Washington State Marijuana Companies Getting Some, But Not All Banking Services

May 7, 2018

Recreational marijuana has been legal in Washington State since 2014 and increasingly, cannabis companies are finding credit unions and small community banks open to serving their basic financial needs.

Brendan Hill is co-owner of Paper & Leaf, a cannabis shop on Bainbridge Island located a short ferry ride from downtown Seattle. He and his business partner Steve Kessler started looking for a bank willing to do business with a cannabis retailer back in August of 2014. “There were only two such banks in Washington State at the time,” and both operated solely in the state, he said.