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MediSwipe Inc. to Capitalize on Corporate Opportunity in Medicinaland Recreational Marijuana Financial Services Sector as WashingtonState Seeks Alternatives for Payment Solutions
LOS ANGELES, CA, Sep 25th --MediSwipe Inc. (www.MediSwipe.com) (otcqb:MWIP), the leader inCompassionate Care Technology Solutions for the medicinal marijuanaindustry, today announced that the Company will seek to capitalize onWashington State's announcement to seek banking partners for thestate's new marijuana initiatives.
With a recent editorial being published in the Seattle Timesregarding the state of Washington's bid to find a financialinstitution to provide safe medical marijuana-based banking, thespotlight has been cast upon multinational banking and financialservices corporation, Bank of America. However, while many assumethat Bank of America would be the first of its kind to provide a formof delivery and financial operating processes to the medicalmarijuana industry, MediSwipe Inc., has long established itself asthe first publicly traded Company to provide financial services, andmerchant processing for canna-businesses.
The editorial that was published in the Seattle Times placed emphasison Bank of America's seven-year contract in charge of the state ofWashington's banking main account ending on June 30th. While thestate recently outright legalized the recreational use of marijuanathrough the passing of Initiative 502, it has now been brought forthto the attention of legislators that it is an imperative necessity tohave the deposits of marijuana revenue obtained and tracked. Therehave currently been requested bids as to see if whether or not amajor multinational financial institution such as Bank of Americawill handle the state's "controversial" up-and-coming industry.
"There should be no debate in determining that MediSwipe has been onthe ground floor of this industry and can provide bona fide bankingsolutions for medical marijuana and cannabis-related businesses. Wehave long been recognized as one of the most well-established andinnovative forms of patient solutions for canna-businesses. Ourinitial business model as the first company in this space serving theindustry was for electronically-processed transactions within thehealthcare and medical marijuana industry. We presently provideterminal-based service packages including 'Seed to Sale,' cloud-basedpatient records storage and multiple financial payment options forclinics, hospitals, physicians and medical marijuana dispensaries.MediSwipe has been responsible for tracking and digitizing patientrecords, electronic patient referrals, credit and debit card merchantservices and has even recently added an area pertaining to the saleand distribution of hemp-based nutritional product lines. We hope tobe able to play any role and offer guidance to Washington State asour services are already proven in participating state programsincluding Colorado and Michigan," stated Michael Friedman, CEO ofMediSwipe Inc.
The state expects to soon start depositing revenue from Initiative502, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana. The LiquorControl Board will receive its first fees in November from applicantsasking the board for licenses to grow and sell the drug, and theDepartment of Revenue starts collecting taxes as soon as March 2014.The uncertainty was reflected in last week's quarterly report fromWashington revenue forecasters, who said they wouldn't count I-502revenue in their projections until the Liquor Board finishes writingrules and "an agreement is reached with the federal government withrespect to the legality of depositing cannabis-sourced tax receiptsinto state accounts." Presently, medical marijuana sellers are notregulated or licensed by the state and they operate in what some seeas a legal gray area. But they are supposed to pay sales tax andbusiness tax, which goes into the state's bank account.
The new I-502 businesses are different. They will be licensed by thestate, so revenue collectors can't plead ignorance of the companies'business practices. Liquor Board Director Rick Garza said he askedother state officials if the licensing would affect the state'sability to deposit the revenue. Not necessarily, he was told.Washington is not the first state to license marijuana businesses,and the federal government has never cracked down on states' bankaccounts, Garza said.
