What Card One International does

Card One International is a payment processing company founded in 1998 that operates as a registered Independent Sales Organization (ISO) of Wells Fargo Bank and a contracted Clover reseller (First Data/Fiserv). The company primarily serves small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in retail and restaurant verticals, delivering point-of-sale virtual terminals, hardware terminals, mobile payment acceptance through Card One Mobile, the Clover POS platform, the Zero Fee Payment Plan, and its proprietary Charge1 payment gateway. Its gateway infrastructure incorporates tokenization, encryption, and PCI DSS-compliant controls alongside AI-powered transaction monitoring for fraud detection.

The company generates revenue across multiple streams: transaction processing fees, hardware sales and leasing, subscription and recurring fees for gateway services, and surcharging fees enabled by its surcharging technology. Reported operational scale includes 250,000+ connected devices, 200+ processor connections, 125+ shopping cart integrations, and 300+ EMV device certifications. Between late 2025 and early 2026 the company launched surcharging technology, an AI-driven payment security infrastructure upgrade, and an enhanced payment security framework, signaling continued product investment. Leadership includes Alex Hemmat, Board Member and Strategic Director.

The company is privately held with a stated headcount of 1-10 employees, no disclosed funding rounds, no parent company, and no M&A activity. Headquarters is recorded as Plano, Texas (per office location data), though firmographics indicate Los Angeles; the company has not clarified the discrepancy publicly. The combination of bank-sponsored acquiring, third-party POS distribution, and a proprietary gateway positions Card One as an SMB-focused payments aggregator rather than a vertically integrated acquirer.

Name

Card One International

Legal name

Card One International, Inc.

Website

https://card1.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Card One International is a payment processor and Clover reseller serving SMBs in retail and restaurant verticals, offering POS terminals, mobile payments, the Charge1 gateway, and zero-fee payment plans via an ISO relationship with Wells Fargo Bank.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing Services

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Payment Processors (PSP/Acquirer) (FSAMABAA)

Keywords

• Payment processing
• Merchant services
• POS solutions
• Virtual gateway
• Mobile payments

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing Transaction Fees: Revenue generated from processing credit and debit card transactions for merchants. Supports all major card brands, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, and contactless payments.
2. Equipment Sales and Leasing: Revenue from sale and lease of POS hardware terminals including Clover Station, Clover Mini, Clover Flex, Clover Go, and Samsung Kiosk devices
3. Gateway and Virtual Terminal Services: Subscription-style fees for access to the Charge1 virtual gateway providing online payment processing, fraud prevention, and reporting capabilities
4. Surcharging Technology Fees: Revenue from merchants using surcharging technology to offset credit card acceptance costs, subject to applicable laws and regulations

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Card One International provides payment processing services for merchants, including POS hardware resale (Clover Station, Mini, Flex, Go, Samsung Kiosk), a secured virtual payment gateway (Charge1), mobile Bluetooth payment acceptance (Card One Mobile), and zero-fee payment plans. The company operates as a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., processing credit/debit card and contactless transactions across more than 200 processor connections and 125 shopping cart integrations.

Product overview

Card One International is a payment processing company offering a unified merchant services platform. The core offering includes POS Virtual Terminals and the Charge1 virtual gateway for online payment acceptance, complemented by Hardware Terminals and Card One Mobile for in-person and mobile payments. The company resells the Clover POS suite (including Station, Mini, Flex, and Go devices) and offers specialized solutions like the Zero Fee Payment Plan. Security features including AI-powered fraud detection, tokenization, and encryption are integrated across the platform to protect transactions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Charge 1: Secured virtual payment gateway that allows merchants to accept payments from anywhere in the world, with features including fraud prevention, recurring/subscription billing, QuickBooks compatibility, and payment tokenization.
• Clover
• Card One Mobile
• Zero Fee Payment Plan

