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DerekL1963 t1_j1qhulg wrote

Reply to comment by shaggy908 in WA Pot Shops are Being Targeted More by Armed Robbers by CannaChefBuz

That would require action at the Federal level, there's nothing that Washington can do.

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darkeststar t1_j1r7vjd wrote

Not true. Was in Portland, Oregon recently and was able to buy from a weed store with a swipe of my debit card. Not impossible, just very difficult. Which is why that federal action needs to happen.

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ddiiibb t1_j1rgivt wrote

I'm from Southern Oregon, and most of the shops, if not all, allowed me to use my card for purchases. I thought it was so weird that I couldn't when I moved to Washington.

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darkeststar t1_j1rinwv wrote

I remember in my city the first couple months of stores being open my preferred stores had card readers and it was so easy. The day they had to switch to cash only and install an ATM was so annoying. It's such a huge industry and we've crossed 10 years of legality now...it makes no sense to be still back in the dark ages like this.

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MMorrighan t1_j1rniab wrote

The problem is that the card processors willing to work with cannabis shops know that we don't have another choice and so they get to charge whatever they want

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steamedfarts t1_j1s182q wrote

Do they give some amount of cash back?

If so it’s cause it’s an ATM transaction. It’s a nice loophole but not 100% a card transaction.

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Roadtechatlarge t1_j1t79ud wrote

Yes, kind of a pass through. They own the ATM, you’re just using the ATM to process the transaction. The banks see an ATM withdrawal rather than a cannabis transaction.

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Dusty923 t1_j1sc2im wrote

My local shop was able to do ATM-like transactions at the register. If I bought something for $44, they would charge $45 and give me a dollar back. So it wasn't a direct POS charge with a bank like usual.

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TechnicalV t1_j1s6871 wrote

This can be done in WA as well. The novel tree in Bellevue has card readers. Some workaround where the card reader processes like an ATM

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catgrassgurl t1_j1sks8k wrote

It’s similar in MA, where it’s actually card only and they round up to the nearest 5 and then give you whatever change back in cash. I was stunned when I moved to WA

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avitar35 t1_j1rp7vz wrote

Cashless ATMs are the way around this, I can pay at my favorite dispensary here with a card. However that brings up a whole other issue of the bank tracking my purchases so I just use cash.

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KittenKoder t1_j1s7a8g wrote

You can actually use a variety of systems not tied to banks to pay with credit card, and I'm pretty sure people would be willing to pay an extra 50 cents to 1 dollar per transaction to cover it. There are a few markets in the area that use this with a tablet card reader and a wifi connection.

The online pay method most of them use likely has the option available, so it's not impossible just a bit more expensive. The federal change is needed for many reasons, but this one can be circumvented.

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