Payway
Payway is a Danvers, Massachusetts-based payment processor founded in 1984 that provides a RESTful API gateway and recurring-billing infrastructure for subscription businesses, serving over 75% of the top 100 US newspapers plus education, healthcare, restaurant, and eCommerce merchants.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1984
- HeadquartersDanvers, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Payway does
Payway, Inc. (formerly Edgil) is a privately held payment-processing company founded in 1984 and headquartered in Danvers, Massachusetts. The company specializes in payment processing for subscription- and recurring-revenue businesses, with claimed penetration of 75%+ of the top 100 US newspapers and additional exposure to education, healthcare, restaurants, and eCommerce. It is founder/CEO-led by Daniel R. Nadeau (joined 1991 as a software engineer) with Kimberly Miller as EVP of Strategy & Operations.
Payway's core product is the Payway Payment Solution, a RESTful API-based payment gateway supporting card-not-present and ACH transactions, tokenization, recurring billing, and integrations into subscription-management platforms (Chargebee, Vindicia, Sticky.io, Zoho, FlexCharge) and commerce platforms (WooCommerce). The stack is augmented by a P2PE-validated point-to-point encryption offering through a Bluefin partnership and a new analytics product, Payway Censalytics, with general availability beginning Q1 2026.
The business model combines interchange-plus/cost-plus transaction pricing at approximately 2.4% plus $0.10 per transaction with a flat monthly gateway subscription and optional P2PE add-on. Distribution is direct to mid-market and enterprise merchants and indirect through subscription-billing and eCommerce platform partners. The company maintains PCI DSS 4.0 validation (April 2025) and ten consecutive years on the Visa Global Registry of AIS-listed service providers, but does not disclose revenue, headcount, or funding.
Payway firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Payway
- Legal name
- Payway, Inc.
- Website
- https://payway.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1984
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Payway is a Danvers, Massachusetts-based payment processor founded in 1984 that provides a RESTful API gateway and recurring-billing infrastructure for subscription businesses, serving over 75% of the top 100 US newspapers plus education, healthcare, restaurant, and eCommerce merchants.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Payway industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Payment Processing
- NAICS
- Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Merchant Payment Gateways (API/Hosted Checkout) (FSAMACAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Recurring Billing & AutoPay Management (FSAMAJAE), Recurring Billing, Subscriptions & Tokenized Payments (CRAFALAH)
Keywords
Where Payway is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Danvers
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Payway business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Transaction Processing Fees: Primary revenue from interchange-plus (cost-plus) pricing model where merchants pay the actual interchange rate published by card networks (Visa, Mastercard) plus a flat markup per transaction. For most transactions, charges approximately 2.4% plus $0.10 per transaction (using average card-not-present interchange rates). ACH transactions offered as lower-cost alternative to card payments.
- Payment Gateway Services: Monthly payment gateway fee for access to Payway's payment processing platform, tokenization vault, reporting tools, and API access. Gateway features including Level 3 processing, Account Updater, and security tools are included in the base solution.
- P2PE Add-on Services: Additional fees for Point-to-Point Encryption upgrade providing enhanced security and PCI compliance scope reduction through Bluefin partnership.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Cost-Plus Transaction Pricing |
| Subscription | Monthly | Monthly Gateway Fee |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Payway product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Payway operates as a payment gateway platform focused on card-not-present transactions for subscription-based and recurring revenue merchants. The company processes recurring payments and provides the technical infrastructure for automated subscription billing. It targets merchants running subscription and membership business models that require reliable ongoing card-not-present payment acceptance.
Product overview
Payway is a unified payment platform combining merchant services, a secure payment gateway, and 24/7 concierge support, specifically designed for card-not-present subscription and recurring revenue businesses. The core Payway Payment Solution is complemented by a suite of integrated modules and add-ons: the Recurring Payment Gateway as the central transaction engine; Virtual Payment Terminal for manual phone/mail processing; Level 3 Payment Processing for B2B rate optimization; Account Updater and Amex Cardrefresher for card data maintenance; Customer Payment Recovery via FlexFactor/Sticky.io/Vindicia; ACH Payments and QR Code Payments for alternative payment methods; Digital Wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal); Payment Tokenization with network token support; P2PE (via Bluefin) and 3D Secure (via PAAY) for security; Fraud Protection with BIN filtering; Payway Censalytics for business intelligence; and a Cash Discount Program for fee offsetting. Merchant Services and Cost-Plus Pricing provide transparent transaction costs. The Developer Portal offers a RESTful API with sandbox for integration. Add-on modules work together within the unified platform architecture, accessible through a single API.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Payway Censalytics: Business intelligence platform for payments that delivers real-time, actionable data insights to help B2B companies optimize payment performance and reduce failed transactions.
