West Virginia Treasurer Receives 4 Rebids on Cannabis Banking Solution

West Virginia’s medical cannabis industry may have a prospective banking solution to get around federal law. But exactly when that solution might be implemented is still up in the air.

A spokeswoman for the state Treasurer’s office says in an email they received four bids from businesses looking to handle deposits associated with West Virginia’s as-of-yet launched medical cannabis program.

Element Federal Credit Union, MVB Bank, DMTLP and JP Morgan Chase all submitted their proposals ahead of Wednesday’s deadline. 

JP Morgan Chase is a multinational bank headquartered in New York City, MVB Bank is based in Fairmont, West Virginia and Element Federal Credit Union is in Charleston, West Virginia. According to a business registration with the Secretary of State’s office, a company named Delivering Marijuana Teaming Logistic Placement LLC (DMTLP) was established in March 2016 in Glenville, West Virginia.

The Treasurer’s office says evaluations of all four proposals are now underway but they can’t release additional information until a contract is awarded. There is no timeline for the contract to be completed.

The Treasurer’s office canceled the initial bidding process in June and then re-issued a request for proposals after all five of the original offers failed to meet all the requirements. 

All four of the businesses that submitted the new bids had made offers under the original request for proposals.

The state Department of Health and Human Resources says — once a banking solution is in place — it will be another two years before the first sale of medical cannabis.