the 115,000-plus vendors supporting the industry. These businesses vary in size, from small growers in Humboldt County to multimillion-dollar operators crossing state lines, and even household names like Scott’s Miracle-Gro, which recently spun off Hawthorne Collective to back cannabis ventures. Billions of dollars are moving through the financial system, most of it clearly tagged as cannabis-related activity, some of it admittedly flying under the radar.

So why does this perception still exist?

There are several reasons. For some, it comes down to how they define “banks,” since none of the nation’s largest institutions are cannabis friendly. For others, it’s about what “access to services” really means. While basic banking is widespread, gaps remain — primarily easy access to capital and the availability of debit or credit cards.

Financial institutions are the ones standing in their own way. Guidance from FinCEN on how to work with the industry has been in place for more than a decade and the technology to create efficiency and scalability has been in place for almost as long. Guardrails exist for safely banking this industry, and regulators and examiners have gained comfort and experience through working with those financial institutions.

Hundreds of banks and credit unions across the country have stepped up, providing the backbone not just for basic banking, but for treasury management, payroll, payments, lending, debit cards, merchant processing, 401(k) custody, and even fintech partnerships. This is where opportunity and innovation are taking shape.

For every cannabis-friendly payroll provider, POS system or pay-by-bank app, there are financial institutions behind them processing their ACH files. These providers have replaced the need to pay employees in cash, and removed the “cash only” restriction for consumers.

Some larger financial institutions — including Herring Bank, First Citizens Bank, Valley Bank, Western Alliance, and CFG Bank — have also begun extending credit to marijuana and hemp businesses, signaling a growing appetite to put capital to work in the sector.

To help smaller institutions move into lending, alliances and syndication networks have emerged, pooling resources to support larger loans. Timing matters. A wave of debt from alternative lenders is set to mature over the next year or two, creating a clear opening for banks to step in. These are just a few examples of how traditional institutions can work with both direct and indirect marijuana-related businesses within established banking frameworks.

The real excitement lies in the opportunity for innovation. These two institutions have flexed their fintech muscles, building solutions that reach well beyond traditional banking.

Main Street Bank, Fairfax, Virginia: Main Street Bank doubled down on its commitment to serve diverse business owners in its market and recently used its financial technology platform, Avenu, to launch a bank-built, bank-backed payment solution for consumer purchases called Venu. Designed for highly regulated businesses, Venu serves the cannabis industry with a bank-grade, cashless payment system. What sets it apart from other offerings is its bank-centered approach to compliance, fraud prevention and risk mitigation.

RiverBank, Spokane, Washington: Through a direct integration with DCI’s iCore360 banking system, RiverBank’s fintech partnership with Green Check marks a milestone for community banks at the intersection of fintech, compliance and high-growth verticals. In the arrangement, Green Check manages the digital front end and customer onboarding for CRBs, while iCore360 enables direct core booking into RiverBank’s systems. The streamlined setup delivers the transparency and compliance regulators require while simplifying money movement and account management for CRBs. The partnership also enables real banking tools such as ACH, wire transfers and the first true cannabis debit cards offered by Fiserv, opening the door for more providers to serve the industry efficiently and compliantly.

With all of this activity happening across the financial system, how can participants be sure these funds are the result of state-legal sales? That's where compliance technology comes into play. It is the financial institution’s responsibility to vet funds as they enter the financial system. Once vetted, the money can move where it needs to — paying vendors, employees, taxes and more. Early on, institutions were left to validate these funds manually, which was a difficult and painful process. Validating licenses, comparing sales data to deposit data, and understanding payment sources as well as normal and expected activity is time-consuming and not something a traditional BSA/AML system can handle with confidence.

Purpose-built platforms are able to pull data from multiple sources and give financial institutions a clear view of activity across their CRB portfolios, supporting both compliance and business development.

This legitimate and growing industry now operates in 47 states, the District of Columbia, three U.S. territories and roughly 30 tribal nations. Hemp is legal nationwide. For financial institutions willing to think differently, deploy technology and embrace new possibilities, the opportunity is significant. I look forward to seeing where the industry goes next.

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