KindTap Technologies (“KindTap”), the cannabis industry’s first digital credit and loyalty-enabled payments solution, today announced the launch of its consumer credit product, starting initially in the Massachusetts cannabis market. KindTap’s digital credit solution, a first-of-its-kind service for the cannabis industry, offers consumers revolving credit lines for upfront cannabis purchases and allows merchants to seamlessly accept digital credit payments. At launch, KindTap’s compliant credit service will be available in Massachusetts with plans to expand into additional medical and adult-use state markets in the near future, including Florida, Maine, Michigan and New York.
Due to federal restrictions that prohibit banks from providing services to legal cannabis companies, cash and cashless ATM are the only payment options for cannabis consumers and merchants, making the process inconvenient, unreliable and dangerous. The COVID-19 pandemic and new state legalizations caused a surge in cannabis sales in 2020, adding billions of dollars in cash into circulation and thus increasing risks and costs to the sector’s retailers.
KindTap’s digital credit solution will allow consumers to pay for cannabis through a pre-approved credit line using the KindTap web-based application in-store or online, providing improved efficiency, safety and security on both sides of the transaction while encouraging a larger basket size per purchase. Cannabis purchases are no longer limited by the amount of cash consumers have on hand or in their bank accounts. With KindTap’s payments platform, cannabis merchants are able to accept digital credit payments with certainty and avoid the risks associated with lost revenue due to abandoned orders and slower customer throughput, as well as storing and handling thousands of dollars in cash, including robbery and compliance issues.
“Without a form of digital credit payments in the cannabis industry, transactions must be made in cash or via cashless ATM transactions, putting dispensaries, their employees and consumers at risk,” said Cathy Corby Iannuzzelli, Co-Founder and Chief Payments Officer of KindTap. “After two years of product research and development, we’re thrilled to launch our KindTap credit solution and bring greater safety and efficiency to the cannabis industry with frictionless payments. Legal cannabis businesses have long been denied basic financial resources and banking services, and consumers are forced to deal with unnecessary charges and complexities in the shopping experience. KindTap is on a mission to bring the payment process one step closer to the mainstream efficiency cannabis consumers and merchants expect — and deserve.”
“There are numerous payment companies that make claims of providing credit or allowing cannabis consumers to use their existing credit cards to purchase cannabis. Those platforms either do not stand up to KindTap’s level of compliance, or are simply smoke-and-mirrors, ultimately increasing costs and confusion in the market,” said Frank A. Segall, Chairman of Burns & Levinson’s National Cannabis Business & Law Advisory Group and an inaugural Cannabis Trailblazing attorney selected by the National Law Journal. “KindTap’s vendor ecosystem includes best-in-class, U.S.-based payment vendors and regulated financial institutions. KindTap is providing cannabis consumers with real credit, and this is truly a game changer for cannabis operators and their customers.”
KindTap’s credit solution is available today in Massachusetts through select retail dispensaries that are members of the KindTap Merchant Network. Consumers can pay with KindTap in-store upon their arrival, or online for pre-orders and deliveries, with flexible payment options and no late fees. The e-commerce and digital menu software is powered by WebJoint, the leading cannabis delivery software provider based in California, and the only cannabis e-commerce in the U.S. that offers consumers one-click “Pay Now” ordering with credit, alongside a streamlined online shopping experience. “With our partnership, we are bridging the gap between cannabis retailers and the most advanced payment processing technology, on a national scale. We look forward to making the business advantages of cash-alternatives more accessible to retailers with KindTap,” says Hilart Abrahamian, COO and co-founder of WebJoint. To learn more about KindTap, please visit kindtaptech.com.
