Oregon credit union, tech firm to offer marijuana banking services

Oregon-based Wauna Credit Union has forged a partnership with Arizona tech firm Hypur that will allow the financial institution to service marijuana-related companies.

According to the Coast River Business Journal, the credit union believes the partnership will allow the institution to “become part of the solution and not part of the problem.”

Hypur is providing technology that will supplement Wauna’s existing processes with “real-time, red-flag alerts, automated onboarding and document management, electronic business-to-business and consumer-to-business payments, and Level 3 data for complete transaction transparency,” the Journal reported.

Marijuana companies “have difficulty forming banking relationships due to the limited number of credit unions and banks serving this industry,” Wauna CEO Robert Blumberg told the Journal. “Providing banking services to this industry legitimizes these businesses.”

The credit union has more than 25,000 members in Oregon and Washington state.