Celero Commerce
Celero Commerce is a full-service integrated payment processing provider serving small and mid-sized merchants, ISVs, ISOs, and financial institutions through a proprietary gateway, merchant management, and embedded payments platform spanning 100+ industries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersNashville, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Celero Commerce does
Celero Commerce is a full-service, integrated electronic commerce and payment processing provider founded in late 2018 and headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. The company serves small and mid-sized merchants, independent sales organizations, integrated software vendors, and financial institutions through a proprietary technology platform that combines a modular payment gateway (Celero Connect), merchant onboarding and portfolio management (Compass CRM), real-time business intelligence (CeleroBI), automated underwriting (Confirm), and PCI-compliant processing (Celero PCI). Vertical-specific offerings include BankMax for financial institutions, Streamline for small businesses, and Celero Fusion, a managed PayFac-style embedded payments platform that goes live with ISV partners in an average of 11 weeks.
Celero monetizes primarily through transaction fees on credit, debit, ACH, and check processing, supplemented by revenue sharing with ISV partners and referral or white-label arrangements with banks and credit unions, plus hardware sales and bundled SaaS access to 5,000+ business management tools. Distribution is multi-channel: direct-to-merchant sales, a 175+ bank referral and white-label network, an ISO and agent channel with direct wholesale access to TSYS and Fiserv, and an API-first developer program supporting iOS, Android, Windows, and Linux integrations. Notable customers include School of Rock, Pike13, Amada Senior Care, Welenken CPA, RazorSync, and Toni's Courtyard Café, spanning music education, senior care, professional services, restaurants, and field service software.
Growth has been driven by an aggressive acquisition strategy—twelve deals completed between 2018 and 2026, including OMEGA Technology, Everest Payment Solutions, Precision Payments, and Petroleum Processing Solutions—building toward $28 billion+ in annual processing volume and over $200 million in annual revenue across 55,000+ US merchants. In June 2026, Deluxe Corporation agreed to acquire Celero for $625 million in an all-cash transaction expected to close in Q3 2026, which would position the combined entity among the ten largest non-bank merchant acquirers in the United States.
Celero Commerce firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Celero Commerce
- Legal name
- Celero Commerce, LLC
- Website
- https://celerocommerce.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Celero Commerce is a full-service integrated payment processing provider serving small and mid-sized merchants, ISVs, ISOs, and financial institutions through a proprietary gateway, merchant management, and embedded payments platform spanning 100+ industries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Celero Commerce industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Payment Processing Technology
- NAICS
- Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)
- SIC
- Finance Services (6199)
- akta.pro primary industry
- E-commerce & Retail CRM (Customer Data, Loyalty & Personalization) (HDAEAFAE)
Keywords
Where Celero Commerce is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Nashville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices7 records
Markets served
Celero Commerce business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Payment Processing Transaction Fees: Core revenue from processing credit/debit card transactions, ACH and check services, and payment gateway fees for merchants across all channels.
- ISV Revenue Sharing: Revenue sharing arrangements with integrated software vendors who embed Celero payment solutions. Partners earn a portion of processing revenue generated by their merchants.
- Financial Institution Referral Income: Earns ongoing income by referring merchants to Celero for payment processing needs. Banks receive residual income through referral and white-label programs.
- SaaS Bundled Solutions: Bundled SaaS solutions providing access to over 5,000 business management tools and payment solutions spanning 100+ industries as part of a bundled price.
- Hardware and Equipment Sales: Sale and rental of payment terminals, POS systems, and card readers for merchants requiring physical hardware.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Monthly | Custom pricing based on merchant profile and volume |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Celero Commerce product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Celero Commerce is a full-service integrated electronic commerce solutions provider that delivers payment processing technology and merchant services to small and mid-sized businesses, financial institutions, ISVs, and ISOs. Its stack combines a modular payment gateway (Celero Connect), merchant onboarding CRM (Compass), real-time business intelligence (CeleroBI), automated underwriting (Confirm), PCI compliance tools, and embedded ISV payments (Celero Fusion), supported by developer APIs/SDKs and dedicated relationship management.
Product overview
Celero Commerce is a payment processing technology company offering a unified platform combining gateway processing, merchant management, and business analytics. The core platform is Celero Connect, a modular payment gateway enabling multi-channel acceptance (in-person, online, mobile) through a single API. This connects to complementary modules including Compass (CRM and merchant onboarding), CeleroBI (real-time portfolio analytics), Confirm (automated underwriting), and Celero PCI (security/compliance). For specialized verticals, the company offers BankMax for financial institutions, Streamline for small business payment acceptance, and Petroleum Processing Solutions for fuel/convenience retail. Celero Fusion provides embedded payments specifically for ISVs with managed PayFac capabilities, enabling software companies to offer payment processing through their platforms with dedicated support and ISV-specific pricing. Developer tools include Mobile SDKs for iOS/Android, Payment API, Collect.js, Collect Checkout, Webhooks, and Query API.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Celero Fusion: Embedded payments platform built specifically for independent software vendors (ISVs) offering integrated payment processing solutions
- Compass
- BankMax
- CeleroBI
- Confirm
- Streamline
- Connect Gateway
Products and services
- Celero Connect Modular payment gateway platform that enables merchants and developers to accept payments across all channels (in-person, online, mobile) through a single API-driven connection, including support for Apple Pay, Google Pay, virtual terminals, and developer SDKs.
