What Vanco does

Vanco is a private, Great Hill Partners-backed payment processing and financial management platform headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota, serving more than 25,000 faith-based organizations, nonprofits, K-12 school districts, and child care centers across the United States and Canada. Following the December 2025 merger with ACS Technologies, the combined entity serves over 40,000 churches and ministries, with the product portfolio centered on a core Vanco Payments platform augmented by sub-brands including Vanco Giving Platform (faith-based online giving), RevTrak (K-12 school payments), Smartcare (child care management), GivePlus (mobile giving), Vanco Mobile and Vanco Live (church engagement and streaming), and the newly in-house Realm and MinistryPlatform church management systems. The company earns revenue through transaction-based fees on electronic donations and payments, supplemented by recurring subscription fees for software modules such as reporting dashboards, event ticketing, and child care management, with no long-term contracts and monthly billing. Distribution is multi-channel: a direct sales team for larger accounts, an extensive partner network of 60+ software integrations and denominational preferred partnerships (UMC conferences, ELCA, Catholic dioceses, Disciples of Christ), and self-service web sign-up for smaller churches. The platform is PCI DSS Level 1 certified, CCPA and GDPR compliant, and processes billions of dollars in annual transactions, with the most recent disclosed processing volume of $13.1 billion dating to 2015.

Name

Vanco

Legal name

Vanco Payment Solutions Inc.

Website

https://vancopayments.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Vanco is a PE-backed payment processing and financial management platform serving 25,000+ faith-based organizations, nonprofits, K-12 schools, and child care centers across North America with online giving, donation processing, and integrated church and school management software.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brentford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing & Transaction Fees: Vanco earns revenue through transaction fees on electronic donations and payments processed for churches, nonprofits, and other organizations. The platform supports online, mobile, POS, and text-based payment methods with fees charged per transaction.
2. Subscription Software Services: Monthly and annual subscription fees for access to church management software, mobile apps, event management tools, and reporting dashboards. No long-term contracts required with competitive pricing.
3. Technology Fees (Smartcare): Child care centers pay technology fees for management software services, either per-child or flat fee basis, with fees incorporated into tuition invoices or charged separately.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Vanco operates a payment processing and financial management platform that enables faith-based organizations, nonprofits, K-12 schools, and child care centers to securely accept and process electronic donations, fees, registrations, and other payments through online, mobile, POS, and text-based channels. Following its 2025 merger with ACS Technologies, the platform is now combined with church management software (Realm, MinistryPlatform) and is supported by 60+ integrations with church and school information systems.

Product overview

Vanco is a multi-product payment and financial management platform serving faith-based organizations, nonprofits, and K-12 education sectors. The portfolio operates as a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on Vanco Payments as the core platform, with specialized sub-brands for different markets: Vanco Giving Platform for faith organizations, RevTrak for K-12 schools, and Smartcare for child care management. Following the 2025 merger with ACS Technologies, the company added Realm and MinistryPlatform church management platforms. The product suite includes payment processing (online, mobile, POS, text-to-give), engagement tools (Vanco Live streaming, mobile app, donor communication), event management (ticketing, registration), and administrative features (reporting, integrations with 60+ church management systems). The platform serves over 40,000 combined organizations and processes billions in transactions annually.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• RevTrak: Online school payment processing platform for K-12 districts, community education, and child care centers
• Smartcare
• GivePlus
• Vanco Mobile
• Vanco Live
• ASAP
• Food Service Solutions
• ConnexPoint
• Realm
• MinistryPlatform

Products and services

• Vanco Payments (Core Platform) Unified payment processing platform serving faith-based organizations, nonprofits, and schools with secure electronic donation and payment solutions. Powers online, mobile, POS, and text-based giving across 25,000+ organizations.
• Vanco Giving Platform Comprehensive platform for faith-based organizations to manage online giving, donations, and payment processing with storytelling-based tools that inspire generosity.
• RevTrak
• GivePlus Mobile church giving application enabling congregations to donate online, via text, and through kiosk. Includes GivePlus Mobile, GivePlus Text, GivePlus Kiosk, and GivePlus Swipe variants.
• Vanco Mobile Free mobile app for churches enabling members to connect, give, and meet virtually.
• Vanco Live Virtual church and engagement technology enabling churches to stream services while encouraging giving and member interaction within a single mobile-friendly webpage.
• Smartcare Child care management software providing school districts with online tools to manage any aspect of school life that requires payments by students and families. Includes center management, billing, check-in/out, and parent communication.
• Food Service Solutions School food service payment solution expanding Vanco's education market presence for meal payments and nutrition program management.
• Realm Church management platform from ACS Technologies providing connected workflow for payments and management solutions for faith-based organizations.
• MinistryPlatform Church management software platform unified through ACS Technologies merger, integrated with Vanco's payment solutions for comprehensive faith management.
• ASAP
• ConnexPoint Payment processing platform and API layer integrated through the 2018 merger of Vanco Payment Solutions and Connexeo, serving professional services firms.
• Vanco Events

