E-Path

What E-Path does

E-Path (E-PATH PTY LTD) is an Australian privately-held company that operates a manual credit card payment gateway service for small businesses. Founded in 2004 by Peter Thwaites and Christopher Thwaites and launched commercially in January 2006, the company is 100% family-owned with a headcount of 1-10 employees and is headquartered in Queensland, Australia. Its service enables merchants to accept credit card payments through their websites by routing customer payment details via RSA asymmetric cryptography (2,048-bit and 4,096-bit) to a unique per-merchant encrypted payment page, after which the merchant manually reviews and processes the transaction through their own existing MOTO or MST-approved terminal or app. The platform's defining architectural principle is CDU (Critical Data Unplugged): no credit card data, identity data, or transaction history is permanently stored on e-Path's systems, and the encryption is structured so that even e-Path cannot decrypt the data once delivered.

The product suite centers on three core subscription tiers (Single Licence at AUD $275/year, Multiple Licence 5 at AUD $396/year, and Multiple Licence 10 at AUD $594/year), supplemented by one-time add-on modules including BIZLink (a standalone payment page system, AUD $66), Payment Link Maker (email/SMS payment links, AUD $44), Sub-Gateways (AUD $44/year), and a Customised Payment Gateway (AUD $99). Distribution is entirely self-serve via the e-path.com.au website, with merchant validation handled by an internal MVU (Merchant Validation Unit) and developer integration supported through webform POST parameters and plugins for WooCommerce and Ecwid. The business model is a recurring annual licence with negligible transaction-based revenue; e-Path explicitly charges no transaction fees, monthly fees, or maintenance fees. PCI DSS compliance is maintained through Security Metrics, and a US-based data center supports North American merchants. The company serves SMBs across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Europe, the United States, and Canada, with a stated focus on cost-sensitive merchants, MOTO/MST facilities, and entry-level businesses doing modest order volumes who want manual control over their online transactions rather than automated real-time processing.

Name

E-Path

Legal name

E-PATH PTY LTD

Website

https://e-path.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

E-Path is an Australian family-owned company that provides a manual credit card payment gateway for small businesses, using per-merchant RSA encryption and storing no transaction data, sold on annual subscription licences with no per-transaction fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Gateway Software

akta.pro primary industry

Merchant Payment Gateways (API/Hosted Checkout) (FSAMACAA)

Keywords

• Manual payment gateway
• Credit card processing
• PCI DSS compliance
• RSA encryption gateway
• Small business merchant services

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Annual Gateway License Fees: Annual subscription-based licensing fees for payment gateway service. Single, Multiple 5, and Multiple 10 license tiers. One-time registration fee for new applicants. No transaction fees or monthly charges.
2. Optional Add-on Services: One-time fees for optional services including Customized Payment Gateway ($99), Payment Link Maker ($44), BIZLink Package ($66), Alert Email Address Change ($66), and Sub-Gateways ($44/year).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

E-Path provides a manual credit card payment gateway service for small business merchants to accept online credit card payments. Merchants integrate their website or shopping cart with e-Path's gateway, receive encrypted cardholder details, and then manually process the charge through their own existing MOTO/MST-approved credit card terminal or app. The service uses per-merchant unique RSA encryption, permanently stores no sensitive data, and is offered under an annual licence with no transaction fees.

