Gravity Payments
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersSeattle, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
Gravity Payments firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Gravity Payments
- Legal name
- Gravity Payments, Inc.
- Website
- https://gravitypayments.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Gravity Payments industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Payment Processing Services
- NAICS
- Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232), Sales Financing (52222)
- SIC
- Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Integrated Payment Processors (PSP/Acquirer) (FSAMABAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Integrated POS Payments (ISVs & Vertical POS Platforms) (FSAMADAD), Merchant Payment Gateways (API/Hosted Checkout) (FSAMACAA), Payment Processing & Acquiring Infrastructure (FSAGABAC)
Keywords
Where Gravity Payments is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Seattle
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Gravity Payments business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Transaction Processing Fees: Primary revenue stream from processing credit and debit card transactions. Charges a percentage plus fixed fee per transaction.
- Payment Hardware Sales: Sale of point-of-sale hardware including card readers, terminals, and POS equipment
- Merchant Cash Advances: Working capital financing through Gravity Capital for qualified merchants
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Standard Card Processing Rate |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
Gravity Payments product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Gravity Payments is a credit card and payment processing company that enables merchants to accept card payments in-store, online, and on-the-go, supported by POS hardware terminals, merchant cash advance funding products (Gravity Capital, Gravity Capital Express), Buy Now Pay Later, surcharging programs, and PCI compliance support. The company also develops and sells vertical-specific SaaS platforms (Gravity Legal for law firms, Poppy Bridal Software for bridal stores, Portals self-service payment portal) and exposes payment acceptance via the emergepay cloud-based API for software developers.
Product overview
Gravity Payments is a payment processing company offering a unified platform for credit card processing and related financial services. The core product is the payment processing platform supporting in-store, online, and mobile payments. This core platform is augmented by: Gravity Capital and Gravity Capital Express (merchant funding solutions), Buy Now Pay Later (customer financing), Surcharging (fee offset program), and PCI Compliance Support. The company also operates vertical-specific SaaS products including Gravity Legal (for law firms), Poppy Bridal Software (for bridal stores), and Portals (self-service payment portal). The emergepay API enables developer integrations into third-party software. The company sells and supports a range of payment hardware devices including Clover, PAX, MagTek, and Swipe Simple terminals.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Gravity Capital: Business funding solution providing quick, flexible financing for Gravity Payments merchants with no compounding interest or fixed repayments.
- Gravity Capital Express
- Gravity Legal
- Poppy Bridal
- Portals
- emergepay
Quantifiable outcome
- Merchant onboarding within one week
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Gravity Payments
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments11 records
Ideal customer profiles6 records
Gravity Payments technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration38 records
Feature3 records
Gravity Payments partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
28 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- AcuroVetcoreVeterinary practice management integration partner enabling seamless payment processing within AcuroVet's animal health software platform.
- ClientraXcoreVeterinary software integration partner for payment processing within client management workflows.
- easyDVMcoreVeterinary practice management integration providing payment processing capabilities within the easyDVM platform.
- InstinctcoreVeterinary software partner integrating payment processing with practice management features.
- Provet CloudcoreCloud-based veterinary practice management integration for seamless payment processing.
- Vet2PetcoreVeterinary client communications and payment integration platform partner.
- Vetter SoftwarecoreVeterinary practice management software integration for payment processing.
- PracticeSynccoreVeterinary practice management sync and payment integration.
- DVM ElitecoreVeterinary professional network and payment processing integration partner.
- American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)flagshipFlagship industry association partnership with the AVMA, the leading veterinary medical organization, for industry recognition and marketing reach.
- Veterinary Hospital Managers Association (VHMA)coreIndustry partnership with VHMA for veterinary hospital management community engagement and marketing.
- Fear FreeminorPartnership with Fear Free certification program for veterinary practices.
- AestheticsProcoreHealthcare and aesthetic practice management integration for payment processing.
- DentmacoreDental practice management integration for seamless payment processing.
- OrthoChartcoreOrthodontic practice management integration for payment processing.
- HearFormcoreAudiology and hearing practice management payment integration.
- CounselEARcoreAudiology practice management integration for payment processing.
- CloverflagshipFlagship POS integration partner with Clover's restaurant point-of-sale systems, enabling embedded payment processing for food service merchants.
- UnioncoreRestaurant POS integration partner for payment processing.
- AuphancoreRestaurant management and POS integration for payment processing.
- SmilePOScoreRestaurant point-of-sale integration partner.
- Poppy BridalcoreBridal retail software integration for appointment booking and payment processing.
- Bridal Web SolutionscoreBridal industry web platform integration for payment processing.
- FormalWare by P&B SystemscoreFormal wear retail software integration partner.
- EverywhereBridalcoreBridal industry platform integration for payments.
- Better Bridal GroupcoreBridal industry marketing and member organization partnership.
- National Bridal Retailers AssociationcoreIndustry association partnership for bridal retail marketing reach.
