Vendara

Payment Processing Servicesvendarapayments.com

Vendara Payments is a US payment processing platform that partners with ISOs, Agents, and ISVs to deliver omnichannel merchant payment services, earning revenue from transaction fees, partner residuals, and activation bonuses via a proprietary gateway and APIs.

Company typePrivate
Founded2009
HeadquartersBellevue, United States
Headcount101–250
GTM typeB2B
OfferingSoftware

What Vendara does

Vendara Payments, LLC (formerly Choice Merchant Solutions, rebranded in 2024) is a US-based payment processing company that operates as a registered ISO/MSP of Esquire Bank, N.A. The company provides omnichannel payment processing to merchants through a partner-centric distribution model, primarily serving Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs), Agents, and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) rather than end merchants directly. Its proprietary technology stack includes a payment gateway, developer-friendly APIs with a JavaScript SDK for embedded integrations, an all-in-one CRM and partner portal for tracking residuals and merchant information, branded merchant dashboards, and configurable industry-specific solution bundles.

Revenue is generated through multiple streams: per-transaction processing fees on merchant volume, lifetime residuals shared with ISO/Agent and ISV partners, upfront activation bonuses paid to partners on newly boarded merchants, and white-label licensing of the platform to partners who rebrand the technology. Pricing is quote-based and tiered by partner type and merchant volume; activation bonuses reach up to $800 per merchant and free terminal programs are offered to support partner selling motions. The company is privately held with 11–50 employees, headquartered in Atlanta, GA, and operates exclusively in the US market.

In late 2023 and through 2024, the company underwent a leadership overhaul, installing Cindy Gamble O'Neill as CEO and recruiting a full senior team across sales, engineering, product, customer service, and partnerships. The strategic emphasis under the new leadership is on transforming a legacy merchant-services operation into a modern, partner-led platform spanning both traditional agent channels and software-embedded payments, supported by white-label branding and AI-adjacent fraud and automation tooling.

Vendara firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Vendara
Legal name: Vendara Payments, LLC
Website: https://vendarapayments.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2009
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 101–250 employees
Short description: Vendara Payments is a US payment processing platform that partners with ISOs, Agents, and ISVs to deliver omnichannel merchant payment services, earning revenue from transaction fees, partner residuals, and activation bonuses via a proprietary gateway and APIs.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Vendara industry classification

Industry

Product category: Payment Processing Services
NAICS: Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)
SIC: Finance Services (6199)
akta.pro primary industry: Merchant Acquiring & Processing Platforms (BPAMAFAB)
akta.pro secondary industries: Marketplace / Platform Acquiring (PayFac & Sub-Merchant Management) (FSAMABAF), Merchant Payment Gateways (API/Hosted Checkout) (FSAMACAA), Merchant-of-Record (MoR) & Payment Facilitation (PayFac) Infrastructure (FSAGABAE), Integrated POS Payments (ISVs & Vertical POS Platforms) (FSAMADAD)

Keywords

Payment processing services
Merchant services
ISO partner program
Embedded payment APIs
White-label payments

Where Vendara is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Bellevue
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

Vendara business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Software
Cost components: Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

Payment Processing Transaction Fees: Revenue generated from transaction fees on payment processing services offered to merchants across all channels including brick-and-mortar, e-commerce, and omni-channel
Partner Residual Income: ISOs and Agents earn lifetime residuals on every transaction processed through their merchant portfolios. Higher splits available for top-performing partners
Activation Bonuses: Up-front activation bonuses paid to ISOs and Agents on every new merchant deal boarded through Vendara's portal
ISV Revenue Sharing: ISVs earn lifetime residuals with every transaction processed through their integrated payment solution
White-Label Licensing: Partners can build their own brand using Vendara's white-label program with branded materials and identity

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Transaction based/ take rate	Pay-as-you-go	Standard Partner Tier
Subscription	Monthly	White-Label Partner

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Vendara product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Vendara delivers omni-channel payment processing services for merchants via a proprietary payment gateway and developer-friendly APIs. Its core commercial offerings are the ISO/Agent Partner Program (with activation bonuses, free terminals, and lifetime residuals), the ISV Partner Program (enabling software vendors to embed payments via APIs and earn revenue share), and a White-Label Program for partner-branded payment solutions. Supporting capabilities include merchant dashboards, fraud management, and advanced analytics.

