FWM: You have a 25+ year career of successful startups and scaling businesses such as Netspend, Walmart.com, and Netscape. What led you to launch Dama?
After spending years in the payments industry creating solutions for consumers that are underserved, it was a natural fit to help with a massive public safety issue by creating solutions for the cannabis industry. When hardworking business owners don’t have access to banking and are forced to operate entirely in cash, it puts not only their employees and customers at risk of falling victim to crime, but their surrounding communities as well.
FWM: Tell us about the challenge of building credit in the cannabis industry.
In order to build credit—for any business—you have to be able to get a lender (bank or otherwise) to extend credit. Lenders are reluctant to extend credit to businesses that operate in cash. In other words, operators get no cashflow credit while operating in cash. Businesses that are interested in building a credit history should start by getting funds into a bank account.
FWM: What are the risks cannabis businesses face without transparent banking?
There are a number of risks that come with “hiding” in a bank that doesn’t know it is banking a cannabis business. Besides the obvious impact of disruption to operations when the bank discovers the truth and abruptly shuts down the account, some banks hold on to funds for weeks after closing the account before releasing them in the form of a check. And when the businesses do receive that check, many don’t know what to do with it as they are left without an account. Those issues seem mild when compared to what individual owners have experienced when the bank kicks them out. Some have had their mortgages and other loans rescinded, and personal accounts shut down. Some have been locked out of banking in perpetuity, essentially blackballed from the system.
FWM: Dama is like no other. The company is able to offer its clients a single relationship for multiple financial solutions. Explain.
We provide our customers access to all the business tools they need to thrive, from a full suite of banking and merchant services to cash management, credit and payroll products. Everything we do is integrated, which means clients can manage all their activity—whether it’s paying a vendor, checking an account balance or scheduling an armored car pick-up—via a single login, either on a computer or through our mobile app. We also offer unparalleled customer service and take great pride in doing so.
FWM: What are Smart Safes?
The smart safes we offer allow employees to deposit stacks of cash without counting or sorting it. The safe tallies the bills, and generally the deposited funds are available in the customer’s Premier Banking account the next business day—even though the cash is still physically at the customer’s place of business. Customers also have access to a credit line from that deposit. Smart safes are fantastic because they greatly improve both public safety and operational efficiency, as they save hours spent counting cash and making bank deposits. They also eliminate associated labor costs and reduce internal cash losses due to employee error and theft.
FWM: You recently expanded your offering with the release of Dama Payroll. Tell us more.
Dama Payroll is a comprehensive solution that integrates seamlessly with our platform, which has evolved into a one-stop shop where cannabis companies can take care of all their banking and business needs. Key elements include but are not limited to: payroll; employee timekeeping, labor management and workload planning. People are the driving force of every company, so by adding Dama Payroll to our suite of offerings we’re not only making it easier for our customers to manage their employees, we’re also making it easier for them to grow their businesses.
FWM: Tell us about Dama’s strength in M & A or partnerships.
Dama is an API-first company, and our platform was designed to seamlessly integrate business tools and partners. M & A and partnerships are natural expansion opportunities that benefit partners and Dama alike.
FWM: What is your vision for your company for 2022?
Dama will continue to expand our product set and expect to grow significantly in 2022. We will continue our journey of becoming the single destination for essential and integrated business tools for the cannabis industry.
https://www.damafinancial.com/
