Women in cannabis: aubrey amatelli
An inside look at the intersection of cannabis + finance with Aubrey Amatelli, helping to make your next dispensary visit easier.
Aubrey Amatelli spent much of the early years of her career at JP Morgan and credits her
experience there with preparing her for disrupting the cannabis industry with her company
PayRio. “When I left JP Morgan to start my own payment company, I wanted to serve and help
industries that were in need from a payment processing standpoint,” Amatelli shares. “Cannabis
and alternative medicines really didn’t have a solution, especially cannabis. It’s really hard to
find a reliable option for dispensaries to accept debit and credit cards and I was determined to
find a way to help support the industry.”
Amatelli describes PayRio as a “passion project” and a “feel good job” because everytime a
dispensary signs on with them their business grows. “We’ve seen dispensaries’ average orders
grow between 20 and up to 36 percent. It’s a win-win-win for everyone. Customers can use their
cards, dispensaries can grow, and for us [PayRio] we’re helping to spread the word and helping
to grow the industry in general.”
As they await the passage of the Safe Banking Act, Amatelli and her PayRio team are already
building payment rails to support dispensaries through the normal way of processing and have
all the partnerships and technology in place to do so. The cannabis industry is one of the last
standing industries in credit/debit card processing in the U.S. that still has a lot of disruption to
go because it’s not federally legal yet.”
Having been at JP Morgan during the launch of Apple Pay and “Buy Now, Pay Later,” Amatelli is
excited to be a part of the cannabis industry through another big industry-changing payment
option. “What I’ve found is that because CBD is considered high-risk, other processors are
charging double what PayRio charges because they can get away with it,” says Amatelli. “The
big thing for me is developing the technology that supports dispensaries at a fair price and not
being a player that didn’t support the industry before this act passes and trying to come in and
take the business.”
A self-described holistic person who’s passionate about health and wellness, Amatelli is very
dedicated to serving the cannabis industry with her company PayRio beyond just a payment
solution. “Cannabis is a beautiful and amazing plant that can create clothing, food, shelter, and
pain relief,” Amatelli says. “I want everyone to know about the benefits and will do what I can to
educate others on it and help fight the stigma of using it.”