Colorado lawmakers approve plan for pot banking

DENVER - Frustrated by the cash-heavy aspect of its new marijuana industry, Colorado is trying a long-shot bid to create the world's first financial system devoted to the pot business.

But Colorado's plan to move the weed industry away from dank-smelling cash to easily auditable banking accounts is a Hail Mary pass that won't work, industry and regulatory officials agree.

"It's definitely creative, but I don't know whether it's a solution or just a statement," said Toni Fox, owner of 3D Cannabis Center in Denver.

Here's the plan approved by state lawmakers Wednesday - state-licensed pot growers and sellers would pool their cash into uninsured financial cooperatives. The cooperatives would then ask the U.S. Federal Reserve System to let them access "merchant services," a broad category that includes accepting credit cards and being able to write checks.

The Federal Reserve had no immediate response Thursday to Colorado's cooperative plan.

The cooperative stratagem is a response to marijuana guidance issued in February by the U.S. Treasury Department.

Marijuana shops in Colorado and elsewhere have been clamoring for years for access to traditional banks, complaining of dousing cash in air freshener to try to dupe banks. Others pile cash in self-storage units or safety deposit boxes, requiring frequent trips to exchange the cash for money orders in order to pay employees and utility bills.

The February Treasury guidance, though, was met with a shrug by many banks.

Banks generally considered the elaborate reporting requirements associated with taking marijuana customers too onerous to bother with. Instead, Colorado authorities hope the Federal Reserve will allow new marijuana co-ops to access merchant services if the co-ops agree to bear all the cost of complying with the marijuana banking guidance, as well as assuming all the risk.

It sounds like a long shot even to marijuana industry workers.

"I don't see it," said Shawn Coleman, a Denver-based lobbyist who represents marijuana retailers. "The administration has gone as far as they possibly could to help the marijuana industry without an act of Congress."

And despite complaints from banking groups and pot shops about Treasury's pot guidance, there are signs the guidelines are working for some. And a handful of small credit unions in Colorado and Washington state do serve marijuana clients, though many won't talk publicly about it.

"There are banks who are doing this, but we don't know who these banks are or who they are serving," Coleman said.