iCheckGateway
CSG Forte (formerly iCheckGateway) is a cloud-based unified omnichannel payments platform that processes 260M transactions and $195B+ annually across 175K+ merchants, serving enterprises, government, healthcare, financial institutions, and ISVs with embedded and developer-first payment infrastructure.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2005
- HeadquartersFort Myers, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What iCheckGateway does
iCheckGateway, now operating as CSG Forte, is a unified omnichannel payments platform that enables businesses to accept, manage, and protect payments across online, in-person, and phone channels. The company serves more than 175,000 merchants worldwide and processes approximately 260 million transactions annually representing over $195 billion in annual payment volume, with stated experience of more than 25 years in payments infrastructure. CSG Forte is a subsidiary of CSG Systems International, which was acquired by NEC and Netcracker in 2024, and the iCheckGateway / iCG Pay brand was consolidated under the CSG Forte name as part of this restructuring.
The platform is built on a cloud-based architecture with RESTful APIs and developer-first SDKs, centered on the Dex transaction management platform and supplemented by payment orchestration (gateway orchestration), security modules (tokenization, PCI DSS compliance, account updater, direct fund recovery), and AI-powered fraud detection. Product breadth spans ACH, credit/debit cards, digital wallets, IVR, POS, online, payment links, text-to-pay, embedded payments, and an industry-specific Straight Through Processing (STP) solution for healthcare insurance payments. Vertical specialization is concentrated in healthcare, government, insurance, property management, financial institutions, telecommunications, and utilities, with named enterprise customers including the State of California DMV, Mecklenburg County, Buildium, WasteWORKS, and Intech Apex Court Solutions.
The business model is primarily transaction-fee based on processed payment volume, supplemented by recurring subscription fees for value-added services (account updater, fraud protection, chargeback management, reporting) and revenue sharing with ISV and payment-facilitator partners. Go-to-market is hybrid: direct enterprise field sales for large organizations, self-service PLG for SMBs, channel partners (ISOs, resellers), and OEM/embedded partnerships with ISVs. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is quote-based across enterprise, SMB, and partner tiers. Regulatory coverage includes US Money Transmitter licensing (NMLS ID 1986669), Quebec MSB licensing, and PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and CCPA compliance.
iCheckGateway firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- iCheckGateway
- Legal name
- CSG Forte Payments, Inc.
- Website
- https://icheckgateway.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2005
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- CSG Forte (formerly iCheckGateway) is a cloud-based unified omnichannel payments platform that processes 260M transactions and $195B+ annually across 175K+ merchants, serving enterprises, government, healthcare, financial institutions, and ISVs with embedded and developer-first payment infrastructure.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
iCheckGateway industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Payment Processing
- NAICS
- Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)
- SIC
- Finance Services (6199)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Omnichannel Gateway Enablement (Online + In-store) (FSAMACAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Merchant Payment Gateways (API/Hosted Checkout) (FSAMACAA), Payment Gateways & Orchestration (BPAMAFAA), POS, SoftPOS & In-Person Acceptance Infrastructure (FSAGABAO), Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) Enablement (BNPL, wallets, local methods) (FSAMACAE)
Keywords
Where iCheckGateway is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Fort Myers
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
iCheckGateway business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Payment Processing Fees: Transaction fees charged for processing credit/debit cards, ACH, and digital wallet payments across all channels (online, in-person, phone)
- ACH/eCheck Processing: Lower cost transaction processing for recurring billing and bill payments using ACH network
- Payment Gateway Services: Gateway orchestration and API access fees for embedding payments into software platforms
- Payment Facilitation Revenue Share: Revenue sharing with payment facilitators and ISV partners on transaction volumes they process
- Value-Added Services: Account updater, fraud protection, chargeback management, and reporting analytics services
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Monthly | Enterprise |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | SMB / Self-Service |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Monthly | ISV / Platform Partners |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
iCheckGateway product offering
Product offeringCore offering
iCheckGateway / CSG Forte operates a unified omnichannel payments platform that enables businesses to accept, process, manage, and protect payments across online, in-person, mobile, IVR, and text channels. The platform combines merchant acquiring and processing (ACH, credit and debit cards, digital wallets, tap-to-pay), gateway orchestration, fraud detection, tokenization, PCI compliance, account updater, and direct fund recovery, alongside embedded payments for ISVs and healthcare insurance straight-through processing.
