Heartland

What Heartland does

Heartland, a Global Payments company (NYSE: GPN), is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Global Payments Inc. (acquired 2016) that delivers an integrated suite of point-of-sale (POS), payment processing, and payroll/HR solutions for small businesses, mid-market companies, and enterprise organizations across the United States. The platform is organized around three pillars: Heartland POS (retail and restaurant variants plus Terminal+, Mobile POS, and Mobile Pay hardware), Payments+ (in-store, online, and on-the-go payment processing, online payments with 900+ integrations, accounts receivable automation, invoicing, bill pay, and financial services including capital lending and Como-powered loyalty), and Payroll+ (cloud-based payroll, hire, time tracking, and HR advisory). The technology stack is cloud-based, runs on iOS and Android, and is exposed via an open SOAP/XML API with a developer portal, sandbox, and SDKs; PCI DSS compliance is maintained through hosted payment pages, tokenization, and the patent-pending SecureSubmit fraud protection technology.

Revenue is generated across multiple streams: transaction fees on credit, debit, digital wallet, EMV, gift, and ACH payments (flat-rate and interchange-plus pricing), recurring POS and payroll software subscriptions, hardware sales, lending interest and origination fees (Capital loans from $5K to $5M), and financial-services add-ons such as instant deposits, gift cards, loyalty, and surcharge programs. The go-to-market is hybrid, combining direct enterprise and inside sales for mid-market with a partner channel network of Agents/ISOs, POS dealers, financial institutions, ISVs, and associations for SMB distribution, complemented by self-serve digital onboarding and a developer-led motion. Customer base spans 90,000+ online payment processing businesses and 45,000 payroll clients, with marquee enterprise anchors including Taco Bell, Panera, Burger King, Whataburger, Carrols, Bojangles, Denny's, Popeyes, Great Clips, and Marathon Petroleum.

Name

Heartland

Legal name

Heartland Payment Systems, LLC

Website

https://heartland.us

Company type

Public

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Heartland, a Global Payments (NYSE: GPN) subsidiary, provides cloud-based POS, payment processing, and payroll/HR solutions to small, mid-market, and enterprise businesses in the United States across retail, restaurant, and service verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing and POS Software

akta.pro primary industry

Developer Tooling & SDKs for Payments (Gateway Tooling) (FSAMACAL)

Keywords

• Payment processing
• Point of sale
• Merchant services
• Payroll processing
• Integrated business technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Oklahoma City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing Services: Transaction-based revenue from processing credit card, debit card, digital wallet, and ACH payments. Supports both flat-rate pricing and interchange-plus pricing models. Revenue is generated per transaction with rates varying by payment method and card type.
2. Point of Sale Subscriptions: Subscription-based revenue from POS software licensing, including cloud-based POS systems for retail and restaurant industries. Hardware sales accompany software subscriptions.
3. Payroll Processing Services: Recurring revenue from payroll processing, tax management, HR software, time tracking, and hiring/onboarding solutions for small to mid-size businesses.
4. Hardware Sales: Sale of POS terminals, card readers, receipt printers, and other payment hardware. Includes countertop devices, mobile POS units, and Terminal+ devices.
5. Lending/Capital Services: Business lending services providing loans from $5K to $5M for qualified merchants. Revenue generated from interest and origination fees on loans.
6. Financial Services Add-ons: Additional services including gift cards, loyalty programs, customer engagement, instant deposits, surcharge programs, and accounts receivable automation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Heartland (Heartland Payment Systems, LLC) provides an integrated business technology suite consisting of cloud-based point-of-sale systems for retail and restaurant verticals, unified payment processing accepting credit, debit, EMV, digital wallets, gift cards, and ACH in-store/online/on-the-go, and cloud-based payroll and HR management. The offering is bundled with US-based human customer support and is sold as a platform-plus-modules solution to small, midsize, and enterprise businesses through direct sales and partner channels.