Quantifiable outcome

• Churches using Vanco see an average of 26% boost in giving
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration28 records

AI capability1 record

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• ACS TechnologiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 December 2025ACS Technologies is a church management software firm that Vanco acquired and merged operations with. The combination integrates Vanco's secure payments into ACS's church management platforms (Realm and MinistryPlatform) to provide a connected workflow for payments and management solutions.
• United Methodist Church (UMC)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerMultiple UMC conferences (Greater Northwest, Tennessee-Western Kentucky, Northern Illinois, Indiana, Greater New Jersey, New England Conference) have preferred partnerships with Vanco for online giving and donation processing for member churches.
• ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerPreferred partnership providing online giving solutions to ELCA churches and related organizations.
• Catholic Dioceses and ArchdiocesescoreGTM or Marketing PartnerDozens of Catholic dioceses and archdioceses partner with Vanco for secure, streamlined giving experiences for parish members.
• Planning CentermajorTechnology or IntegrationSeamless integration announced between Vanco and Planning Center's church management platform, enabling connected giving workflows.
• Disciples of ChristmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with The Center for Faith and Giving to deliver secure online giving with specialized pricing for Disciples of Christ member churches.
• PowerSchoolmajorTechnology or IntegrationIntegration partnership with PowerSchool SIS enabling school districts to process payments directly through the student information system.
• SkywardmajorTechnology or IntegrationIntegration partnership with Skyward SIS enabling automatic payment sync for school districts using Skyward.
• Interfaith Federal Credit UnionminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPreferred partnership to amplify online giving for multiple denominations through faith-based credit union network.
• Credit Union National Association (CUNA)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerAffiliate business membership connecting Vanco with credit union network for potential partnerships and market expansion.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Pushpay: Pushpay is a direct competitor in church and faith-based giving and engagement software, serving thousands of U.S. churches with online giving, mobile apps, and donor management. Highly comparable product suite, target customer, and vertical specialization to Vanco's core faith business.
• Tithe.ly: Tithe.ly is a leading church giving and engagement platform offering online donations, text-to-give, mobile apps, and church management tools. Competes head-to-head with Vanco in the same SMB-to-mid-market church segment.
• Subsplash: Subsplash provides a unified church engagement platform spanning giving, mobile apps, media, and group communication. Overlaps with Vanco's giving, Vanco Live, and Vanco Mobile offerings for faith-based customers.
• Givebutter: Givebutter is a modern fundraising and donor management platform for nonprofits, offering online donations, events, and auctions. Competes with Vanco's nonprofit segment on digital giving and engagement.
• Qgiv: Qgiv provides online fundraising, event registration, and donor management software for nonprofits and schools. Directly comparable to Vanco's nonprofit and K-12 payment offerings.
• SchoolCash Online (KEV Group): SchoolCash Online by KEV Group is a K-12 school payment processing platform handling fees, field trips, and fundraising. Closest direct competitor to Vanco's RevTrak brand in the school payments vertical.

Broad incumbents

• Blackbaud: Blackbaud is a large established provider of fundraising, CRM, and payment solutions for nonprofits, educational institutions, and faith communities. Overlaps with Vanco in nonprofit payment processing and donor management, but operates across a much broader portfolio.
• Stripe: Stripe is a broad-based payments infrastructure incumbent that powers online transactions for organizations of all sizes. Competes indirectly as a general-purpose alternative to Vanco's specialized faith/nonprofit payment processing.
• Square (Block): Square is a mainstream payments and POS platform widely used by small businesses including churches and small nonprofits. Overlaps with Vanco's card-present and online donation capabilities, though without faith-vertical specialization.

Emerging players

• Planning Center: Planning Center is a suite of church management applications with which Vanco has a formal integration partnership. Adjacent/complementary in the church software stack rather than a direct payments competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights8 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/vancoservices
• Facebookfacebook.com/vancopaymentsolutions
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vanco-payment-solutions

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries10 records

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 Vanco