As cannabis, CBD, and hemp become legalized in certain states and municipalities, this has increased its popularity as a product to sell in establishments. With this in mind, we wanted to remind our merchants that legality in certain areas does not mean you are permitted to sell these through your credit card processor.
Throughout the credit card processing industry, cannabis or hemp products or derivatives are on exclusion (non-permitted) lists as items that cannot be sold through the merchant processing account. This is common practice with all mainstream credit card processors across the country*.
“Per the TSYS Sponsor Bank guidelines, TSYS is unable to process transactions related to cannabis or hemp products or derivatives. These products are prohibited as an unacceptable business category and cannot appear in any marketing materials (all digital formats included) as a product being sold at a merchant location.”
The TSYS Risk/Compliance department periodically audits merchants for the online presence of these exclusion items. This audit includes search engine searches of your business name and the exclusion items, your business website, and social media. If your online presence contains these exclusion items, the immediate removal of them will reduce the chances of your account being flagged during an audit.
Should these products be identified, they will request removal of the product and a written agreement that these products will not be sold. If compliance is not met, TSYS has the option to close the merchant account, effectively disabling the merchant’s ability to accept credit cards.
We are communicating this out to you as a reminder of compliance and to help you protect your credit card processing account. Adherence to this requirement will help you avoid any delays or interruptions in your credit card processing services.
Please direct any questions related to this item to compliance@arryved.com.