Product overview

Heartland, a Global Payments company (NYSE: GPN), offers an integrated suite of business technology solutions organized around three core pillars: Point of Sale (POS), Payments+, and Payroll+. The POS lineup includes Heartland Retail POS (for apparel and general retail), Heartland Restaurant POS (for dining establishments), Terminal+ (mobile payment terminal), Mobile POS (handheld restaurant POS), and Mobile Pay (mobile payment app). Payments+ encompasses payment processing for in-store, online, and on-the-go transactions; Online Payments with 900+ shopping cart integrations; Accounts Receivable Automation; Payments Manager+ (invoicing); Bill Pay; and Financial Services (Capital lending, Instant Deposit, Gift and Loyalty powered by Como, and Surcharge programs). Payroll+ is a cloud-based HR and payroll management suite comprising Heartland Payroll, Heartland Hire (applicant tracking/onboarding), Heartland Time (time tracking and scheduling), and Heartland HR (expert advisory). Additional offerings include a Developer Portal with open API (SOAP/XML, supporting payments, ecommerce, recurring billing, and terminal SDK), a Customer Intelligence Platform using predictive analytics, over 130 POS integrations, School Solutions, and Micropayments solutions. The architecture is a platform-plus-modules model where the POS and Payments+ platforms serve as the hub, with add-on modules (lending, loyalty, invoicing, HR/payroll) extending functionality for different business types.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Payments+: Payment processing solution for accepting credit cards, debit cards, and digital payments in-store or online.
• Heartland Payroll
• Heartland Hire
• Heartland Time
• Heartland HR
• Terminal+
• Mobile POS
• Mobile Pay
• Payments Manager+

Products and services

• Point of Sale (POS) Cloud-based point of sale software for retailers, restaurants, and service businesses. Runs on iOS and Android with touchscreen terminals, combining sales processing, inventory management, customer relationship management, employee scheduling, and real-time reporting into a single hub.
• Heartland Retail POS Retail-focused POS system designed for clothing and apparel stores, featuring inventory management built for the fashion industry (size, SKU-level tracking), ecommerce integrations, customizable reports, customer loyalty tools, and an ADA-compliant touchscreen interface supporting iOS and Android.
• Heartland Restaurant POS Restaurant industry POS system with table management, kitchen display system (KDS), online ordering, menu management, inventory tracking, employee management, and loyalty tools. Supports quick service, table service, food trucks, and pop-up formats across various cuisine types.
• Terminal+ Mobile payment terminal solution combining a wireless 5-inch touchscreen device with POS functionality. Supports Wi-Fi and 4G connectivity, barcode scanning, inventory management (up to 500 SKUs), tax management, and surcharge/cash discount programs. EMV and PCI-compliant.
• Mobile POS Handheld mobile POS device running on a Heartland Mobile Android device. Delivers full countertop POS functionality (orders, payments, inventory, loyalty) in a pocket-sized, commercial-grade, durable form factor. Supports tableside ordering and payment, real-time sync with kitchen and front-of-house, and built-in loyalty tools powered by Como.
• Mobile Pay Mobile payment solution enabling businesses to accept payments via smartphone or tablet using an app (iOS/Android) and optional Bluetooth card reader. Supports credit/debit cards, digital wallets (Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Google Pay), NFC, EMV chip, invoicing, barcode scanner, tax calculation, and geolocation; up to three users simultaneously.
• Payments+ Unified payment processing platform accepting credit cards, debit cards, EMV chip cards, gift cards, mobile wallets, ACH, eChecks, QR codes, and contactless payments in-store, online, and on the go. Includes PCI-compliant security, tokenization, and flexible pricing models (flat rate and interchange plus).
• Online Payments Online payment processing solution for ecommerce websites and apps. Features hosted payment forms, automated recurring payments, pay-by-link (via email, text, QR code), 900+ shopping cart integrations, PCI-compliant checkout, dispute management, and intelligent reporting. Supports credit, debit, digital wallets, ACH, and eCheck.
• Payroll+ Cloud-based payroll and HR management suite for small to midsize businesses, encompassing payroll processing, tax management (calculation, filing, and payment at local, state, and federal levels), hiring (applicant tracking and electronic onboarding), time tracking and scheduling, and HR resources. Operates as a sub-brand suite under Heartland.
• Heartland Payroll Online payroll processing platform with tax management and integrations (including QuickBooks) built in. Flexible online payroll services backed by VIP support and a dedicated specialist.
• Heartland Hire Applicant tracking and electronic onboarding solution that helps small businesses find candidates, rank potential hires, schedule interviews, and deliver onboarding paperwork electronically to new hires.
• Heartland Time Time tracking, scheduling, and PTO management solution with a mobile app enabling employees to request time off and swap shifts. Includes drag-and-drop scheduling, labor tracking by department, job, or project, and overtime forecasting.
• Heartland HR HR resource library and expert advisory service including SHRM-certified experts available for advice on labor laws, workflows, policy updates, and employee issues. Provides compliance support and HR software security.
• Financial Services Suite of financial services including Capital (business lending from $5K to $5M with 15-minute application and funding within 48 hours), Instant Deposit (same-day and instant funding), Gift and Loyalty (physical and virtual gift cards and loyalty programs powered by Como), and Surcharge (credit-card-brand-approved surcharge or cash discount programs).
• Customer Intelligence Platform Customer analytics and intelligence platform leveraging predictive analytics and strategic customer segmentation. Provides a CRM with holistic view of customer behavior across channels, tracks sales and return patterns, and powers personalized email marketing and loyalty programs to reduce churn.
• Developer Portal and Open API Developer-facing portal providing access to Heartland's open API, SDK documentation, sandbox testing environment, sample code, and integration specialist support. APIs include Portico (primary payments API), Ecommerce, Recurring Billing, Billing/Invoicing, and Terminal SDK; supports SOAP/XML with multi-region access.

