CanPay, which calls itself the the first debit payment product for the cannabis industry, has announced its availability to retailers and consumers in Washington, Oregon and Colorado, according to a press release.

To ensure privacy and security, all purchases are made using nonidentifiable, single-use, and random payment tokens generated in the CanPay app. Consumers who want to pay with CanPay download the app to their smartphone, create an account and link their checking account. Upon approval, they can begin paying at any participating retailer.

The consumer logs into the CanPay app at the time of purchase and scans the random token into the retailer's point of sale device. Funds are electronically transferred directly from the consumer's checking account to the retailer's compliant bank account, according to the announcement.

"CanPay is the future of payments for emerging industries, and is quickly becoming the preferred method of payment for cannabis businesses and banking institutions alike," said Dustin Eide, CEO of CanPay. "As more and more states move to legalize medical and recreational cannabis within their borders, the time has come for a legitimate payment solution. With regulations being determined across the newly approved states, we will be expanding CanPay into each market in partnership with those institutions offering compliant banking to cannabis retailers."

CanPay partners exclusively with a multistate network of financial institutions that are banking the cannabis industry under compliance programs meeting strict federal guidelines, ensuring the continued stability and legitimacy of CanPay's services. It is currently available in 15 retail locations across Washington and Colorado.