Door to door delivery has become an increasingly popular option in the cannabis retail world – now considered an essential business in many states, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one of the main barriers to a wider adoption is the lack of digital, credit and debit card payments, and the unorthodox nature of the mechanisms some companies use to allow for them.
In plain English: consumers have to either deal in cash or recur to somewhat convoluted digital payments processes.
This lack of access to more mainstream payment options creates not only additional hurdles for the consumer, who often faces quite a few as is — given conflicting cannabis regulations and slow adoption and mainstream acceptance, but also high legal and compliance risk for the companies involved.
Seeking to come up with a solution that feels as legitimate as it feels familiar to the regular person, Caliva is partnering with Hypur to provide its clients with digital, contactless payment options. The new feature, dubbed “safe checkout” will allow all cannabis consumers completing purchases via delivery or curbside pick-up pay for their purchases, and even tip drivers and budtenders, using their an app on their mobile devices – not unlike Apple Pay. For the time being, the service will be, however, limited to San Francisco, the larger Bay Area in California, and Los Angeles.
“Digital payments should be mainstream and the norm for cannabis and other cash-intensive industries,” comments Christopher E. Galvin, founder and CEO at Hypur.
Dennis O’Malley, CEO of Caliva, says the company is all about providing “safe and easy access to plant-based solutions for health, happiness, and healing.” Down this line of thought, providing “a touchless, cashless payment option for customers, during a time when minimizing physical contact with others is so crucial” seemed fummdamental.
Why Hypur?
According to Hypur, more than half of the banks that are openly affiliated with the cannabis industry around the country use the company’s regulatory tech to ensure customers can pay for products in a safe, fast and convenient way: digitally. This makes integration for Caliva pretty seamless.
The “safe checkout” feature is “the first and only product on the market for the cannabis industry that provides a truly contactless payment solution, in addition to a tipping feature that allows customers to show gratitude to workers for their service,” adds Galvin. “Our partnership with Caliva provides for reliable and sustainable digital cannabis purchases with 100% compliance while reducing public health and safety risks.”