Products and services
- Payway Payment Gateway Card-not-present payment gateway platform that processes transactions for merchants, with a specialization in accepting payments from customers who are not physically present at the point of sale.
- Subscription and Recurring Billing Processing Recurring payment processing service for merchants operating subscription, membership, and other recurring revenue business models, supporting automated ongoing billing through card-not-present transactions.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 20% reduction in credit card processing fees vs bundled pricing
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Payway
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Payway technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration39 records
Feature10 records
Payway partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- ChargebeecoreIntegration partnership announced May 14, 2026 at SubSummit 2026 to streamline subscription payments and reduce revenue loss. Chargebee is a leading subscription management platform, and the integration allows Payway to offer seamless recurring billing alongside its payment processing.
- PayPalcoreIntegrated PayPal support added March 30, 2026 within Payway's RESTful API, enabling merchants to offer PayPal as a payment option without requiring a separate system. PayPal transactions processed, managed, and reported alongside all other payment methods in one platform.
- Global Payments (Portico Virtual Terminal)coreIntegration with Global Payments' Portico Virtual Terminal announced January 9, 2024, extending Payway's capabilities for secure and efficient payment processing solutions to customers.
- VCI (Vericheck)coreACH processing partnership with VCI, one of the largest ACH payment processing companies with more than 30 years of success, announced December 19, 2023. Enables Payway to offer robust ACH payment solutions.
- WooCommercecoreLaunched Payway Payment Gateway plugin for WooCommerce on December 11, 2023, allowing customers to accept immediate payments from their online WooCommerce stores. Available as free download from WordPress plugin directory.
- FlexCharge (FlexFactor)corePartnership with FlexCharge to integrate their failed payment recovery capability into Payway's platform, tackling payment failures for subscription companies. FlexCharge is described as the leading innovator tackling payment failures.
- Chargebacks911minorCo-hosted webinar on optimizing chargeback management with 5 best practices for payments, demonstrating collaboration on payment optimization education.
- Green Business BureauminorPartnership with Green Business Bureau to adopt sustainability framework demonstrating commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainable business practices.
- RAB2BminorPartnership with award-winning digital B2B agency RAB2B to elevate Payway's brand in the market and develop campaigns reaching the software developer community.
- PAAYcorePartnership to add PAAY's EMV 3D Secure authentication to Payway's gateway, providing chargeback liability shift to card issuers and increasing authorization rates for e-commerce merchants.
- Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA)minorPartnership with RSPA to provide Payway's payment solutions to members of the association, which includes resellers, distributors, hardware providers, and ISVs in the retail technology space.
- ZohocoreIntegration with Zoho CRM enabling merchants to process payments, simplify billing, reporting, and invoicing directly within Zoho's operating system platform.
- BluefincoreP2PE partnership with Bluefin providing PCI-validated Point-to-Point Encryption solution. Bluefin's secure card readers and PIN pads encrypt cardholder data immediately, keeping it inaccessible to merchants and helping achieve PCI DSS compliance.
- Sticky.iocorePayment recovery partner in Payway's multi-partner recovery ecosystem. Sticky.io helps online merchants reduce failed payments and credit card declines through automated retries based on customer behavior.
- VindiciacorePayment recovery partner in Payway's multi-partner ecosystem. Vindicia Retain is described as the global leader in payments recovery, partnering with enterprise payment teams to intelligently recover failed recurring payments.
- ePublishing (Multipub)coreIntegration with Multipub subscription management system for publishers. When used together, credit card numbers are entered in Multipub, encrypted, and sent to Payway for processing, with tokens linking subscriber profiles to payment information stored in Payway's vault.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Payway competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Stripe: Stripe is the dominant cloud-based payment gateway and subscription billing platform. Payway directly competes with Stripe in card-not-present processing for subscription and recurring revenue businesses, though Stripe operates at vastly larger scale and broader market reach.
