Pay It Forward Processing

What Pay It Forward Processing does

Pay It Forward Processing is a privately held merchant card processing company founded in 2001 by Renee and David VanHeel in Cave Creek, Arizona. The company provides credit and debit card acceptance, point-of-sale hardware and software, mobile processing, ACH/check processing, e-commerce gateways, invoicing, and PCI compliance assistance to small and mid-sized businesses across the United States. It serves an SMB customer base with vertical-specific programs for B2B companies, auto mechanics, CertaPro Painters franchisees, insurance agencies, and nonprofits.

The underlying technology is a partner-integrated stack rather than a proprietary platform: Fiserv and Paysafe serve as the primary back-end payment processors, Clover provides the POS ecosystem (Clover Mini, FD terminals, and the app marketplace), and Valor PayTech supplies the mobile and ACH infrastructure (RCKT EMV mPOS reader, VL100 PRO terminal, and Virtual Terminal). Invoicing is delivered through integration with Bill&Pay, QuickBooks, and Xero. The Every Swipe Benefits Charity (ESBCharity) program, a registered trademark, is the company's primary differentiator; it donates a portion of every transaction to the merchant's chosen charity at no additional cost and currently supports 450+ vetted nonprofits with over $520,000 donated as of July 2024.

The business model is transaction-fee based with month-to-month agreements, no cancellation fees, next-day funding (including American Express), and free equipment for qualified merchants. Distribution is strictly referral-driven through dedicated field account managers, an inside sales support team, and the Pay It Rewards affiliate program; the company explicitly avoids cold calling, quotas, and territorial limits. The company maintains nine satellite offices across Arizona, California, Missouri, New Jersey, Michigan, New York, Minnesota, South Carolina, and Washington, giving it nationwide reach despite a 1-10 employee corporate footprint. There is no external institutional investment, no disclosed revenue, and no app or public-facing API.

Name

Pay It Forward Processing

Legal name

PFProcessing

Website

https://pfprocessing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pay It Forward Processing is a privately held US merchant card processor serving SMBs and nonprofits with credit card processing, POS, ACH, and invoicing, differentiated by its Every Swipe Benefits Charity program that donates a portion of each transaction to a merchant-chosen charity.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Merchant Payment Processing

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232), Activities Related to Credit Intermediation (5223)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

EMV Chip, Magstripe & PIN Debit Acceptance (FSAMADAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Bill Pay, Invoicing & Payables Platforms (BPAMAFAF)

Keywords

• Credit card processing
• Merchant services
• Payment processing
• POS systems
• ACH processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Cave Creek

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices10 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing Transaction Fees: Generates revenue through transaction fees charged on credit card payments processed for merchants. No additional cost to merchants for the charitable giving program.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Pay It Forward Processing provides credit card and merchant payment processing services to small and mid-sized businesses, including POS equipment, mobile and online payment acceptance, ACH processing, cash advance/working capital, and statement auditing. Its flagship differentiator is the Every Swipe Benefits Charity program, which automatically donates a portion of every transaction processed to a charity chosen by the merchant, turning routine payment processing into a recurring charitable contribution.

Product overview

Pay It Forward Processing is a full-service merchant credit card processing company offering a unified payment platform with multiple integrated solutions. The core offering is credit card processing with point-of-sale hardware, mobile payments, e-commerce, ACH, invoicing, and cash discount programs. A key differentiator is the Every Swipe Benefits Charity (ESBCharity) program, which donates a portion of each transaction to the merchant's chosen charity at no additional cost. Industry-specific solutions target auto mechanics, CertaPro Painters, insurance, B2B, and nonprofits. The company also offers a Pay It Rewards affiliate program for partners. The platform integrates with Clover POS systems, Valor PayTech hardware, QuickBooks, Xero, and Bill&Pay invoicing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Pay It Rewards: Affiliate program allowing participants to earn recurring monthly commissions by introducing businesses to Pay It Forward Processing.
• ESB Charity (Every Swipe Benefits Charity)

