Every dispensary I've visited here in the northeast accepts cash and debit cards, I assume they don't accept credit due to higher processing fees and higher risk of chargebacks rather than processors being problematic (otherwise they would not accept debit since they get ran through the same system anyway).
Some dispensaries can take debit card transactions, and they have to do so through "high risk" processors... companies like Square will not work with them because of federal law.
This. And while it's obviously not the same thing at all, since cannabis is a schedule 1[0] substance, the US government could treat processing credit card transactions for cannabis companies the same as they treated HSBC[1] or worse.
As such, until cannabis is moved off of schedule 1, Congress acts to make cannabis legal at the federal level, and/or the US Department of Justice makes it clear that providing banking services to cannabis companies will not be prosecuted under money laundering laws, US banks won't jump into the pool.
[0] https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling
[1] https://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2013/investing-n...
This turns it into an ATM withdrawal apparently.
If I just need $80 or so (I think the limit is $100), it's faster to go to the local Walmart and buy a candy bar or something and get back $80 cash than to go the closest ATM owned by my bank to avoid the double dipping fees.
The ATM has to be actually refilled with cash, so they charge you for it.
The only charges I encounter are from using my bank's card at another bank's ATM.
This was a great boon for banks a few decades ago, as it functionally gave them a huge ATM network for free.
The debit card system understands this sort of transaction, and doesn't charge the normal x% processing fee on the cash withdrawal portion of the transaction.
In other words, retailers can create transactions that are effectively ATM withdrawals - without an ATM.