Optimal Payment Solutions

What Optimal Payment Solutions does

Optimal Payment Solutions (OPS) is a privately held US payment processing and merchant services optimization firm headquartered in San Diego, California, founded in 2014 by payments industry veterans Jeff Dowler and Jerry Sellers. The company operates a unified payment processing platform that accepts credit cards and ACH payments across online, mobile, text, email, kiosk, phone, and card-present channels, with custom integrations to accounting and ERP systems including QuickBooks, NetSuite, Oracle, Xero, Shopify, WooCommerce, and Authorize.net. A core product, Optimal Giving, is used by over 10,000 nonprofits for donation processing, event registration, recurring gifts, and text-to-give campaigns; the company also operates Optimal Veterans Enterprises (OVE), a wholly-owned sub-brand serving veteran-owned businesses and nonprofits.

The firm serves three primary segments: nonprofits, small-to-mid-market businesses with $5M-$75M in annual revenues, and municipalities, primarily across the US and Canada. Its go-to-market is sales-led and consultative, built on a referral network anchored in CFO peer groups, accounting professionals, and existing clients, with free 15-minute assessments as the top-of-funnel conversion mechanism. Revenue is generated through a combination of recurring platform subscriptions (e.g., $20/month nonprofit base, $30/month text messaging, $124.95/year PCI compliance) and transaction-based take rates (2.89% + $0.31 for Visa/MasterCard/Discover credit cards; $0.30 per ACH transaction), supplemented by cost-reduction engagements in which Optimal negotiates or coaches clients through merchant services optimization and shares a portion of identified savings over a 6-12 month period.

Optimal positions itself around fee reduction (claiming 20-50% reductions in credit card fees), proprietary integration capabilities developed by specialist Leigh Cook, and a white-glove service model with dedicated account representatives and quarterly savings assessments. The company has no disclosed institutional funding, no parent organization, and a team of 11-50 employees, consistent with a bootstrapped, founder-led operating model.

Name

Optimal Payment Solutions

Legal name

Optimal Payment Solutions

Website

https://optimalps.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Optimal Payment Solutions is a US payment processor and merchant services optimizer serving over 10,000 nonprofits, mid-market businesses, and municipalities across North America with integrated credit card and ACH processing, accounting software integrations, and fee-reduction consulting.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing Services

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Payment Processors (PSP/Acquirer) (FSAMABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Recurring Billing & Subscription Payments Enablement (FSAMACAF), Recurring Billing, Subscriptions & Tokenized Payments (CRAFALAH), Payment Routing, Smart Retries & Optimization (FSAGABAG)

Keywords

• Payment processing services
• Credit card processing
• Merchant services
• Nonprofit fundraising platform
• ACH processing

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing Fees: Revenue from transaction fees on credit card and ACH processing, combined with monthly subscription fees for platform access. For nonprofits: $20/month base subscription plus 2.89% + $0.31 per credit card transaction, ACH at $0.30 per transaction.
2. Text Messaging Services: Monthly subscription for Text to Give and text messaging services starting at $30 per month.
3. PCI Compliance Services: Annual PCI compliance documentation and support service at $124.95 per year (waived for nonprofits showing PCI compliance).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Optimal Payment Solutions is a payment processing firm that helps organizations reduce credit card and merchant services fees, optimize payment workflows, and integrate processing with accounting software such as QuickBooks, NetSuite, and Oracle. The company offers credit card and ACH processing, the Optimal Giving nonprofit fundraising platform, custom payment integrations, PCI compliance support, and multi-channel payment acceptance for businesses, nonprofits, and municipalities with $5M-$75M in annual revenues.

Product overview

Optimal Payment Solutions is a unified payment processing platform that helps organizations reduce credit card fees, optimize workflows, and increase security. The core offering centers on Credit Card & ACH Processing combined with the Optimal Giving nonprofit fundraising platform (used by over 10,000 nonprofits). Additional products include Virtual Terminal, Mobile Card Readers, Remote Deposit Capture, Virtual Wallet, Text-to-Give, Invoicing, and Multi-channel Payments modules. The company also operates Optimal Veterans Enterprises (OVE) as a veteran-focused sub-brand. The platform integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, QuickBooks, NetSuite, Xero, Authorize.net, and Oracle for seamless payment processing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Optimal Veterans Enterprises (OVE): A veteran-focused offshoot of OPS that provides integrated payment processing and fundraising solutions to veteran-owned business enterprises and non-profits serving the veteran community.