Product overview
CSG Forte (formerly iCheckGateway/iCG Pay) is a unified omnichannel payments platform offering comprehensive payment acceptance, management, and protection solutions. The platform consists of the core Dex Platform for transaction management, supplemented by multiple payment acceptance products (ACH, credit/debit, digital wallets, IVR, POS, online, omnichannel, payment links, text-to-pay), payment management tools (billing, gateway orchestration, operations, payouts, reporting/analytics), security and fraud protection modules (account updater, direct fund recovery, fraud protection, authentication, validation, PCI compliance, tokenization), and integration capabilities (API, embedded payments, low-code). The platform processes 260M transactions annually, handling over $195B in annual payments for 175K merchants worldwide.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Forte Checkout: Payment checkout solution
- Forte Payment Gateway
- Forte Virtual Terminal
- Forte Mobile Payments
- DirectRecovery
- Forte Verify
- BillPayIt
- Dex
- CSG Forte Engage
- CSG Xponent
Quantifiable outcome
- 260M transactions processed annually
- +8 more outcomes
Companies that use iCheckGateway
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments10 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
iCheckGateway technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability8 records
Feature9 records
iCheckGateway partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- BuildiumcorePartnership since 2004 providing ACH and credit card processing solutions for property management; Buildium achieved 35% YoY transaction growth and 39% YoY dollar growth
- Optum FinancialcoreCollaboration for Straight Through Processing (STP) enabling accelerated insurance reimbursements and member payments, strengthening cash flow and reducing administrative burden for healthcare organizations
- Girls Who CodeminorCollaboration supporting digital inclusivity and promoting technology careers for underrepresented groups
- WeMakeChangeminorPartnership supporting underserved communities through technology and innovation initiatives
- Cape Innovation and TechnologyminorPartnership supporting innovation ecosystem in Cape region
- Netcracker (NEC)coreNEC and Netcracker completed acquisition of CSG Systems, integrating CSG with Netcracker to create a more comprehensive and unified digital platform
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
iCheckGateway competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Stripe: Global payments platform with developer-first APIs, embedded payments (Stripe Connect), gateway orchestration, and AI-powered fraud (Stripe Radar). Most direct competitor in the API-driven omnichannel and embedded payments space CSG Forte targets.
- Block (Square): Omnichannel payments competitor covering online (Square Online), in-person (Square POS), and developer/embedded (Square APIs). Competes across the SMB and mid-market segments where CSG Forte also operates.
- Adyen: Global unified commerce platform serving enterprise merchants with omnichannel acquiring, gateway, and embedded capabilities. Direct competitor for enterprise and ISV segments, with stronger international coverage than CSG Forte.
- Authorize.Net: Visa-owned payment gateway serving SMB and mid-market merchants with API/hosted checkout. Direct gateway competitor, particularly for the SMB self-service motion CSG Forte runs.
Broad incumbents
- PayPal: Diversified payments incumbent with consumer wallets (PayPal, Venmo), merchant acquiring (Braintree), and embedded offerings. Competes across multiple of CSG Forte's verticals but with much broader consumer brand recognition.
- Fiserv: Large fintech incumbent (Clover, Carat) serving financial institutions, merchants, and software platforms with payment processing. Broad incumbent competing across multiple of CSG Forte's verticals with deeper banking relationships.
- FIS: Financial services technology provider with merchant acquiring (Worldpay) and embedded payments offerings. Competes in financial institution and enterprise segments where CSG Forte is also positioned.
Emerging players
- Spreedly: Payment orchestration platform that lets merchants route across multiple gateways/processors via single integration. Direct competitor to CSG Forte's Payment Gateway Orchestration offering, particularly for ISVs.
- Dwolla: ACH-focused payment API platform competing in the same recurring billing and high-volume ACH segments CSG Forte serves. More narrowly focused on bank-to-bank transfers without the omnichannel breadth.
- Basis Theory: Payments orchestration and tokenization infrastructure platform competing for ISVs and enterprises seeking gateway abstraction. Adjacent emerging player in the same orchestration space as CSG Forte's gateway offering.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
iCheckGateway social profiles
Digital presenceiCheckGateway compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
iCheckGateway financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
iCheckGateway leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
iCheckGateway subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
iCheckGateway funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
iCheckGateway 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 iCheckGateway
What does iCheckGateway do?
iCheckGateway / CSG Forte operates a unified omnichannel payments platform that enables businesses to accept, process, manage, and protect payments across online, in-person, mobile, IVR, and text channels. The platform combines merchant acquiring and processing (ACH, credit and debit cards, digital wallets, tap-to-pay), gateway orchestration, fraud detection, tokenization, PCI compliance, account updater, and direct fund recovery, alongside embedded payments for ISVs and healthcare insurance straight-through processing.
Is iCheckGateway a public or private company?
iCheckGateway is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was iCheckGateway founded?
iCheckGateway was founded in 2005. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is iCheckGateway based?
iCheckGateway is headquartered in Fort Myers, United States, in the North America region.
How does iCheckGateway make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Payment Processing Fees are the primary driver. The others are ACH/eCheck Processing, payment Gateway Services, payment Facilitation Revenue Share and value-Added Services.
Who are iCheckGateway's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Stripe, Block (Square), Adyen and Authorize.Net. Broad incumbents are PayPal, Fiserv and FIS. Emerging players are Spreedly, Dwolla and Basis Theory.
Does iCheckGateway have an API?
Yes. CSG Forte offers a REST API that enables developers to embed payment functionality, manage transactions, and build custom payment workflows. The platform provides SDKs and developer tools for rapid deployment and scalability. Access to sandbox/test accounts is available for development and testing purposes. Developer documentation is at developers.forte.net.
What industry is iCheckGateway in?
iCheckGateway's product category is Payment Processing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMACAH, Omnichannel Gateway Enablement (Online + In-store), with a secondary code of FSAMACAA, Merchant Payment Gateways (API/Hosted Checkout). Its NAICS code is 522320 and its SIC code is 6199.