Product overview

e-Path is a global manual credit card payment gateway service — a single unified product platform built around a manual, offline payment processing model. The core offering is the Single Licence Gateway, with Multi-Licence variants (5-site and 10-site) scaling for larger businesses. Add-on modules extend the platform: Sub-Gateways add separate payment landing pages per site; Customised Payment Gateway enables full brand customisation; BIZLink provides a stand-alone hosted payment page requiring no shopping cart; Payment Link Maker generates shareable payment links via email or SMS; and a Change Payment Alert Email service handles encryption key updates. All products share the same foundational technology: RSA cryptography, unique per-merchant encryption, no permanent data storage, and PCI DSS compliance via Security Metrics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• e-Path Single Licence Gateway The core manual credit card payment gateway service for a single website or shopping cart, giving a merchant a unique exclusive payment page URL and a unique per-merchant encryption system. Merchants manually review and process orders through their own MOTO/MST-approved terminal or app. Priced at $275.00 AUD per year with a $22.00 AUD one-time registration fee for new applicants.
• e-Path Multiple Licence 5 Gateway A multi-site gateway licence enabling up to 5 websites or shopping carts belonging to the one business to share a single e-Path manual payment gateway service. Priced at $396.00 AUD per year with a $22.00 AUD one-time registration fee for new applicants.
• e-Path Multiple Licence 10 Gateway A multi-site gateway licence enabling up to 10 websites or shopping carts belonging to the one business to share a single e-Path manual payment gateway service. Priced at $594.00 AUD per year with a $22.00 AUD one-time registration fee for new applicants.
• BIZLink Standalone Payment System A stand-alone payment page system that requires no shopping cart. A professionally prepared, fully customised solution installed in a separate directory within the merchant's hosting account, enabling customers to input their details and be redirected to the e-Path payment gateway. Popular for hospitality, sporting clubs, and invoice-based payments. One-time cost of $66.00 AUD.
• Payment Link Maker A link maker system that enables merchants to create a custom payment link that can be pasted into an email or SMS to a specific customer, allowing them to make a payment at any time via a silent redirect to the e-Path payment page. A stand-alone three-file package installed in the merchant's hosting account, usable without a shopping cart. One-time cost of $44.00 AUD.
• Sub-Gateways
• Customised Payment Gateway
• Change Payment Alert Email

Quantifiable outcome

• Eliminates 100% of automated online fraud through manual control model
• +1 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

Integration3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• WooCommercecoreTechnology or IntegrationWooCommerce is the most popular shopping cart for WordPress. e-Path has a plugin for WooCommerce that uses the string method for efficient integration.
• EcwidcoreTechnology or IntegrationEcwid is one of the most popular shopping carts for WordPress. e-Path has a plugin for Ecwid that uses the string method for efficient integration.
• Security MetricscoreTechnology or IntegrationSecurity Metrics is a U.S.-based PCI DSS compliance program provider. e-Path utilizes the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards Council approved Security Metrics PCI DSS program for compliance verification.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Stripe: Dominant online payment gateway and orchestration platform for internet businesses. Operates at vastly larger scale with developer-first APIs, real-time processing, and embedded finance — a broad incumbent against which e-Path's manual SMB gateway positions as a security-first niche alternative.
• Worldpay: Global merchant acquirer and gateway with a strong SMB footprint. Competes for the same small/medium online merchant segment with automated processing and a much broader product portfolio.
• Square (Block): Integrated payments and commerce platform serving SMBs with online and in-person processing. Competes for the same small-business budget with a full-suite offering (POS, gateway, banking) that dwarfs e-Path's single-product scope.
• PayPal: Global consumer and merchant payments giant with Braintree for online gateway services. Competes on trust, scale, and one-click checkout — represents the mainstream real-time alternative to e-Path's manual model for the same SMB target market.
• Braintree (PayPal): Developer-focused online payment gateway owned by PayPal. Targets digital SMB and mid-market merchants with a modern API — the architectural opposite of e-Path's manual, webform-POST approach.

Direct peers

• Authorize.Net: One of the longest-standing hosted online payment gateways (owned by Visa). Serves SMBs accepting card-not-present payments via hosted checkout, the closest real-time equivalent in the SMB gateway category.
• 2Checkout (Verifone): Online payment gateway specializing in digital commerce and global SMB merchants. Comparable hosted-checkout gateway model, though automated rather than manual, competing for the same low-to-mid volume online merchant segment.

Regional players

• eWAY (Global Payments): Australian payment gateway now owned by Global Payments. Serves the same Australian SMB e-commerce market with real-time processing — the primary local alternative to e-Path.
• Pin Payments: Australian-founded online payment gateway serving SMBs. Direct ANZ regional competitor offering real-time processing, often compared by Australian merchants evaluating gateway options.
• SecurePay: Australia-based online payment gateway (part of Australia Post). Direct regional competitor for Australian SMB e-commerce merchants that e-Path also targets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

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 E-Path