The cannabis industry has no shortage of visionaries, but few are reshaping its infrastructure quite like Kevin Hart, founder and CEO of Green Check. With four decades of experience in enterprise software and a track record that includes multiple successful exits and an IPO, Hart didn’t enter cannabis with starry eyes. He entered with a blueprint.
In 2017, Kevin founded Green Check, a FinTech company built to modernize how cannabis businesses and financial institutions work together. Today, Green Check supports over 150 financial institutions and more than 10,000 cannabis-related businesses, offering a compliance-first ecosystem of technology, data, and advisory services. Under Hart’s leadership, the company has become one of the most awarded in the space, earning accolades for compliance innovation, FinTech excellence, and workplace culture.
In this exclusive interview, Hart shares what pulled him into the cannabis industry, how Green Check is breaking down barriers for operators, and why financial equity (not just financial access) is the next frontier for cannabis growth.
Kayla Mejer: You had already led companies to IPO and successful exits in enterprise software before Green Check. What made you pivot to cannabis, and did you see this as a business opportunity or a moral imperative—or both?
Kevin Hart: It was both but weighted very differently. When I learned how the medicine of the plant was having such a positive impact on end of life diseases I was stupified as to why this was so hard for people to access versus “standard” medicine. On the commercial side, similarly why aren’t these businesses treated as “standard” businesses for banking? Both of these opportunities were only going to be pushed forward with data access, analysis and presentation. So they cross-purposed very quickly in my mind.
KM: When you founded Green Check in 2017, federal prohibition was firmly in place, and cannabis banking was still viewed as radioactive by most financial institutions. What did you see that others didn’t at the time?
KH: Cannabis is federally illegal, cannabis banking isn’t – big difference! Education and awareness was and continues to be needed. Also it was clear the demand for the services was there and would continue to grow so we focused all our efforts on creating a viable supply side answer – getting more banks and credit unions to service the industry. That thesis has held true and this is why we have the largest connected demand-to-supply set of partners anywhere.
KM: Green Check isn’t just helping cannabis operators open bank accounts. You’re building infrastructure that redefines how compliance and financial data flow. What’s the biggest misconception people still have about cannabis banking?
KH: Once you get them over the “it’s illegal” hurdle, they then open their eyes to the size and scale of the industry. Having a bank account is the low bar today, we can get any cannabis business a banking relationship but it is the connected financial and business products and services that financial institutions are really embracing. They make their money via lending based on increased assets. We are putting the fastest growing consumer market at their “desk” across all the departments every single day. We are seeing over $1b per month in sales deposits. Financial institutions love those numbers!
Km: You’ve described Green Check as providing a ‘compliance-first ecosystem.’ Can you break down what that means in practical terms for a cannabis operator who is trying to grow responsibly?
KH: Owning or operating a cannabis business is brutal, we all know that. The complexities of operating alongside razor tight margins means the smallest mistake can have catastrophic consequences. This means that every CRB needs to be able to effectively, with continued demonstrable compliance be able to work seamlessly with any financial institution or business partner. Our connected data and compliance platform enables that at scale, and the lowest cost possible. Our measurable impact for any CRB is visible and exceptionally valuable.
What separates success is measurable, especially in the areas of control for any cannabis business and efficient financial and business services is non-negotable. You can’t sell your way to profit, you can operate your way to effective margins!
KM: With over 150 financial institutions and 10,000+ cannabis businesses in your network, you’ve arguably built one of the most influential datasets in the cannabis economy. How are you using that data to drive innovation?
KH: We are actually 180+ FIs and over 14,000+ CRBs, we grow steadily monthly. The purpose of our approach has always been awareness of the industry and how FIs better service the industry. This means that we not only have to connect them via compliance but we also have to enable the connections to the entire industry in their community or field of service.
This is why more FIs are entering the industry. We can connect them to any and all cannabis businesses, we can ensure compliance and the FIs know more about the health, well-being and financial trajectory of their cannabis customers than any other commercial account. At the dollar-level, every day. No one else, and no other industry can deliver this level of service, full mic drop moment.
KM: Green Check has won accolades like Top Compliance Company and Best Places to Work in Fintech. How do you balance a culture of internal innovation with the external demand to stay ahead of compliance requirements and ever-changing cannabis laws?
KH: Much like we do for financial institutions and cannabis businesses, we create an environment of opportunity for all our team members. We have hired from all the areas of experience necessary within the company: banking, regulatory and banking compliance, cannabis operations, supply chain logistics and of course half the team are technologists. We constantly update the team on progress, focus and goals and they never disappoint in the delivery. No team delivers more based upon customer direction and feedback so that a full circle of integrated goals keep us on our toes and our clients happy.
KM: You’ve said your mission is to connect every cannabis business with the financial and business services they need to grow. What does success look like to you in the next five years?
KH: The way I’ve always viewed the problem, and therefore the opportunity is pretty simple. There isn’t a financial institution in the US that shouldn’t be serving the cannabis industry. There also isn’t a cannabis business that doesn’t need access to financial and business services. No one is in a better position today, and in the future, to serve every single node. We already have the largest network of FIs and CRBs because we do it better than anyone else. Why not the rest?
KM: What role does FinTech play in leveling the playing field for smaller, independent cannabis businesses, especially those historically excluded from traditional banking and capital markets?
KH: You have to make it easier and valuable to them to operate and that is exactly where we come in with our platform. And you not only have to be able to do that at scale, with the required compliance by each location and license type, but it has to be easy. Our belief system from the beginning is that we have to make this mirror basic app-based banking today for CRBs. I never talked to anyone at my banks for all the apps, credit cards and bill pay apps I use, why shouldn’t the same be true for CRBs? We haven’t talked to 14,000 cannabis businesses yet, that is how many we serve. The model works as designed which is why the answer to number 7 is yes, we want to service them all.
KM: If you could wave a magic wand and change one policy today that would unlock cannabis growth responsibly, what would it be and why?
KH: SAFE banking. Additional FIs means more access to products and services for CRBs. There will always be the need for the compliance rules and regulations, we have that covered and can adapt to more and wider rules but cannabis operators need wider, cheaper and better access to capital, money-movement and enhanced cash flow. Also the enhanced visibility to the revenue movement and state tax collections would put a greater spotlight on rescheduling. One begets the other.
KM: What advice would you give to other FinTech entrepreneurs eyeing the cannabis space, who may be intrigued but intimidated by the regulatory minefield?
KH: Timid never accomplished anything. If you call yourself an entrepreneur, be brave, convicted but first off, smart. Want to know why 85% of new businesses fail? Because they didn’t plan, they didn’t listen and they simply did stupid shit. Failure is predictable, success takes so much more than an idea.
As cannabis legalization evolves state by state, the gap between legal operators and the financial systems meant to support them remains one of the industry’s greatest challenges and opportunities. Kevin Hart isn’t just building bridges between cannabis businesses and banks, he’s laying the groundwork for a more transparent, inclusive, and scalable future.
For entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers alike, Green Check’s trajectory offers a powerful reminder: the cannabis economy won’t be built on product alone. It will be built on trust, technology, and access. And as Hart puts it, “We’re just getting started.”
