Spearmint Resources Inc. is about to reach an all-time high in the retail marijuana industry, after signing a letter of intent to acquire 50 percent interest in a payment-processing technology. If the acquisition goes through, the move would integrate technology that uses a multi-user electronic mobile-wallet application facilitating marijuana commerce.
Spearmint CEO Conrad Clemiss said this is an exciting opportunity for his company.
“While there is no guarantee of success, based on our research, we are one of the first companies potentially entering into this sector and in a unique position to spearhead the movement into safe, secure and convenient point-of-sale transactions,” Clemiss said in the deal announcement.
The technology in question is still under development, but once available it would allow consumers to safely access information at their convenience, and it would facilitate electronic payments for retail marijuana commerce.
Banking is the most urgent issue facing the legal cannabis industry, Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association in Washington, D.C. explained in the announcement. There is no guarantee that the formal deal will be finalized, but Smith is optimistic and said that federal laws need to be harmonized with state laws in terms of financial options for businesses.
In March, Kansas City, Mo.-based software company Agrisoft and C4EverSystems LLC announced the creation of a cash-payment kiosk for marijuana sales that also addresses the fact that most banks won’t support card-based marijuana sales.