Products and services

• Credit Card Processing Core merchant card acceptance service that authorizes and settles credit and debit card transactions for small and mid-sized U.S. businesses, with a portion of every swipe directed to a charity of the merchant's choice.
• Point of Sale (POS) Systems Integrated countertop and mobile POS terminals, including Clover and Valor PayTech equipment, provided to merchants to accept card payments at the point of sale.
• Mobile Payment Processing Mobile card acceptance solutions that let businesses process transactions from smartphones or tablets wherever they operate.
• Online / E-commerce Payment Processing Payment gateway solutions that allow merchants to securely accept card payments through their websites and online stores.
• ACH Processing Electronic check and ACH payment acceptance service for merchants that need to process bank-to-bank transactions in addition to card payments.
• Every Swipe Benefits Charity (ESBCharity) Program Proprietary program that converts a share of every merchant's card processing volume into recurring donations to a charity of the merchant's choice, providing passive fundraising for partner nonprofits.
• Cash Advance (Working Capital) Merchant cash advance product that provides businesses with working capital based on their future credit and debit card sales volumes.
• Cash Discount / Surcharging Program Program that allows merchants to pass card-processing costs on to customers via a cash discount or surcharge, materially reducing the merchant's effective processing expense.
• Invoicing Solutions Electronic and recurring invoicing solutions, including verticalized offerings such as the CertaPro Painters invoicing solution, that let businesses send bills and accept payment electronically.
• Free Equipment Program Program that places Clover or Valor PayTech card terminals at qualified merchants at no upfront cost as part of the processing agreement.
• PCI Compliance Assistance Compliance service that helps merchants meet Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements at no extra charge.
• Statement Audit & Cost Optimization Service that reviews a merchant's existing processing statements to identify hidden fees and recommend cost savings.

Quantifiable outcome

• Customers report saving 18% on transactions
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bill&PaycoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2015Integrated invoicing platform partnered with CertaPro Painters program. Provides one-step invoicing integration with QuickBooks and Xero, ACH and credit card payments on website, reminder texts and emails, recurring payments, and payment plans. 30-day free trial offered.
• FiservcoreTechnology or IntegrationOne of the world's largest payment processors used by Pay It Forward Processing for transaction processing. Provides the backend payment infrastructure and security for credit card processing services.
• PaysafecoreTechnology or IntegrationGlobal payment services provider used as a payment processor alongside Fiserv for secure credit card transaction processing.
• Valor PayTechcoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner providing ACH processing capabilities, mobile POS readers (RCKT EMV mPOS), and virtual terminal for integrated payment processing. Offers recurring ACH payments, customizable thresholds, and comprehensive transaction management.
• ClovercoreTechnology or IntegrationPOS hardware and software ecosystem partner. Clover devices integrate with payment processing for inventory tracking, customer management, and app marketplace customization. Clover Mini checkout and FD EMV terminals available.
• ePNminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner payment network for processing transactions and distributing payment services.
• Amazon SmileminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAmazon Smile charitable program where customers can designate Pay It Forward Processing's associated charity to receive donations from eligible Amazon purchases.
• ESBCharitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRelated nonprofit organization that manages the Every Swipe Benefits Charity program. Creates sustainable income for vetted charities through the payment processing giveback program. Features 450+ participating charities.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Square (Block): Square offers integrated card-present and card-not-present payment processing plus POS hardware and software to SMBs across the US. It is the most direct modern competitor to Pay It Forward Processing in the SMB merchant services market.
• Stripe: Stripe provides online and in-person payment processing with developer-friendly APIs and integrated software. It overlaps with Pay It Forward Processing's e-commerce, invoicing, and B2B payment offerings, particularly for internet-first SMBs.
• Helcim: Helcim is a Canadian-headquartered payment processor that sells directly to SMBs with transparent interchange-plus pricing and integrated invoicing. It is comparable to Pay It Forward Processing in customer segment (SMBs) and product mix (card processing plus invoicing).
• Payment Depot: Payment Depot is a membership-based US payment processor targeting SMBs with interchange-plus pricing and no long-term contracts. It directly competes with Pay It Forward Processing on no-contract, transparent-rate positioning.
• National Processing: National Processing is a US ISO offering SMB merchant services with statement analysis and rate optimization, mirroring Pay It Forward Processing's statement-optimization value proposition and customer segment.

Broad incumbents

• PayPal: PayPal operates as a broad incumbent across SMB and consumer payments, including card processing, POS (Zettle), and invoicing. It competes with Pay It Forward Processing across multiple solutions but as part of a much larger payments portfolio.
• Clover (Fiserv): Clover, owned by Fiserv, is both a partner platform for Pay It Forward Processing and a direct competitor via Clover-direct merchant services and POS hardware. It represents the same SMB card-present market with more integrated software.
• Heartland Payment Systems (Global Payments): Heartland is a long-established US SMB and enterprise payment processor offering card acceptance, POS, and payroll. It competes with Pay It Forward Processing in the SMB card-present segment and operates at significantly larger scale.

Emerging players

• Toast: Toast is a restaurant-vertical POS and payments platform that has expanded into adjacent SMB verticals. It is comparable as a software-led, vertical-specialist payments competitor pursuing deeper workflow integration than a pure processor.
• Stax by Fattmerchant: Stax is a SaaS-style SMB payment processor with subscription pricing, integrated software, and developer APIs. It competes with Pay It Forward Processing in SMB card acceptance and increasingly in software-led value-added services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/PayitForwardProcessing
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/payitforwardprocessing
• Instagraminstagram.com/pfprocessing

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Pay It Forward Processing