Two dozen checking accounts.

That's the number of accounts that banks and credit unions haveclosed once they discovered Kristi Kelly, founder of the Good MedsNetwork and board member for The Fourth Corner Credit Union, wasassociated with Colorado's newly-legalized cannabis industry.

That's the number of times access to traditional financialservices has been yanked away from those who chose to participatein an industry that a majority of voters approved in 2012.

Forcing businesses like Kristi's to operate in the shadowy,cash-only fringes of society isn't a safe or sustainable solution.And, while arriving at a viable endpoint won't be easy, it's timefor the credit union industry to step up and have a coordinatedconversation aimed at developing an innovative solution to addressthis problem.

Dispelling Myths and QuestioningAssumptions

Last month, Filene Research Institute arranged for Filene i3innovators to meet with leaders from The Fourth Corner Credit Unionto witness first-hand the environment in which Colorado marijuanadispensaries operate, and to engage in an objective dialogue aimedat finding solutions. For many of us, the myths and assumptions wehad about the industry were dispelled before our eyes.

The dispensary we visited wasn't a smoky den with questionablecustomers lurking about. In fact, it looked like a normal retailenvironment where high-end electronics or jewelry could be sold.The owners and employees weren't the bloodshot-eyed slackers youmight imagine; rather they were dressed professionally, some insuits that would put to shame the casual dress codes in vogue atmany of our companies.

But the similarities between Colorado's legal dispensaries andother retail businesses end here. Because when it comes toaccessing the financial ecosystem that most businesses take forgranted – cashing checks, paying bills and ensuring that funds aresafe and secure – these dispensaries are completely shut out.

And limited access to financial services isn't just impactingthe recreational marijuana industry that is now legal in fourstates. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have lawsthat permit the regulated use of marijuana for medical purposes.Dispensaries and others involved in what they honestly believe tobe legitimate medical treatment are forced into the same financialchallenges Filene's i3 innovators saw.

Limitations Require Innovative Solutions

No one denies that significant hurdles stand in the way of TheFourth Corner Credit Union and others like them from opening theirdoors and serving their first member. Many of these hurdles arerooted in legitimate legal questions, the least of which is thestanding federal ban on the possession of marijuana.

But hurdles are meant to be jumped. Problems are meant to besolved and the status quo is meant to be questioned. That's how thecredit union movement got its very start in the early twentiethcentury. Restless leaders including Filene Research Institute's ownnamesake Edward Filene worked together to bring safe, fairly pricedfinancial access to the most marginalized of Americans.

“We cannot release great new forces in our world and hope toretain the status quo,” was how Edward Filene characterized theneed for change in the 1930s. Similarly, today our movement mustwork together to bravely question the status quo and deviseinnovative ways to overcome limitations that stand in the way offinancial access for all.

Serve, Don't Judge

Years ago I worked at a large credit union led by a CEO who usedto remind us that our job was to “serve, not judge” our members.It's a mantra that has stuck with me to this day and alignsperfectly with the topic of credit unions serving businesses in themarijuana industry. If our movement's objective truly is to servethose who are being marginalized by others, without judging whethertheir actions align with our own personal beliefs, why are so fewof us willing to stand up and have a voice in this importantconversation?

Our lack of concerted action is not without potentialconsequences. Indeed, the hourly dispensary employee who todaybravely carries unmarked bags containing thousands of dollars incash to make routine payments may be the subject of tomorrow's leadstory in the Denver Post saying that they were robbed – oreven worse – because no financial institution was willing to stepin and help them.

This may sound dramatic, but it is a perfectly foreseeablesituation given the circumstances in which they are currentlyoperating. And what are we – our credit unions, our regulatoryagencies, and our system partners – doing about it?

So far, not very much.

But it's time that lack of action changed. It's time to start acoordinated conversation about these issues. We need to set asideour individual political or philosophical viewpoints and solve thisproblem together. We need to apply our experience, our creativity –and dare I say our compassion – to find ways around the hurdlesthat exist to help solve this issue for consumers and cooperativessuch as The Fourth Corner Credit Union.

This isn't necessarily to say that as an industry we need tofight for the repeal of federal bans on marijuana or that we needto support an individual's right to use the substance for medicalor recreational purposes. But what we should collaborate on isfinding an operational solution.

Forging new paths is never easy. And, at its roots, that isexactly what the process of innovating is about. In the Filenei³ program, we teach our participants to question thestatus quo, cast aside assumptions and work together to build afuture that better meets the needs of consumers through creditunions.

Now it is time for us as a movement to do exactly this. Are youon board?

Andrew Downin is innovation director for Filene ResearchInstitute. He can be reached at 608-661-3746or [email protected].