iCheckGateway

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.

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

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

• Payment processing services
• Merchant payment acquiring
• Embedded payment solutions
• Payment gateway orchestration
• Fraud protection services

Headquarters

HQ city

Fort Myers

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing Fees: Transaction fees charged for processing credit/debit cards, ACH, and digital wallet payments across all channels (online, in-person, phone)
2. ACH/eCheck Processing: Lower cost transaction processing for recurring billing and bill payments using ACH network
3. Payment Gateway Services: Gateway orchestration and API access fees for embedding payments into software platforms
4. Payment Facilitation Revenue Share: Revenue sharing with payment facilitators and ISV partners on transaction volumes they process
5. Value-Added Services: Account updater, fraud protection, chargeback management, and reporting analytics services

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core 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

Named customers10 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability8 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BuildiumcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2016Partnership since 2004 providing ACH and credit card processing solutions for property management; Buildium achieved 35% YoY transaction growth and 39% YoY dollar growth
• Optum FinancialcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for Straight Through Processing (STP) enabling accelerated insurance reimbursements and member payments, strengthening cash flow and reducing administrative burden for healthcare organizations
• Girls Who CodeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration supporting digital inclusivity and promoting technology careers for underrepresented groups
• WeMakeChangeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership supporting underserved communities through technology and innovation initiatives
• Cape Innovation and TechnologyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership supporting innovation ecosystem in Cape region
• Netcracker (NEC)coreOthersNEC 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

Direct 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

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/csg-forte
• Xx.com/icheckgateway

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 iCheckGateway