Valley in N.Y. planning mobile wallet for cannabis firms

Valley National Bancorp in New York is planning a digital payment solution that will target cannabis-related businesses. 

The $41.2 billion-asset company said in a Wednesday press release that Valley Pay will migrate cash usage to a secure, web application. The goal is to ease the burden on cannabis operators that rely on cash transactions. 

The company plans to launch a pilot program in coming months.

The platform “will empower them to be able to take in cashless transactions, which has been a major hurdle for this industry,” Ira Robbins, Valley’s president and CEO, said in a post through his LinkedIn account. 

“As one of the only national banks committed to supporting cannabis-related businesses, this is an important step in providing [them] with a vital financial tool that will make running their businesses safer and more efficient,” Robbins added.