- Celero Fusion Embedded payments platform for independent software vendors (ISVs) that delivers managed PayFac solutions, revenue sharing, ISV-specific pricing, dedicated onboarding, named support, and processes payments for 60,000+ merchants with approximately $28 billion in annual processing volume (average 11-week go-live).
- BankMax Program for financial institutions that harnesses data mining and advanced sales strategies to help banks and credit unions increase fee income, grow deposits, and attract new merchant customers through payment processing.
- Compass Merchant CRM and onboarding platform providing real-time reporting, intuitive dashboards, automated notifications, and merchant portfolio management capabilities for partners and direct merchants.
- CeleroBI Real-time portfolio business intelligence and analytics tool that helps merchants and partners analyze market trends, monitor portfolio performance, and tailor strategies to maximize returns.
- Confirm Proprietary automated merchant underwriting solution that verifies key data points quickly and securely while remaining compliant with regulatory requirements.
- Streamline Mobile payment processing solution enabling small businesses to accept payments anywhere using a smartphone or tablet, without requiring dedicated countertop hardware.
- Petroleum Processing Solutions (PPS) Specialized payment processing solutions for independent fuel retailers and convenience stores, including EMV-compliant pay-at-the-pump processing, multi-lane retail support, fleet cards, and integration with major petroleum POS systems (Gilbarco, Verifone, NCR, Comdata, Fuelmaster).
Quantifiable outcome
- 55,000+ merchants processed annually
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Celero Commerce
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Celero Commerce technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
Feature10 records
Celero Commerce partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- EverBank, N.A.coreStrategic collaboration to enhance payment processing options for EverBank's clients across the United States. EverBank leverages Celero's advanced payment and analytics platform to streamline financial operations for small business to larger commercial corporate clients, offering real-time payment capabilities, fraud prevention tools, and in-depth financial analytics.
- Association of American Bankers (ABA)minorAssociation partner providing payment solutions and opportunities for ABA members and their merchant clients/customers.
- Electronic Transactions Association (ETA)minorAssociation partner providing payment solutions and opportunities for ETA members and their merchant clients/customers.
- Community Bankers Association (CBA)minorAssociation partner providing payment solutions and opportunities for CBA members and their merchant clients/customers.
- Tennessee Bankers Association (TBA)minorAssociation partner providing payment solutions and opportunities for TBA members and their merchant clients/customers.
- Community Bankers Association (CBW)minorAssociation partner providing payment solutions and opportunities for CBW members and their merchant clients/customers.
- TSYScoreDirect access to TSYS as a wholesale partner for processing, enabling faster approvals and competitive rates for ISO/agent partners.
- FiservcoreDirect access to Fiserv as a wholesale partner for processing, enabling faster approvals and competitive rates for ISO/agent partners.
- Pinnacle Bank (Synovus Bank)coreUnited Merchant Services of California, LLC is a registered Independent Sales Organization of Pinnacle Bank, a Tennessee Bank, dba Synovus Bank.
- PNC BankcoreUnited Merchant Services of California, LLC is a registered Independent Sales Organization of PNC Bank, N.A.
- Deutsche Bank Trust Company AmericascoreOmega Processing Solutions, LLC is a registered ISO/MSP of Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, New York, New York.
- Wells Fargo BankcoreMultiple registered ISOs including Elmhurst Financial Services, Tandem Innovative Payment Solutions, FlashBanc, LLC, and CBMS operate through Wells Fargo Bank.
- Fifth Third BankcoreMultiple registered ISOs including Elmhurst Financial Services, Tandem Innovative Payment Solutions, and CBMS operate through Fifth Third Bank.
- Citizens BankcoreMultiple registered ISOs including Elmhurst Financial Services, Tandem Innovative Payment Solutions, and FlashBanc operate through Citizens Bank.
- BMO Harris BankcoreTransNational Payments is a registered Independent Sales Organization of BMO Harris Bank, N.A.
- KeyBankcoreElmhurst Financial Services is a registered Independent Sales Organization of KeyBank, N.A., Cleveland, OH.
