What products are allowed in Square's early access CBD Program?

[aablaisdell]

The title of this thread has been edited from the original: CBD Oils and Balms - Ok with Square?

I'm in a professional forum where we are discussing whether our Square accounts will be terminated for retailing commercially available CBD products such as the balms from CBDclinic.co or ingestible oils such as https://realscientifichempoil.com/ . 

To my knowledge these products contain no THC which is the psychoactive compound in cannabis, and are therefore legal. Can you please advise us on the matter?

[RMED]

Hi Kelly. We are a medical device company and are considering offering limited CBD product designed dose measuring / control and clinical studies. Would it be possible to apply or be added to a review list? In the meantime, we will sell just our devices on-line. Thank you

[Helen]

Hi @RMED, Helen here. The program is full, but I'll be sure to share your interest with the appropriate team.

[Montycv63]

Can you please update us with any current information? Has anything changed? 

[kellyj]

@Montycv63

At this time, we have no new announcements on the program, but we'll continue to pass your information to the team. They will reach out or we'll post here about updates to the program.

[SnapdragonHemp]

I did contact square today to see if I could join the program as well. I sell online at snapdragonhemp.com and also have two retail locations. 

They informed me that their pilot program was full but would possibly keep me up-to-date if there were more openings available. 

[johnvoliva]

I call BS on this. Contracts can be renegotiated, especially when it could potentially benefit Square. 

Sure, this is an oddball situation, but Square’s lack of additional details is frustrating. Especially given that every gas station and conscience store is selling CBD. 

Perhaps if more of us threatened to pull our business, they would act more quickly. 

[GlassJudy]

You're certainly entitled to your opinion.  I can't answer for why other businesses are selling these product, but as I stated at the beginning of my post, it's my interpretation, and I could easily be wrong about it.  Renegotiating contracts is not an easy or fast thing and I don't even know for sure that Square is doing that.  If my business involved selling CBD products, I would very likely share your frustration.

[johnvoliva]

Additionally, Square has not addressed the fact that the TOS and non-permitted items list has not been updated. Playing the card that we would be in violation of OUR TOS with Square when we, in fact, would not be, is dumbfounding. 

If it’s truly an issue with their contracts with others, the update the TOS. Square threatening their customers like this is setting themselves up for legal action. 

[anthonywb]

Maybe if we started posting processors that DO accept CBD related payments we'd get some attention.

[factoryxiii]

What are other companies that DO accept payments from CBD? square is not helping at all, so if you know of any please post

[Seanzy123]

www.Adeptpayments.com

[Tom · Accepted solution]

Update (10/3/19):

Good news, folks! We're launching an early access program to support the sale of some CBD products! 🎉

Generally speaking, sellers in the program can accept payments and carry items that meet the following requirements:

• Hemp and hemp-derived CBD products that have less than 0.3% THC in all states excluding Idaho and South Dakota. Payment acceptance is for the US only at this time.
• No marijuana or marijuana derived products; products that contain more than 0.3% THC, illegal drugs and products that otherwise violate Square’s Payment Terms.
• No hemp flower.
• Included items cannot make health claims.

For more details on eligibility, head over to this resource in our Support Center: Accepting Payments for CBD in Square Early Access Program.

👉 To complete an application form and request an invite to join, go to to www.squareup.com/solutions/cbd, then click Get Started. 👈

Thank you for your patience as we continue to work on this endeavor! We're excited to help our sellers by offering a reliable solution for CBD sales.

[Rebel1]

Are we supposed to receive confirmation when we apply? I didn’t get anything in my email 

[Tom]

Hey @Rebel1, I'm not sure of confirmation or notification emails, though I surfaced this question internally for more clarity. Generally speaking, it takes 5 - 7 business days for our team to review new applications. Appreciate your patience!

[Tom]

Quick update: we will be adding an automated confirmation email to the application experience. In the meantime, once you've submitted your application, rest assured that a team member will follow up with you as soon as your review is complete.💯 

[hbhurt]

Is the turn around time still 5-7 days?  I submitted my application a week ago and haven't heard from anyone (and no confirmation). Is there a way to check it was received? Thanks!  I am eager to get things going before the holiday rush!

[Helen]

@hbhurt So sorry to keep you waiting for a reply. We've had a lot of interest in this program so the review process is taking a bit longer. When your application is in review our team will reach out! Thanks for your patience in the meantime! 

[Innerzen]

Can you clarify your answer?
You stated "No hemp flower.", but the "What Can I Sell" portion of this article, which is the article we are reading when applying, states something different.
https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/6682
"Why can’t I sell hemp flower?

Square is still evolving our CBD policy, and at this time hemp flower is permitted only if lab certification confirming the THC level and ingredients is provided. Please note that marijuana sales are also not supported, and Square has no plans at this time to support such sales."

Of course this article is confusing because the question is "Why CAN'T I sell hemp flower" but the answer states that you can. 
Any responsible merchant should have COAs for their products. Any very responsible merchant will also be lab testing their products to produce their own COAs to verify the COAs that come with the products from the manufacturers.

[Tom]

Hey @Innerzen, thanks for checking in! Apologies for the confusion—we do allow for hemp flowers but require the necessary lab certifications confirming the delta 9 THC levels.

Hope this helps clarify—and I'll be sure to surface your post with the appropriate team members internally. Please don't hesitate to let us know if any questions remain.

[Innerzen]

Thanks for the reply!
It probably changed 4 seconds after you posted. LOL.

Times they are a changin'

[Chad2]

Tom, my account has been setup since September 19th.  I used an invitation URL to the CBD Early Program.  However, I do not see anything to indicate that my store is in the CBD program.  I have a physical retail store set to open next week.  I have communicated to Square Support numerous times and am told I don't have an account manager so I cannot get anyone to help me.