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Comment by openthc | Hacker News Reader

Not good. Stripe rejects anyone even close to the regulated cannabis space (with no room for appeal) but PayPal will accept these tranctions. So, this would put a non-zero amount of businesses (that don't even touch that deadly, deadly plant) in a tight spot with this monopolisation of the industry.

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I don't think anything would change. If Stripe's underlying providers (banks) aren't involved then their requirements would not apply.

Stripe doesn't want to reject anyone, but their banks/underwriters do not have a limitless appetite for risk.

> but their banks/underwriters do not have a limitless appetite for risk.

I'm trying not to be snarky here, but I really can't believe anyone can truly believe this.

They almost blew up the global financial system. About once every two decades. What's the risk of accepting some transactions related to weed? (They can always charge more to offset the risk)

It's not about financial risk, it's simply an attempt to exert control over what people could do with their own money.

MJ is still very illegal federally. Presumably anyone doing business in that industry could be sued or just have the feds come down on them. I don’t think we should expect financial institutions to break the law.

Dildos aren’t illegal federally but you can’t sell those using Stripe either. It is actually about puritans wanting to control what you do.

> Stripe doesn't want to reject anyone,

"Sorry, your Stripe account got closed because of 'crowdfunding' because you dared link it to a Ko-Fi account."

And that's how I lost my Stripe account...

Someone new will arise to fill the market gap if there is demand. Saw it firsthand here with the Marijuana industry in Michigan shifting around payment providers to accept credit card transactions after it was legalized. A lot of hoops had to be jumped through. I think it still has the potential to be bad, but it does give opportunities.

If you had any pointers I'd be grateful

Im not sure how the tech works, but they mimic ATM transactions at the POS system & then round up the transaction giving the customer cash back.

This keeps things legal here in MI with a lot of potential for middleware software (between the dispo & bank) that automates compliance reporting that is required by banks. Shops that offer POS systems have competitive advantage still but that may no longer be the case.

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