Product overview

Vendara offers a unified payment processing platform designed to simplify payments for ISOs, Agents, ISVs, and businesses. The core offering consists of omnichannel payment processing services enhanced by partner programs including the ISO Partner Program (with activation bonuses up to $800, high residual splits, and free terminal offerings) and the ISV Partner Program (enabling embedded payment monetization via developer-friendly APIs). A White-Label Program allows partners to brand payment solutions as their own. Supporting features include merchant dashboards for real-time analytics and residuals tracking, fraud management tools, and advanced analytics capabilities. The platform integrates seamlessly into software vendor technology stacks, supporting industry-specific applications and configurable bundles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Payment Processing Services

Quantifiable outcome

Noncash payments volumes projected to grow 15% year-over-year for next five years (market opportunity)
+1 more outcomes

Companies that use Vendara

Customer profile

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Vendara technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API: Yes
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature7 records

Vendara partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Vendara competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

North American Bancard: Large ISO-focused payment processor with an agent/ISO partner program, residuals, and white-label offerings. Direct competitor in the ISO/Agent merchant acquiring channel.
Finix: Payments infrastructure provider enabling software platforms (ISVs) to embed payments via APIs, with merchant-of-record and PayFac-style capabilities. Closest comparable on the ISV/embedded-payments side of Vendara's business.
Host Merchant Services: ISO/agent-friendly payment processor offering residual programs and merchant services. Direct comparable in the agent/ISO channel for merchant acquiring.
Helcim: Payment processor serving SMBs and partners with transparent pricing, an API, and partner/ISV integrations. Comparable in providing developer-friendly APIs and partner-driven merchant acquisition.
Payment Depot: Payment processor targeting ISOs, agents, and SMB merchants with interchange-plus pricing and partner residual programs. Comparable in partner-led GTM and merchant services focus.
Stax (formerly Fattmerchant): Subscription-style payment processor and ISO that targets ISOs, agents, and ISVs with white-label, residual, and embedded payments offerings. Closest direct comparable in business model (ISO/agent + ISV channel, lifetime residuals, white-label).

Broad incumbents

Block (Square): Multi-product payments company (Square seller, Cash App, embedded banking) serving SMBs and ISVs. Overlaps with Vendara on merchant acquiring, POS, and software-integrated payments, but at vastly greater scale and capital.
Fiserv (Clover): Incumbent merchant acquirer and processor whose Clover platform and ISO program compete directly with Vendara across ISO, ISV, and SMB merchant services. Represents the established-bank / large-processor competitive benchmark.
Paysafe: Global payments provider with merchant acquiring, gateway, and ISV/partner programs (including white-label offerings). Overlaps with Vendara on SMB merchant processing, partner channels, and embedded/white-label solutions.
Stripe: Global payments platform with payment gateway, processing, and embedded payments APIs (Stripe Connect / Issuing / Terminal). Broad incumbent whose developer-first API and partner platform (Connect) competes with Vendara's ISV and gateway offerings at much larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Vendara financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Vendara leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Vendara funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

Vendara M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Vendara

What does Vendara do?

Is Vendara a public or private company?

Vendara is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.

When was Vendara founded?

Vendara was founded in 2009. It employs 101 to 250 people.

Where is Vendara based?

Vendara is headquartered in Bellevue, United States, in the North America region.

How does Vendara make money?

Five revenue lines are on record. Payment Processing Transaction Fees are the primary driver. The others are partner Residual Income, activation Bonuses, ISV Revenue Sharing and white-Label Licensing.

Who are Vendara's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are North American Bancard, Finix, Host Merchant Services, Helcim, Payment Depot and Stax (formerly Fattmerchant). Broad incumbents are Block (Square), Fiserv (Clover), Paysafe and Stripe.

Does Vendara have an API?

Yes. Developer-friendly API that enables ISVs to integrate payment processing capabilities into their software platforms. The API allows for seamless integration with Vendara's proprietary gateway for fast, secure payment processing. Simple onboarding process designed for efficiency. Integration supports embedding payment monetization directly into software vendor technology stacks.

What industry is Vendara in?

Vendara's product category is Payment Processing Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAFAB, Merchant Acquiring & Processing Platforms, with a secondary code of FSAMABAF, Marketplace / Platform Acquiring (PayFac & Sub-Merchant Management). Its NAICS code is 522320 and its SIC code is 6199.