Products and services

• POS Virtual Terminals Virtual terminal solution allowing merchants to accept payments from anywhere with an internet connection, view reports, process previous transactions, and save customer signatures for recurring payments.
• Hardware Terminals Physical payment terminals supporting EMV chip, magnetic stripe, and contactless payment methods for in-person transactions.
• Card One Mobile Mobile payment solution with Bluetooth devices that connect to tablets or smartphones, enabling merchants to accept payments away from the office.
• Clover POS Suite Full suite of Clover point-of-sale solutions including Station Duo, Mini, Flex, and Go devices, with POS apps for inventory management, payroll, and QuickBooks sync. Card One is a contracted reseller of the Clover Solution.
• Zero Fee Payment Plan Payment processing solution designed to eliminate processing fees for merchants through an alternative fee structure.
• Charge1 Virtual Gateway Secured virtual gateway allowing merchants to accept payments from anywhere in the world with fraud prevention, recurring billing, QuickBooks compatibility, and payment tokenization.
• Fraud Prevention Security service protecting businesses from fraud and data breaches through AI-powered monitoring, tokenization, and end-to-end encryption.
• Become an Agent Program Partnership program recruiting agents to resell Card One's payment processing services and merchant accounts to SMB clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• Real-time fraud detection through AI-powered transaction behavior analysis
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration34 records

AI capability3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and moderate.

• Clover (First Data/Fiserv)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCard One International is a contracted reseller of the Clover Solution, distributing Clover POS hardware including Station, Mini, Flex, Go, and Samsung Kiosk. Clover is a subsidiary of First Data Corporation (now part of Fiserv).
• Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.coreOthersCard One International, Inc. is a registered ISO (Independent Sales Organization) of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Concord, CA. American Express requires separate approval.
• Payment Processors (200+)coreTechnology or IntegrationCompany maintains 200+ processor connections enabling payment processing through multiple networks and financial institutions including Payeezy, PWS, Payleap, Blue Pay, USAePay, Worldnet, and others.
• Shopping Cart Platforms (125+)moderateTechnology or IntegrationCharge1 gateway integrates with 125+ shopping cart platforms enabling online merchants to process payments through Card One's infrastructure.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Toast: Toast is a vertical POS/payments platform for restaurants, which Card One explicitly names as a target segment and addresses via Clover Dining battle cards. It is the most directly comparable restaurant-POS integrated payments peer.
• Helcim: Helcim is a direct-to-SMB payments processor that competes head-to-head with SMB ISOs on rate, transparency, and interchange-plus pricing. Its positioning—transparent pricing, broad payment acceptance, and integrated processing—mirrors what Card One offers SMB merchants.
• Payment Depot: Payment Depot is an interchange-plus SMB payments provider selling through agents and direct. Its membership/agent model and SMB focus make it a near-direct peer to Card One's residual-and-reseller model.
• North American Bancard: North American Bancard is a large independent sales organization and payment processor serving SMBs through agent/reseller channels—essentially the same go-to-market model Card One uses (Become an Agent). It is a strong comparable for ISO-led SMB acquiring.
• Stax by Fattmerchant: Stax is a subscription-style payments platform aimed at SMBs and ISOs/agents, similar to how Card One's "Zero Fee Payment Plan" targets cost-conscious merchants. Both compete for SMBs that want alternative fee structures to interchange-plus.
• Merchant One: Merchant One is an SMB-focused ISO and payment processor selling merchant accounts to small businesses through agents, similar to Card One's "Become an Agent" channel. The customer profiles, fee structures, and SMB agent-driven motion are closely aligned.

Broad incumbents

• Clover (Fiserv): Clover, owned by Fiserv, is the POS/payments platform that Card One is a contracted reseller of. Card One's core product lineup (Station, Mini, Flex, Go) and battle cards ("Clover vs Toast," "Clover vs Square") are direct resales of Clover's stack, making Clover both a partner and the most relevant comparable for the payment/POS niche Card One operates in.
• Stripe: Stripe is the leading online integrated payments processor and is comparable to the Charge1 gateway arm of Card One's business for e-commerce and platform merchants. Like Card One, Stripe offers APIs, tokenization, fraud prevention (Stripe Radar), and broad integration breadth.
• Square (Block): Square is the dominant direct-to-SMB payments and POS competitor referenced in Card One's own marketing battle cards. It targets the same SMB merchant with hardware, software, and processing in a vertically integrated bundle, exercising pricing pressure on resellers like Card One.
• PayPal (Braintree, Zettle): PayPal, via Braintree for online and Zettle for in-person, competes with Card One across both arms of its business: Charge1 virtual gateway (online) and Clover-mobile POS (in-person). It is a broad incumbent peer with overlapping capability rather than a direct SMB-acquiring specialist.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/cardone55358620
• Facebookfacebook.com/Cardone-104124432236382
• Instagraminstagram.com/card_1one
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/card-one-international-inc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 Card One International