How to Get the Best CBD Payment Processor?
Are you thinking about accepting CBD payments with your eCommerce store? In today’s blog post, we’ll outline what’s in the best payment processor for retail and how to find the one that’s best for you.
First up: A brief overview of what CBD is. Cannabidiol is a chemical compound found in cannabis plants like hemp and marijuana, but it doesn’t produce a mind-altering high. It regulates pain and anxiety levels, potentially helping people with everything from diabetes to cancer (but research on those claims has been limited so far).
CBD is a great way to relax, ease pain and headaches, and boost the immune system. But there can be some confusion when it comes to making your payment. If you are in any type of business that uses cannabidiol products or services, you need a payment processor for them (more on what these products and services might be later). So, we’re going to outline the best CBD payment processors available.
What are CBD payment processors?
CBD payment processors are the latest and hottest addition to the Cannabis industry. They are primarily designed with cannabis-related businesses in mind, but they are being used by a lot more than that. They might soon replace credit cards.
The rise of CBD payment processors became fast and furious as soon as cannabis was legalized in some states across America. These banks offer trust, convenience, and a level of security that you simply cannot find with traditional banking institutions or even Bitcoin processing companies. According to estimates provided by the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, it should come as no surprise then when CBD payments surpassed credit card payments in October 2018.
A payment processor is someone or something that handles transactions. In the cannabis industry, a payment processor is someone who processes invoices and payments for marijuana-related businesses. CBD processors are used to processing bank drafts or checks and are given authorization by the merchant’s bank.
Payment processors in both industries enable consumers to purchase products online without using a credit card, which protects customers from fraud and forces them to put down an initial upfront deposit of funds before making any other purchases. In CBD processors‘ case, this deposit is usually $25-$50 per transaction as banks require it out of potential safety concerns.
How to find the best CBD payment processor?
This is a difficult question because it depends on your business type. If you have an eCommerce website, the payment processor that would work best for your business would be Braintree or PayPal. These payment processors make it so that even if people don’t have their credit or debit card information saved in their account, they can still purchase items from your site without entering it every time they want to buy something.
In 2018, investment firm Cowen claimed that retail sales of CBD consumer products in the U.S. ranged from $600 million-$2 billion. Brightfield Group anticipates global CBD sales will grow to approximately $22 billion by 2022. Such extortionate predictions mean that many eCommerce businesses scramble to find a CBD payment processor willing to accept them.
Here, we list some points to consider when finding the best payment processor.
High-risk availability – CBD is legal in most countries worldwide and is typically used for medical purposes. Recently CBD has become one of the most popular supplements on the market, mainly due to its promising effects on mental health conditions such as epilepsy and depression.
While this compound can serve more than one function, some risks are involved when purchasing it online or through dispensaries. The high risk of purchase comes from its unregulated nature, meaning that any regulatory agency has not yet approved it.
Easy Integrations- The perfect solution would be to find a company with a gateway that can accept the many different forms of payments that you expect your customers to utilize. It’s no good having a gateway capable of accepting traditional cards such as Visa, MasterCard, and Amex; because it is likely that your customers will utilize their Electrum wallets (also known as a “Bitcoin wallet”) more often than not.
As an eCommerce business owner, it is vital that you find yourself in agreement with the CBD payment processing company you are planning to do business with. Global companies offering these services have been around for quite some time now and know what they are doing.
POS availability – POS software will also aid you in making lucrative business choices. What’s better, this sort of software can be used to handle stock input and output from a single establishment. This includes:
- Inventory management
- Tracking sales and managing cash flow
- Reducing software costs with POS integration (e.g., employee expense costs)
- Automated vendor list and PO processing to make sourcing safer and more affordable and help with tax compliance. This will be made possible by integrating the processing of payment transactions with your point-of-sale software application. This integration will allow you to monitor every transaction from start to finish, making it easier for you to deliver customers a thorough service that can ultimately lead to loyalty building.
- The Retail POS system provides an online payment facility so customers can purchase items directly from your retail shop or through your website.
- Low fees- As with most other business ventures, you will want to trust your payment processor with the most important items to your company. This means you’ll want to vet the companies you’re working with for their industry expertise and success rates. Another thing to consider is how long they’ve been in business and whether or not they’re trustworthy. If a payment processor is new, it may take some establishing before it’s accepted as a valid payment method in the CBD industry. You can look into reporting your transactions annually or by monthly donations (which will provide an idea of the overall amount of revenue generated). This will help you determine if this company can provide services at a reasonable rate.
Bottom line
With the details mentioned above in mind, ask a CBD payment processor about any extra services and/or customizable options they may provide. You must be able to depend on a CBD credit card processing platform for all of your payment requirements because every business has a different strategy.
No matter your company’s objectives, picking a CBD payment processor is not something you should do hastily. A few crucial services to keep an eye out for include managing chargeback management, dealing with regulatory standards, fraud protection, and data security.