Tap to Pay: The Cashless Future of Cannabis Retail

On this episode of the Kaya Cast Podcast, host Tommy Truong sits down with Lucas Gould, co founder and CEO of Spendr, to unpack breaking cannabis news and what it means for operators across the country. They dive into the federal move to reschedule cannabis to Schedule III, its potential impact on medical vs recreational markets, banking, 280E tax relief, research funding, interstate commerce, and what rules might follow as the dust settles. Will state lines stay drawn or start to blur? How might federal oversight influence medical cannabis programs? Then the conversation shifts to Spendr, the cannabis payments and loyalty platform. Lucas explains how Spendr started to solve cash payments and has evolved into turning payments into a retention channel. Learn how end users sign up, fund a digital wallet, and pay with a tap or QR code in store, and how Spendr automatically retargets customers with personalized offers from the dispensaries they shop at. See how Spendr helps 200 plus locations in 13 markets drive loyalty, while being POS agnostic and revenue positive for merchants. The episode also covers growth, hiring, maintaining quality during rapid expansion, and the importance of brand, employee training, and exceptional customer experience in building lasting loyalty. Whether you’re a dispensary operator, investor, or supplier, you’ll come away with practical ideas to boost retention, streamline payments, and position your brand for a post regulatory change cannabis economy. Find out more about Spendr at:https://www.spendr.com/business?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=linkedin-page-buttonhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-gould-b67b8311b/https://www.linkedin.com/company/getspendr/about/ 00:00 Breaking News: Trump Admin Moves to Reschedule Cannabis to Schedule III01:11 What Schedule III Could Mean: 280E Relief, Research, and the Medical vs. Rec Gray Area04:23 Banking & Capital Access: How Compliance Burdens Might Ease Under Schedule III05:24 Interstate Commerce Reality Check + Pharma Cannabinoid Opportunities07:05 Meet Lucas & Spendr: Cashless Payments + Loyalty Platform for Dispensaries10:19 The Original Pain Point: Fixing Cash Payments, Then Evolving Into Retention12:23 Turning Payments Into a High-Intent Marketing Channel14:05 Winning Attention: Relevancy Over Spam (and Why Utility Beats “Marketing Apps”)18:44 How Spendr Works End-to-End: App Setup, QR Pay, Rewards, and Merchant Flow20:57 Repeat Customers on Autopilot: Enrollment, Retargeting, and Multi-Store Behavior23:56 Marketplace vs. Inventory: What Spendr Tracks (and What It Doesn’t)24:36 How Spendr Works at Checkout (Online vs In-Store QR Pay)25:15 Merchant Fees & Why Spendr Sells Loyalty, Not Payments26:56 Marketplace vs Revenue Channel: Subsidized Prices & More Repeat Visits28:57 The Future of Dispensary Loyalty: Experience, Communication & Brand Promise34:07 Why Budtenders Matter: Training, Reviews, and the Personal Nature of Cannabis35:26 Cannabis Buying Is Advisory: Mood, Variety, and Always Trying Something New39:48 2026 Milestones: Scaling to More States Without Losing Quality Support44:49 Founder Mindset: Infinite Problem-Solving, Medical Roots, and Staying Alive47:11 Where to Find Spendr + What’s Next (Wrap-Up)cannabis rescheduling, Schedule III cannabis, federal cannabis news, cannabis legalization update, 280E tax relief, cannabis banking reform, SAFE Banking Act, cannabis compliance, cannabis regulations, federal cannabis policy, medical vs recreational cannabis, cannabis market trends, interstate cannabis commerce, cannabis research funding, DEA rescheduling, cannabis tax reform, dispensary operations, dispensary retention strategies, cannabis payments platform, cashless cannabis, cannabis digital wallet, QR code payments cannabis, tap to pay cannabis, cannabis fintech, Spendr, Lucas Gould, Tommy Truong, Kaya Cast Podcast #kayacast #cannabis #tips #dispensaries #business #podcast