If their bank or credit union did business with a legal pot store, more than 80% of Oregon consumers said they would not view their financial institution in a negative way and they would be more likely keep their accounts open, according to a new survey.
The survey was conducted by Oregon-based companies, LT Public Relations and DHM Research, non-partisan and independent public opinion and policy research firm. The survey sponsors said between Nov. 10 and Nov. 17, a demographically representative sample of nearly 800 Oregonians was anonymously surveyed online. The survey’s margin of error is +/- 3.5%, according to the survey sponsors.
LTPR and DHM Research said they conducted the survey to help financial institutions understand the public’s views about legalized marijuana, which may enable banks and credit unions decide whether to offer products and services to the controversial cannabis industry.
According to the survey’s findings, reputational concerns banks and credit unions may have about working with marijuana businesses appeared largely unfounded.
“This survey shows that Oregonians support credit unions and smaller banks in general, and are in favor of these institutions doing business with the marijuana industry,” Su Midghall, president and principal of DHM Research, said. “Voters approved the sale of recreational marijuana and, based on our research here and elsewhere, the public views the industry like other businesses. Oregonians don’t see why banks can’t help marijuana businesses, especially if it would improve public safety by removing their dependence on cash.”
Though recreational marijuana is controversial, the LTPR and DHM Research survey found that 12% of Oregon consumers indicated they would have a negative impression about their financial institution if it did business with a pot company.
However, 44% of Oregonians said their impression would improve about their financial institution if it offered products and services to marijuana enterprises. Forty-three percent said their impression would not change.
Among millennials under the age of 35, more than 60% said offering financial services to marijuana businesses would improve their impression of their bank or credit union.
Aside from the reputational risks, many financial institutions are staying away from the pot business because of federal laws that prohibit marijuana use. And that’s a big issue in Oregon where 40 of its 61 cooperatives are federal credit unions.
State-chartered credit unions may be on safer ground, however, after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed a bill in April that removes state criminal liability from banks and credit unions that do business with marijuana entrepreneurs.
Because the recreational use of marijuana is a federal crime, the so-called federal Cole Memo, which provides guidance to U.S. Attorneys on the prioritization of marijuana enforcement, indicated that the feds would only enforce federal laws if a marijuana business violated one of its eight priorities.
Some of those priorities include keeping marijuana away from minors, making sure pot sales revenue was not being funneled to criminal enterprises, gangs or cartels, and preventing state-authorized marijuana activity from being used as a cover for trafficking other illegal drugs or money laundering.
Nonetheless, according to the LTPR and DHM Research survey, 51% of Oregon residents viewed the claims by financial institutions not to serve pot business because it would violate federal laws and risk customers’ financial security as not good reasons to avoid providing products and services to the marijuana industry. Thirty-eight percent, however, viewed the claims as good reasons.
Eighty percent of Oregonians said public safety was either a good or a very good reason for banks or credit unions to offer financial services to marijuana businesses.