- Authorize.Net: Authorize.Net is a long-standing payment gateway explicitly named in Payway's competitive comparisons. Both serve SMB and mid-market merchants with card-not-present recurring billing functionality, making them direct peers in the gateway space.
Broad incumbents
- Square (Block): Square offers a broad payments platform spanning in-person, online, and subscription billing (Square Subscriptions). It overlaps with Payway in card-not-present processing for small businesses and subscription merchants, though Square's broader portfolio goes well beyond Payway's recurring-billing niche.
- PayPal (Braintree): PayPal, through Braintree, is a global incumbent in payment gateway and recurring billing. Payway competes with PayPal/Braintree for card-not-present subscription merchants, and Payway now integrates PayPal as a payment option to extend its offering.
- Adyen: Adyen is a global enterprise payments platform offering unified online and in-person processing. While Adyen focuses on large enterprise merchants and global acquiring, it competes with Payway for high-volume subscription and recurring-billing accounts that demand cost transparency and global reach.
Emerging players
- Sticky.io: Sticky.io is a subscription billing and payment recovery platform integrated with Payway. While both serve subscription merchants, Sticky.io specializes in failed-payment recovery and recurring billing optimization, intersecting with Payway's Customer Payment Recovery module rather than competing head-to-head as a general gateway.
- Recurly: Recurly is a subscription management and recurring billing platform competing in the same subscription-economy segment as Payway. Recurly focuses on SaaS and DTC subscription billing with native payment orchestration, making it an emerging specialist competitor in Payway's target market.
- Chargebee: Chargebee is a subscription management platform that recently announced a partnership with Payway. While primarily a billing and subscription management layer, Chargebee increasingly integrates payment processing, intersecting with Payway's recurring-billing and merchant-agnostic positioning.
- Spreedly: Spreedly is a payment orchestration platform that sits above multiple gateways/processors to optimize routing, tokenization, and vaulting. It overlaps with Payway in merchant-agnostic vault and tokenization capabilities, though Spreedly serves a more developer-centric, multi-processor audience.
Regional players
- BlueSnap: BlueSnap is a payment gateway and merchant account provider offering international payment processing with subscription billing capabilities. It competes with Payway for cross-border recurring revenue merchants, though its primary market focus extends beyond Payway's North American publishing-centric base.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Payway social profiles
Digital presencePayway compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance8 records
Payway financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Payway leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Payway funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Payway M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Payway
What does Payway do?
Payway operates as a payment gateway platform focused on card-not-present transactions for subscription-based and recurring revenue merchants. The company processes recurring payments and provides the technical infrastructure for automated subscription billing. It targets merchants running subscription and membership business models that require reliable ongoing card-not-present payment acceptance.
Is Payway a public or private company?
Payway is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Payway founded?
Payway was founded in 1984. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Payway based?
Payway is headquartered in Danvers, United States, in the North America region.
How does Payway make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Transaction Processing Fees are the primary driver. The others are payment Gateway Services and P2PE Add-on Services.
Who are Payway's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Stripe and Authorize.Net. Broad incumbents are Square (Block), PayPal (Braintree) and Adyen. Emerging players are Sticky.io, Recurly, Chargebee and Spreedly. BlueSnap is listed as a regional player.
Does Payway have an API?
Yes. Payway offers a RESTful API for integrating cloud-based recurring payment functionality into existing websites and systems. The API supports credit card processing, ACH payments, and redirected payment forms. Developers can access sandbox environments to test transactions without using real credit card details. A JavaScript SDK is available for 3D Secure integration. Developer guides include PaywayWS Credit Card Integration Guide, PaywayWS ACH Integration Guide, PaywayWS Redirected Payment Form Integration Guide, Google Pay Integration Guide, and Apple Pay Integration Guide. Developer documentation is at www.payway.com/developers.
What industry is Payway in?
Payway's product category is Payment Processing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMACAA, Merchant Payment Gateways (API/Hosted Checkout), with a secondary code of FSAMAJAE, Recurring Billing & AutoPay Management. Its NAICS code is 52232.