Retailers Processing Network

What Retailers Processing Network does

Retailers Processing Network (RPN) is a Lansing, Michigan-based credit card processing organization established in 1968 and operating as a subsidiary of the Michigan Retailers Association. It positions itself as the nation's oldest non-bank credit card processor and serves retail, online, home-based, and service businesses across the United States with merchant payment acceptance for Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express via point-of-sale terminals, websites, computers, smartphones, and tablets. Its stated value proposition is cost transparency — flat-rate pricing, no long-term contracts, no monthly minimums — and an advertised average 36% savings on processing fees for merchants who switch.

RPN's product portfolio centers on credit card processing as the core offering, augmented by Vital POS (a point-of-sale terminal solution), TransLink (a Transfirst-branded payment gateway), Flat Rate Processing as an alternative pricing model, PCI Compliance Tools (including an integrated Self-Assessment Questionnaire), and an automatic Data Breach Protection product that provides $100,000 of coverage per merchant identification number, up to $500,000, underwritten through Royal Group Services. Scale signals include processing more than 8 million transactions and roughly $1 billion in transaction volume in a single recent year, with most customers reportedly retained for more than five years.

The go-to-market model is sales-led, combining toll-free phone-based inside sales (866.791.6099) and website quote requests with a referral/affiliate channel that leverages the Michigan Retailers Association network and a separate business referral program targeting other state retail associations and trade organizations. Revenue is generated primarily through transaction-based processing fees, supplemented by recurring monthly statement fees that bundle the data-breach coverage. Distribution is concentrated in the SMB segment with no disclosed enterprise logos, and the company's competitive identity rests on association-channel distribution, decades of brand heritage, and bundled insurance-style risk products rather than proprietary technology or differentiated economics.

Name

Retailers Processing Network

Legal name

Retailers Processing Network

Website

https://retailersprocessingnetwork.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Retailers Processing Network, founded in 1968 and a subsidiary of the Michigan Retailers Association, is the nation's oldest non-bank credit card processor serving SMB retailers, online, and service businesses across the U.S. with flat-rate processing, POS, PCI compliance tools, and bundled data-breach insurance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing Services

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Payment Processors (PSP/Acquirer) (FSAMABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Card-Present Acquirers (Retail & POS Focus) (FSAMABAC), Merchant Acquiring & Processing Platforms (BPAMAFAB)

Keywords

• Credit card processing
• Merchant services
• Payment processing
• PCI compliance
• Data breach protection

Headquarters

HQ city

Lansing

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Credit Card Processing Fees: Transaction-based fees charged to merchants for processing credit card payments. The company saves merchants an average of 36% on credit card processing fees. No monthly minimums required.
2. Monthly Statement Fees: Monthly statement fees that include automatic $100,000 data breach protection coverage per merchant identification number (with maximum $500,000 coverage).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Retailers Processing Network provides credit card processing services that enable merchants to accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express payments through point-of-sale terminals, websites, computers, smartphones, and tablets. The company, established by the Michigan Retailers Association in 1968, supplements its core processing service with Vital POS terminals, the TransLink payment gateway, Flat Rate Processing pricing, PCI compliance tools, and automatic data breach protection coverage. Services are delivered to retail businesses, online businesses, home-based businesses, and service-related businesses across the United States.

Product overview

Retailers Processing Network (RPN) is a credit card processing organization founded in 1968, operating as part of the Michigan Retailers Association. RPN provides a unified merchant processing platform offering credit card processing as the core product, supplemented by Vital POS (point-of-sale terminals), TransLink (payment gateway), Flat Rate Processing (alternative pricing), PCI Compliance Tools (security validation), and Data Breach Protection ($100K coverage). The company services merchants accepting cards via point-of-sale, website, computer, smartphone, and tablet, with claims of 33-36% savings on processing fees compared to competitors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Credit Card Processing Core merchant credit card processing service enabling businesses to accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express payments via point-of-sale terminals, website, computer, smartphone, and tablet.
• Vital POS Point-of-sale terminal solution offered as part of RPN's product portfolio for retail transaction processing.
• Flat Rate Processing Flat-rate credit card processing offering where merchants pay a consistent rate regardless of how they accept payments, servicing all major card brands.
• TransLink Payment gateway solution for processing credit card transactions, accessible via an online login portal for transaction routing.

Quantifiable outcome

• Merchants save an average of 36% on credit card processing fees when switching to RPN
• +3 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Michigan Retailers AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRPN was established by Michigan Retailers Association to expand expert credit card processing services to other state retail associations, organizations and businesses across the United States. The network is powered by Michigan Retailers, representing the organizational foundation of RPN.
• Royal Group ServicesminorOthersRoyal Group Services provides data breach insurance that RPN makes available to customers as part of their data breach protection offerings.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Clover (Fiserv): Fiserv's SMB POS and payments platform combining hardware, software, and processing. Overlaps with RPN's bundled Vital POS + processing offering.
• Stax by Fattmerchant: Subscription-based flat-rate payment processor targeting SMBs with transparent pricing and no long-term contracts—the same value proposition RPN emphasizes to retail merchants.
• Stripe: Dominant online payment processor with gateway, API, and integrated acquiring. RPN resells the TransLink gateway (TransFirst/fintech partner) for online merchants, placing Stripe in direct competition for that segment.
• Payment Depot: Wholesale-style flat-rate payment processor for SMBs, emphasizing no contracts and interchange-plus pricing—similar transparency and SMB value proposition to RPN.
• North American Bancard: Independent Sales Organization (ISO) acquirer with referral/agent-driven distribution to SMB merchants—mirrors RPN's association referral GTM and flat-rate SMB processing.
• Square (Block): Block's Square offers flat-rate card-present and online payment processing to SMBs, including retail merchants. Most direct competitor to RPN's flat-rate processing model and SMB retail positioning.
• Heartland Payment Systems (Global Payments): Established retail-SMB focused acquirer offering card-present processing, POS, and payroll. Closest large-scale analog to RPN's retail-vertical, in-person transaction focus.
• Dharma Merchant Services: Independent acquirer focused on retail and SMB merchants with transparent pricing and high-touch service—directly comparable niche to RPN's retail-association positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Chase Payment Solutions: Bank-owned merchant acquiring arm offering card-present and online processing to SMBs as part of a broader banking relationship—a large incumbent alternative to RPN.
• PayPal: Mass-market incumbent in SMB payments (PayPal, Venmo, Braintree, Zettle) covering retail both online and in-store—broad incumbent competing with RPN across use cases.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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 Retailers Processing Network