First Federal Bank - The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference

Business from cannabis is growing fast in Florida; some of it regulated tightly, and some of it without rules. But all of it comes with cash that the banking industry is reluctant to touch. The first legal industrial hemp seeds in decades are growing now in South Florida soil. CBD is showing up in ice cream, gummy bears and cocktails, but the state says the products are illegal. And millions of dollars are being generated by the medical marijuana industry in Florida, but few banks want the money. Most banks are not interested in touching any cash that touches cannabis, but not First Federal Bank. It started as a small savings and loan bank in 1962 in Live Oak, Florida. The bank offered its first checking account in the 1980s. The bank's first cannabis customers were from California, but First Federal insists the money in the bank from California isn't directly from selling marijuana. Instead, the California money has been generated by companies there selling parts of themselves to raise money. But in Florida, First Federal is banking business generated directly from the seed. "Any time that you have the actual product and you have cash involved, that's really what requires the heightened regulatory standards."