Products and services

• Optimal Giving Comprehensive donation processing and fundraising platform for nonprofits, enabling custom donation pages, one-time and recurring donations, event registration, and text-to-give capabilities. Used by over 10,000 nonprofits with pricing starting at $20/month plus transaction fees.
• Credit Card & ACH Processing Core payment processing service enabling organizations to accept credit card and ACH/direct debit payments, with rates of 2.89% + $0.31 per credit card transaction and $0.30 per ACH transaction. Helps clients reduce or eliminate credit card fees and optimizes payment workflows for businesses, nonprofits, and municipalities.
• Custom Payment Integration Services Custom-built payment integration services that connect the Optimal platform with clients' proprietary and industry-specific software systems, including shopping carts, accounting, and ERP platforms. Enables real-time payment processing, automatic reconciliation, and elimination of manual sync or double entry.
• PCI Compliance Services Annual PCI compliance documentation and support service offered at $124.95 per year (waived for nonprofits that demonstrate existing PCI compliance). Includes assistance with annual documentation requirements to help businesses stay compliant and avoid penalties.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduce or eliminate credit card fees by 20-50%
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• QuickBooks (Intuit)coreTechnology or Integration
• NetSuite (Oracle)coreTechnology or Integration
• ShopifycoreTechnology or Integration
• WooCommercecoreTechnology or Integration
• XerocoreTechnology or Integration
• Authorize.netcoreTechnology or Integration
• OraclecoreTechnology or Integration
• Bank of AmericaflagshipTechnology or Integration
• Union BankflagshipTechnology or Integration
• Wells FargoflagshipTechnology or Integration
• IATS PaymentscoreTechnology or Integration

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• PayPal: PayPal operates as a broad payment processor and digital wallet serving consumers, SMBs, and nonprofits (PayPal Giving Fund), with comparable card and donation processing capabilities to Optimal.
• Block (Square): Square provides integrated payment processing, POS hardware, and software for SMBs across verticals, including nonprofits; a broad incumbent with overlapping card-present and ecommerce processing capabilities.
• Stripe: Stripe is a global payments platform serving businesses and platforms of all sizes with developer-first APIs and broad integration support; it serves overlapping SMB and nonprofit customers but at significantly greater scale.
• Heartland Payment Systems (Global Payments): Heartland, part of Global Payments, is a large merchant acquirer serving SMB through enterprise with integrated POS and payment optimization; overlaps with Optimal's mid-market and municipal segments.

Direct peers

• Helcim: Helcim offers a payment platform with transparent interchange-plus pricing, ACH, and accounting integrations for SMBs and nonprofits, overlapping closely with Optimal's value proposition on cost reduction and integration.
• IATS Payments: IATS is a payment processor specialized for nonprofits and charities, and is actually an integration partner of Optimal. Both compete and partner in the same nonprofit donation processing vertical.
• Stax Payments (Stax by Fattmerchant): Stax provides integrated payment processing for SMB and mid-market merchants with transparent pricing and interchange-plus models, directly comparable to Optimal's cost-reduction and integration-centric offering.
• PaymentCloud: PaymentCloud is a merchant services provider focused on high-risk and SMB verticals with consultative sales and pricing optimization — closely aligned with Optimal's referral-driven, savings-focused model.

Emerging players

• Givebutter: Givebutter is a modern fundraising and donor management platform for nonprofits offering donation processing, event registration, and text-to-give — directly competing with Optimal Giving in the nonprofit donation vertical.
• CardX (Stax): CardX specializes in cash discount and surcharging programs that help merchants offset credit card processing fees — the same cost-reduction lever Optimal uses to deliver its claimed 20-50% fee reductions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/optimal-payment-solutions

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Optimal Payment Solutions