The Nation’s Largest Cannabis PIN Debit Processor Goes Down, as Card Brands Move Toward Terminating All PIN Debit Processors

As of Midnight on September 6, 2023, Dutchie, one of the largest cannabis point of sale (POS) companies, lost its PIN Debit processing, impacting over 900 dispensaries. In total over 2,500 dispensaries lost their ability to process PIN debit cards yesterday, with an estimated 5-6 thousand more dispensaries will potentially be impacted by the end of the year.

This is the tipping point to a larger cascade that will result in the fallout of all PIN debit processing for dispensaries nationwide.

“We expect to see a lot more shakeup and fallout to come in the coming months, this is just the tipping point. However, there are still some solid options currently for dispensaries, just not PIN Debit,” says Zaven, the processing liaison for Allegiance Service.

Here is what this means for cannabis businesses

• Strong possibility that your PIN debit processing will go down before the end of the year.
  

• All cannabis PIN debit payment processors are expected to be affected.
  

Important! Dispensaries still have options

• Other payment solutions are still standing, including ATMs, ACH, and a few compliant credit card solutions.

Although this is bad news to the cannabis industry and a blow to a "trusted long-term solution" many relied on, there are alternatives to cash. For example, ATM, bank draft (ACH), and compliant credit card solutions have not been affected and will continue to be unaffected, providing much-needed payment options to cannabis dispensaries. The existing credit card programs vary in their formats. Most involve a multi-step customer process that includes the need to receive a text message in addition to scanning a driver’s license. Driven by a tablet then directed to a payment terminal where the consumer can use their card of choice. Takes about 3 minutes to process each transaction.

However, there is a solid solution that offers normalized checkout in only seconds, just insert your chip card into the terminal, authenticate, capture and the transaction completes, just like in most retailers. It’s not only important to have compliant, stable solutions in this current market, but also to implement a solution that your customers will actually want to use.

Allegiance Service is the leading cannabis industry, serving cannabis dispensaries with stable, compliant, easy-to-use solutions that are affordable and deliver unrealized revenue opportunities. For more information, please contact Sean Kelley at Sean@allegianceservice.com, and Chad Mac at Chad@allegianceservice.com