Quantifiable outcome

• Loyalty program members spend an average of 30% more than non-members
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration29 records

AI capability6 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• BigCommercecoreTechnology or IntegrationEcommerce platform integration allowing Heartland merchants to connect brick-and-mortar and online stores. Enables inventory sync, seamless checkout, and fulfillment options including order online and pick up in store.
• ShopifycoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with Shopify ecommerce platform for seamless retail operations and inventory management.
• WooCommercecoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with WooCommerce WordPress-based ecommerce platform for small business online selling.
• QuickBookscoreTechnology or IntegrationAccounting software integration for seamless financial management, invoicing sync, and reconciliation automation.
• DoorDashcoreTechnology or IntegrationThird-party delivery service integration for restaurant POS, enabling order management and dispatch from a single solution.
• Global Payments GitHubcoreTechnology or IntegrationOpen source development resources and SDKs available on GitHub for developer community engagement.
• Global Payments Integrated Partners (900+)coreTechnology or IntegrationExtensive ecosystem of 900+ integrations with ecommerce platforms, shopping carts, accounting software, marketing tools, and business applications. Includes Magento, WordPress, Gravity Forms, and other platforms.
• PNC Bank (ISO Relationship)coreOthersHeartland Payment Systems, LLC is a registered ISO (Independent Sales Organization) of PNC Bank, N.A., Pittsburgh PA, and Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, New York, NY for payment processing services.
• Como (Loyalty Platform)coreTechnology or IntegrationCustomer engagement and loyalty program platform powered by Como, integrated into restaurant POS for loyalty management and customer retention.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Adyen: Adyen is a global enterprise payments platform offering unified online, in-store, and platform payment processing, broadly comparable to Heartland's Payments+ in capabilities though focused on larger enterprise merchants.
• Fiserv: Fiserv is a major payments and financial services incumbent that owns Clover (POS) and provides merchant acquiring and processing at scale, with overlapping offerings to Heartland's POS + Payments+ suite.
• NCR Voyix: NCR Voyix provides enterprise restaurant, retail, and payment processing solutions including POS hardware and software, broadly competing with Heartland in mid-market and enterprise segments.
• PayPal: PayPal is a broad payments incumbent offering SMB payment processing, POS (Zettle by PayPal), and online checkout solutions that overlap with multiple Heartland product lines.

Direct peers

• Clover (Fiserv): Clover provides SMB-focused POS hardware and software plus integrated payment processing, distributed largely through partner banks and ISOs — directly comparable to Heartland's POS + Payments+ offering.
• Shopify POS: Shopify POS extends the Shopify ecommerce platform to physical retail with integrated payment processing, directly competing with Heartland Retail POS in the omnichannel retail segment.
• Stripe: Stripe is a leading online payment processing platform with developer-focused APIs and growing POS capabilities, competing directly with Heartland Online Payments and Developer Portal offerings.
• Toast: Toast is a leading restaurant-specific POS and payments platform serving full-service, quick-service, and other restaurant operators — directly competing with Heartland Restaurant POS and Payments+.
• Lightspeed Commerce: Lightspeed provides cloud-based POS and payment solutions for retail and restaurant SMBs with strong ecommerce integration, directly competing with Heartland Retail and Restaurant POS.
• Square (Block): Square/Block offers SMB POS, payment processing, payroll, and lending solutions targeting small and mid-size businesses, directly competing with Heartland across its core product suite.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/globalpayments
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heartland-payment-systems
• Xx.com/heartlandhpy
• Facebookfacebook.com/HeartlandHPY

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Heartland