DENVER, Dec. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SHF Holdings, Inc., d/b/a Safe Harbor Financial (“Safe Harbor” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: SHFS), a provider of banking, lending, and financial services to the legal cannabis industry, announced that Canopy HR—one of the largest payroll-service providers in the cannabis sector—selected Safe Harbor to support nearly all of its cannabis payroll banking operations. The engagement represents a major new banking client win for Safe Harbor and is expected to contribute meaningfully to deposits, payments activity, and long-term revenue growth.

Alongside this engagement, Safe Harbor is introducing a new cashflow solution that allows cannabis operators to keep payroll-related funds in their accounts for up to two additional days every payroll cycle. This new feature, called Payroll Boost, strengthens weekly liquidity without requiring any changes to payroll workflows and leverages information already collected by participating payroll providers, allowing the solution to scale efficiently across large client populations. The offering reflects Safe Harbor’s deep cannabis-sector expertise, including leadership with direct operator-side experience, ensuring the solution addresses the real cashflow pressures cannabis businesses face.

New Growth Channels for Safe Harbor
In addition to securing Canopy HR’s banking business, Safe Harbor and Canopy HR are coordinating efforts to introduce Payroll Boost to its new and existing clients. This integrated solution creates two primary avenues for Safe Harbor’s growth:

1. Conversions from existing Canopy HR clients
Canopy HR is informing its cannabis clients that access to Payroll Boost requires a Safe Harbor commercial banking account. Each conversion establishes a new banking relationship and is expected to increase deposit balances, payment-flow volume, and adoption of Safe Harbor’s lending and financial-services products. Safe Harbor will support conversions with managed onboarding assistance, using information already collected by Canopy HR to streamline the process and reduce operator friction. This also introduces clients to Safe Harbor’s broader managed-services capabilities, creating additional opportunities for long-term revenue growth.

2. Growth driven by the payroll cash-retention benefit
Safe Harbor will market Payroll Boost directly to cannabis operators seeking stronger liquidity and more predictable weekly cashflow. Access to Payroll Boost requires a Safe Harbor banking account and the use of a Safe Harbor participating payroll provider such as Canopy HR, creating a clear path for new client acquisition. The feature is expected to generate additional banking relationships, increased deposit balances, expanded payment-flow activity, and deeper utilization of Safe Harbor’s broader service offerings.

The Payroll Boost integrated payroll-funding solution strengthens Safe Harbor’s competitive position, expands long-term revenue opportunities, and advances the Company’s evolution toward becoming the cannabis industry’s most comprehensive financial platform.

“This is a major win with significant growth potential,” said Terry Mendez, Chief Executive Officer of Safe Harbor. “Payroll Boost delivers measurable value to cannabis operators every payroll cycle, while expanding Safe Harbor’s deposit base and revenue opportunities.”

“Safe Harbor’s infrastructure enables us to deliver a more efficient and predictable payroll-funding experience for cannabis operators,” said Joel Pearson, Executive Vice President at Canopy HR. “This coordinated workflow strengthens financial outcomes for both employers and employees.”

About Safe Harbor:
Safe Harbor is a cannabis-exclusive financial platform delivering smarter banking, lending, payments and business services tailored to how the cannabis industry actually operates. As one of the original pioneers of compliant cannabis banking in the U.S., Safe Harbor has facilitated more than $25 billion in cannabis-related transactions across 41 states and territories. Through its proprietary Cannabis Banking Solutions™ Platform and network of regulated financial institution partners, Safe Harbor empowers cannabis operators to gain clarity, control and confidence in their financial operations. From daily banking to long-term growth, Safe Harbor provides real solutions and personal support—built exclusively for cannabis. For more information, visit www.SHFinancial.org.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
Certain information contained in this press release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements other than statements of historical facts included herein may constitute forward-looking statements and are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to trends in the cannabis industry, including proposed changes in U.S and state laws, rules, regulations and guidance relating to Safe Harbor’s services; Safe Harbor’s growth prospects and Safe Harbor’s market size; Safe Harbor’s projected financial and operational performance, including relative to its competitors and historical performance; success or viability of new product and service offerings Safe Harbor may introduce in the future; the impact volatility in the capital markets, which may adversely affect the price of Safe Harbor’s securities; the outcome of any legal proceedings that have been or may be brought by or against Safe Harbor; and other statements regarding Safe Harbor’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “outlook,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would,” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in Safe Harbor’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Safe Harbor undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement made herein. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.

Safe Harbor Investor Relations Contact:
ir@SHFinancial.org

Safe Harbor Media Relations Contact:
safeharbor@kcsa.com