Blackbird, AeroPay to bring cashless payments to Cannabis businesses

By Edil Corneille

Blackbird, a cannabis software and delivery company based in Reno, and AeroPay, a financial technology (FinTech) company that provides payment processing solutions to the cannabis industry, announced a strategic partnership. The collaboration entails the bringing of cashless payments to cannabis businesses for online ordering. The partnership includes the integration of AeroPay’s payments platform into Blackbird’s white-labelled dispensary menus and the BlackbirdGo cannabis marketplace. The two companies also have plans to bring greater efficiencies to other parts of the cannabis supply chain such as physical retail and B2B.

Through the integration, cannabis patients and customers using Blackbird will be able to pre-pay online at the time of check-out for delivery or curbside pick-up orders. Payments made with AeroPay will be facilitated through a secure bank-to-bank transfer between the patient or customer and the business.

“Cash payments have dominated the cannabis retail consumer experience until now,” said Tim Conder, CEO & Co-Founder of Blackbird. “As licensed cannabis operators, we know the benefits of moving toward cashless payments but also understand the challenges with banking as a cannabis business. Our partnership with AeroPay and the integration of our platforms allows our retail partners and their customers to easily accept digital payments and remove the hurdles associated with being a cash only business. Additionally, AeroPay’s banking relationships will help eliminate barriers for our retail partners.”

AeroPay’s compliant solution offers a safe, simple, and streamlined way for patients or customers to make payments. For first time AeroPay users, the sign-up process is in two steps and happens directly on the menu at the time of check-out. Customers create an AeroPay account and link their bank. For repeat users, payments can be completed with a single click.

“Our approach has always been to create a better payment experience for both businesses and their customers,” said Daniel Muller, CEO & Founder of AeroPay. “Blackbird is a premier end-to-end logistics and delivery company in the cannabis space and our partnership allows us to do just that for the cannabis industry.”

The companies have plans to streamline the cannabis experience in other parts of the supply chain and lower the volume of cash by implementing digital payments.

“We’re excited about the future of our partnership with AeroPay as both companies have the ability to service the entire value chain,” said Conder. “This is only the beginning of a long-term relationship that has the opportunity to change the way cannabis businesses operate.”

“Payments have been especially inconvenient for cannabis businesses and we are thrilled to work with the team at Blackbird to create a seamless cannabis shopping experience that is safer, faster, and cashless,” said Muller. “Ultimately, we want to give cannabis businesses the ability to operate in the same manner as any other business would.”