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Cannabis businesses in Los Angeles that are used to paying their city taxes in cash can now pay through online accounts, through a banking agent working with the city to help the underbanked industry during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Dama Financial's exclusive agreement with the city to service the more than 300 cannabis business licensees involves an armored vehicle picking up cash from the business, then depositing it in a federally insured "virtual vault," where the business accesses it to pay city cannabis tax and licensing fees, according to the company.

Eric Kaufman is the Chief Revenue Officer for Dama Financial, an organization that provides cannabis businesses access to sustainable banking with FDIC-Insured banks eager to cooperate with the cannabis space.

We caught up with Eric recently to hear how Dama Financial helps cannabis companies access banking services, his take on the challenges that face the cannabis industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, and more. Check out the full interview below!

What do cannabis entrepreneurs do with all that cash when banks refuse to work with them? That's one of the many questions Green Entrepreneur Editor In Chief Jonathan Small poses to his guest Eric Kaufman, who is Chief Revenue Officer for Dama Financial.

Dama provides access to secure banking for cash-intensive businesses such as cannabis. Their services include cash management, access to online and mobile-friendly bank accounts, cashless and now contactless payment solutions, and even armored guards and vehicles. In an in-depth interview, Eric talks about the challenges cannabis companies...

With cannabis still federally illegal, a lack of banking has become a pain point for many retailers that must deal with cash or find other unique workarounds. Eric Kaufman, Chief Revenue Officer at Dama financial, explains some ways cannabis-related businesses can navigate tough banking laws and achieve financial success through banking.

Many people make most or all of their retail purchases with a credit card, raising questions of how dispensary customers can easily pay for product, as major credit card companies won’t accept cannabis transactions.

Dama Financial’s Chief Revenue Officer Eric Kaufman talks about payment options—including the Paytender cashless payment solution—for cannabis retailers, why transparency is important and the risks involved with cash transactions.

Although cannabis businesses are legal at the state level, they are still extremely hindered when it comes to financial options and safe banking systems. Inefficiencies are still heavily associated with cash-intensive cannabis operations, even as the legal industry expands. This is where Dama Financial comes in, as the leading provider of access to banking and payment solutions, it can arrange for safe and insured financial services for cannabis-related businesses. Dama Financial has not only solved a huge bank account problem in the industry, by sourcing compliant and sustainable...

It is undeniable that cannabis is more than just a budding industry — it is big business. In Denver, ground zero of legalization of cannabis, there are more retail marijuana stores than there are Starbucks stores. As more states legalize marijuana for either medical or recreational use, the economic potential may finally become a reality. In California alone, the cannabis industry is worth $3.1 billion dollars. Nationwide, legal retail marijuana sales were over $8.5 billion in 2018 and expected to have topped $11 billion in 2019. Many dispensaries, as marijuana retail outlets are known, have...