Scale indicators13 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Celero Commerce competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Block (Square): Square is a leading payments and POS provider for SMBs across retail and restaurants, directly competing with Celero's Streamline, Clover, and direct-to-merchant offerings. Both target similar merchant segments with bundled hardware/software/processing solutions.
- Heartland Payment Systems (Global Payments): Heartland is one of the largest non-bank merchant acquirers in the US serving SMBs across retail, restaurant, and service verticals. It competes head-to-head with Celero on ISO/agent channels, integrated POS, and SMB pricing programs, and is the closest analog to Celero's go-to-market model.
- North American Bancard: NAB is a major independent sales organization (ISO) and direct payment processor serving SMBs with a multi-channel distribution strategy similar to Celero's ISO/bank/direct mix. Both target ISOs, agents, and merchants with interchange-plus and flat-rate pricing.
- Stripe: Stripe is the leading developer-first payments platform with a strong embedded payments program for SaaS platforms. It is the most relevant peer to Celero Fusion and represents the primary competitive benchmark for ISV integrations, though Stripe skews larger-merchant and digital-native.
- Paya (now Nuvei): Paya is an integrated payments provider focused on B2B, ISV, and government verticals with embedded payment solutions. It is highly comparable to Celero's ISV and vertical-software strategy, and Celero's CFO previously held senior corporate development roles at Paya.
Broad incumbents
- Fiserv: Fiserv is one of the largest merchant acquirers globally and a core wholesale partner of Celero (alongside TSYS). It is a broad incumbent serving merchants of all sizes, with overlapping capabilities in processing, gateway, and ISV enablement.
- Global Payments: Global Payments is a top-tier merchant acquirer formed in part by the Heartland/Fiserv-era consolidation. It is a broad incumbent competitor and partner across SMB, enterprise, and ISV payments, with overlapping gateway, POS, and processing capabilities to Celero.
Emerging players
- Paymentus: Paymentus is a billing and payment processing provider serving billers, utilities, and SMBs with electronic bill presentment and payment solutions. It overlaps with Celero's recurring/ACH and vertical-software payment capabilities.
- Stax by Fattmerchant: Stax is a subscription-based payments platform targeting SMBs with transparent flat-rate pricing, similar to Celero's Streamline product. It is an emerging competitor in the SMB payment processing space with overlapping value proposition.
- Vanco Payments: Vanco Payments provides payment solutions to schools, non-profits, and faith-based institutions. It is an emerging peer in the vertical-software and specialized SMB payment space, and Celero's CTO previously served as Chief Product Officer at Vanco.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Celero Commerce social profiles
Digital presenceCelero Commerce financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Celero Commerce leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
Celero Commerce subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries6 records
Celero Commerce funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Celero Commerce M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A13 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Celero Commerce
What does Celero Commerce do?
Celero Commerce is a full-service integrated electronic commerce solutions provider that delivers payment processing technology and merchant services to small and mid-sized businesses, financial institutions, ISVs, and ISOs. Its stack combines a modular payment gateway (Celero Connect), merchant onboarding CRM (Compass), real-time business intelligence (CeleroBI), automated underwriting (Confirm), PCI compliance tools, and embedded ISV payments (Celero Fusion), supported by developer APIs/SDKs and dedicated relationship management.
Is Celero Commerce a public or private company?
Celero Commerce is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Celero Commerce founded?
Celero Commerce was founded in 2018. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Celero Commerce based?
Celero Commerce is headquartered in Nashville, United States, in the North America region.
How does Celero Commerce make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Payment Processing Transaction Fees are the primary driver. The others are ISV Revenue Sharing, financial Institution Referral Income, saaS Bundled Solutions and hardware and Equipment Sales.
Who are Celero Commerce's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Block (Square), Heartland Payment Systems (Global Payments), North American Bancard, Stripe and Paya (now Nuvei). Broad incumbents are Fiserv and Global Payments. Emerging players are Paymentus, Stax by Fattmerchant and Vanco Payments.
Does Celero Commerce have an API?
Yes. Celero offers a modular payment gateway platform called Celero Connect that enables tailored payment software integration. The platform includes: Customer-Present Cloud (browser-based POS solution requiring no software installation), Mobile SDK for iOS and Android (encrypted mobile card reader integration), Windows and Linux Payment Device SDK, Payment API (web-based and non-web-based payment application integration), Collect.js (popup form for secure tokenized payment data capture, bypassing merchant's site to reduce PCI compliance risk), Collect Checkout (hosted checkout page on Celero servers), Webhooks (real-time event notifications), and Query API (pulling detailed transaction data for in-house reports and analytics). Developer documentation is at celerocommerce.com/developers.
What industry is Celero Commerce in?
Celero Commerce's product category is Payment Processing Technology. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEAFAE, E-commerce & Retail CRM (Customer Data, Loyalty & Personalization). Its NAICS code is 522320 and its SIC code is 6199.