- VikingCloud (SecureTrust)flagshipPCI compliance and payment security partner providing SecureTrust certification and security scanning services for merchant compliance.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves12 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Gravity Payments competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Square (Block): Square is the dominant SMB-focused payment processor and POS provider in the US, offering flat-rate card-present and card-not-present processing bundled with free POS software. Directly competes with Gravity Payments for the same small and mid-market merchants that Gravity targets across veterinary, restaurants, and retail.
- Helcim: Helcim is a Canadian-headquartered SMB payment processor that competes on transparent, interchange-plus pricing and a self-serve onboarding flow. Closely comparable to Gravity's flat-rate 2.5% + $0.10 model and SMB self-serve channel, and Gravity's stated Canadian operating geography places them in direct competition.
- Stax (FIS): Stax is a subscription-based, flat-per-transaction payment platform aimed at SaaS-integrated and mid-market merchants — same flat-pricing logic as Gravity but with a stronger embedded/ISV focus. Both compete for the same technology-forward SMB and integrated software partner merchants.
- Payment Depot: Payment Depot is a wholesale-style SMB payment processor (interchange-plus membership model) competing for price-sensitive merchants who reject traditional tiered pricing. Operates in the same transparent-pricing SMB segment as Gravity and uses a similar direct-sales motion.
- Toast: Toast is the leading restaurant-vertical POS and payments platform in the US, embedding card processing inside an all-in-one restaurant OS. Directly comparable to Gravity's Clover/Union/Auphan-powered restaurant vertical strategy and a key competitor for the same food-and-beverage merchants.
- Clover (Fiserv): Clover is Fiserv's SMB POS and payments platform, distributed largely through sponsor banks and ISO partners — and Gravity itself is one of Clover's distribution partners. Clover represents both a competitor (end merchants see Clover directly) and a channel dependency for Gravity's restaurant book.
- Dharma Merchant Services: Dharma is an SMB-focused payment processor that emphasizes transparent interchange-plus pricing and customer service — positioning highly comparable to Gravity's "no long-term contracts, US-based 24/7 support, transparent pricing" value proposition. Competes for the same price-conscious small business merchant segment.
- North (formerly North American Bancard): North is a large US-based ISO and payment processor serving SMBs across verticals with a sales-led motion and transparent pricing — a closely analogous business model to Gravity Payments in terms of distribution, target merchant size, and revenue mix.
Broad incumbents
- Stripe: Stripe is a global payments platform with developer-first APIs, an integrated gateway, and increasingly SMB-friendly checkout products. Gravity's emergepay API mirrors Stripe's developer posture at a fraction of the scale, making Stripe a relevant incumbent competitor for Gravity's ISV and developer-targeted integrations.
- Heartland Payment Systems (Global Payments): Heartland, owned by Global Payments, is one of the largest US payment processors serving SMB and mid-market merchants via an ISO/sales-led distribution model — structurally the same go-to-market as Gravity Payments. Represents the consolidated-incumbent peer that Gravity's vertical-SaaS strategy is partly trying to escape.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Gravity Payments social profiles
Digital presenceGravity Payments compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Gravity Payments financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Gravity Payments leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Gravity Payments subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries4 records
Gravity Payments funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Gravity Payments M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments2 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Gravity Payments
What does Gravity Payments do?
Gravity Payments is a credit card and payment processing company that enables merchants to accept card payments in-store, online, and on-the-go, supported by POS hardware terminals, merchant cash advance funding products (Gravity Capital, Gravity Capital Express), Buy Now Pay Later, surcharging programs, and PCI compliance support. The company also develops and sells vertical-specific SaaS platforms (Gravity Legal for law firms, Poppy Bridal Software for bridal stores, Portals self-service payment portal) and exposes payment acceptance via the emergepay cloud-based API for software developers.
Is Gravity Payments a public or private company?
Gravity Payments is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Gravity Payments founded?
Gravity Payments was founded in 2004. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Gravity Payments based?
Gravity Payments is headquartered in Seattle, United States, in the North America region.
How does Gravity Payments make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Transaction Processing Fees are the primary driver. The others are payment Hardware Sales and merchant Cash Advances.
Who are Gravity Payments's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Square (Block), Helcim, Stax (FIS), Payment Depot, Toast, Clover (Fiserv), Dharma Merchant Services and North (formerly North American Bancard). Broad incumbents are Stripe and Heartland Payment Systems (Global Payments).
Does Gravity Payments have an API?
Yes. Cloud-based payment API called emergepay that enables developers to integrate payment processing into software applications. Supports multiple integration methods including modal, embedded form (iFrame), custom form (Hosted Fields), checkout, digital wallets, ACH payments, and direct payments. Authentication uses Organization ID and auth token. Available in JavaScript, TypeScript, C#, and PHP. Developer documentation is at dev.gravitypayments.com/docs/emergepay.
What industry is Gravity Payments in?
Gravity Payments's product category is Payment Processing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMABAA, Integrated Payment Processors (PSP/Acquirer), with a secondary code of FSAMADAD, Integrated POS Payments (ISVs & Vertical POS Platforms). Its NAICS code is 52232 and its SIC code is 6159.