What Cardknox does

Cardknox (operating under the brand Sola) is a North American payment processing platform founded in 2010 and headquartered in Lakewood, New Jersey. The company provides integrated payment acceptance across online, in-person, and omnichannel channels, alongside billing and invoicing, security and fraud protection, transaction optimization, and a mobile processing app for Android. Its core technology is a payment gateway platform operated as a registered Independent Sales Organization of Citizens Bank, N.A. and Elavon, Inc., giving it bank-sponsored access to card network processing.

The company operates a dual go-to-market targeting both merchants (direct enterprises and SMBs across retail, food & beverage, entertainment, fulfillment, and loyalty) and software platforms (ISVs, ISOs, and VARs) via a PayFac-as-a-Service offering that lets platforms embed and monetize payments under their own brand. Developer tools — including a sandbox, API documentation at docs.solapayments.com, and dedicated developer support — support self-serve integration for smaller builders, while larger merchants and platforms are sold through a consultative field motion. Distribution is a mix of direct sales, OEM/embedded integrations, and a self-serve developer portal.

Revenue is generated primarily through transaction fees on processed volume, with no public pricing disclosure. Named enterprise customers include Kith, Fabuwood, Porcelanosa, Cabinets to Go, Davids Cookies, Aluvii, City Sites, CD, and fluz; Aluvii is cited as generating 30%–40% of revenues from integrated payments with the platform, illustrating the embedded-revenue mechanic. The company is privately held with no disclosed funding history and maintains active product development, partnerships (including RMH for retail), and an open careers page consistent with ongoing organizational growth.

Name

Cardknox

Legal name

Sola

Website

https://cardknox.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Merchant-of-Record (MoR) & Payment Facilitation (PayFac) Infrastructure (FSAGABAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

POS, SoftPOS & In-Person Acceptance Infrastructure (FSAGABAO), Card Issuing & Program Management Platforms (BPAMAFAH)

Keywords

• Payment processing platform
• Merchant payment solutions
• Integrated payments API
• Point of sale solutions
• PayFac-as-a-Service

Headquarters

HQ city

Lakewood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing: Transaction-based revenue from processing payments across online, in-person, and omnichannel channels. The company optimizes transaction fees and auth rates for customers.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cardknox (operating as Sola) provides a complete payment processing platform for merchants and software platforms, accepting payments online, in-person, via POS hardware, and through unified omnichannel flows. It offers developer-friendly APIs, a PayFac-as-a-Service model that lets platforms embed payments under their own brand, and value-added capabilities including billing/invoicing, transaction optimization, security/fraud protection, data and insights, and a mobile app with Tap to Pay on Android.

Product overview

Sola is a complete payment solutions platform offering a unified portfolio of products for merchants and platforms. For merchants, Sola provides Online Payments, In-Person Payments (POS), Billing & Invoicing, and Omnichannel Solutions that unify online and in-store payments. The platform also includes security and fraud protection, transaction optimization, data and insights, and a mobile app. For platforms and ISVs, Sola offers integrated payments and PayFac-as-a-Service (Payfac-as-a-Service) to enable software companies to monetize payments. Developer support and documentation are available for API integrations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sola for Platforms: Integrated payment solutions for software platforms to monetize payments and open new revenue streams.
• PayFac-as-a-Service

Products and services

• Sola for Platforms

Quantifiable outcome

• Aluvii generates 30%-40% of revenues from integrated payments with Sola

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• RMHcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership announced to expand retail payments capabilities. The partnership combines Sola's payment technology with RMH's retail expertise to deliver enhanced payment solutions for retail merchants.
• Citizens Bank, N.A.coreOthersSola is a registered Independent Sales Organization of Citizens Bank, N.A., Providence, RI. This relationship enables Sola to offer payment processing services through the Citizens Bank network.
• Elavon, Inc.coreOthersSola is a registered Independent Sales Organization of Elavon, Inc., Georgia. This relationship enables Sola to offer payment processing services through the Elavon payment network.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Toast: Toast is a vertical-SaaS POS and payments platform purpose-built for restaurants. Comparable to Sola's in-person and omnichannel offerings within a specialized vertical, illustrating the vertical-payments wedge Sola pursues via platforms like Aluvii.
• Finix: Finix provides payments infrastructure and PayFac-as-a-Service for software platforms to monetize payments. Directly comparable to Sola for Platforms / PayFac-as-a-Service, with a more focused go-to-market on platform-led payments.
• Payabli: Payabli offers embedded payments infrastructure for software platforms and ISOs, including PayFac-as-a-Service and merchant onboarding tooling. A direct emerging competitor to Sola's PayFac offering for vertical SaaS and platform partners.

Direct peers

• Helcim: Helcim is a payment processor offering transparent interchange-plus pricing, online and in-person acceptance, and developer-friendly APIs. Competes with Sola for SMB and mid-market merchants seeking lower-fee processing with strong support.
• Stripe: Stripe is a developer-first payments and embedded-finance platform serving merchants, platforms, and ISVs globally. It competes directly with Sola across payment processing, PayFac-style platform solutions, and developer APIs, though at materially larger scale.
• Stax (formerly Fattmerchant): Stax is a subscription-based payment processor and PayFac-style platform serving SMBs and software partners. Closely comparable to Sola's PayFac-as-a-Service and ISO model, including merchant-of-record and integrated platform offerings.

Broad incumbents

• PayPal: PayPal is a global incumbent in online payments, checkout, and merchant services with broad platform and developer offerings. Overlaps with Sola on online payments, gateway, and platform integrations, though PayPal operates at a vastly larger scale and brand.
• Clover (Fiserv): Clover is Fiserv's SMB POS and merchant-services platform with app-marketplace extensibility. Competes with Sola in in-person payments and platform-style enablement for SMBs and ISV partners.
• Square (Block): Block's Square offers omnichannel payments, POS, Tap to Pay, billing, and developer APIs at massive scale. Overlaps with Sola's full merchant stack and developer tooling, though Square is far broader and more deeply capitalized.
• Adyen: Adyen is a global omnichannel payments platform serving large merchants and platforms with unified online, in-person, and platform APIs. Competes with Sola at the larger end of the platform/ISV market with global acquiring and broader geographic reach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cardknox
• Facebookfacebook.com/CardknoxPayments
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cardknox

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Cardknox