payGO

What payGO does

payGO (PayGO S.A.S.) is a Colombian fintech-operations vendor that operates a cloud-hosted electronic wallet and POS platform for K-12 schools, headquartered in Cali and serving 83 educational institutions across 15 Colombian cities with a roster of approximately 85,000 students and parents. The platform enables cashless cafeteria and on-campus purchases, multi-modal student identification (RFID/MiFare smart cards, fingerprint biometrics, and facial recognition), remote wallet top-ups, parental spending controls, and adjacent operational modules including inventory management, food production with recipe and ingredient tracking, remote and self-service ordering kiosks, balance inquiry terminals, mobile POS, and access turnstile integration. Infrastructure is delivered as a multi-tenant SaaS on Amazon Web Services with an offline-capable POS that synchronizes transactions on reconnection, complemented by iOS, Android, and web clients for parents and school administrators.

Name

payGO

Legal name

PayGO S.A.S.

Website

https://paygo.com.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

payGO is a Colombian SaaS provider of cashless payment, POS, and digital-wallet software purpose-built for K-12 school cafeterias and on-campus purchases, serving 83 institutions and roughly 85,000 users across 15 Colombian cities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

School Payment Platform / Education Fintech

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Payments, Cashiering & Payment Plans (EDALAJAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth / Family Wallets & Allowance Payments (FSAMAEAK), Bill Pay, Invoicing & Payables Platforms (BPAMAFAF), Embedded Payments (Pay-ins, Pay-outs, Wallets) (FSAGALAB)

Keywords

• School payment platform
• Cashless cafeteria payments
• Digital wallet for schools
• Educational POS system
• School e-wallet solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Cali

HQ country

Colombia

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Annual Subscription Fee (Tarifa Anual): Annual subscription fee charged to consumers (parents) for access to the platform. The fee grants access for one academic/school year. The fee may be paid by the school (administrator) or by the parent, depending on the contract arrangement between payGO and the educational institution.
2. Transaction Processing Fees: Transaction fees included in the total transaction price when parents make prepaid purchases for goods and services. The fee includes the price of goods/services, applicable taxes (INC, IVA), plus the annual tariff. Payments are processed through third-party payment aggregators.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

payGO provides a cloud-based electronic wallet platform built specifically for Colombian K-12 schools, enabling cashless payments in cafeterias, bookstores, and other on-campus services. The platform combines a multi-tenant web/admin dashboard, parent-facing mobile apps (iOS, Android, web), and an online/offline-capable POS system that supports multiple student identification methods including RFID smart cards, fingerprint, and facial recognition. It also includes integrated food production, recipe and inventory management, and APIs to connect with school management, accounting, and payment gateway systems used across Colombia.

Product overview

payGO is a comprehensive electronic wallet platform for Colombian educational institutions, consisting of a core platform with multiple integrated modules and features. The main components include: (1) the payGO Platform for school cafeteria cashless payments, (2) Parent App for iPhone/Android/Web enabling wallet management and monitoring, (3) POS System with online/offline capability, (4) Inventory Management System, (5) Food Production System, (6) Remote Ordering App, (7) Touch Screen Self-Ordering Kiosks, (8) Facial Recognition Identification, (9) Biometric Fingerprint Identification, (10) Smart Student ID (RFID), (11) Unit-based Consumption System, (12) Balance Inquiry Kiosk, (13) Mobile POS, and (14) Payroll Deduction (Libranzas) module. The platform integrates with multiple payment gateways (PayU, TuCompra, ZonaPAGOS, EnLíneaPagos), accounting systems (SIIGO, SAP Business One, CG1), and school management software (Phideas) to provide a complete ecosystem for school food service management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• payGO Platform Comprehensive cloud-based electronic wallet platform for educational institutions in Colombia that enables cashless payments, digital student identity management, and POS-based transactions for school cafeterias, bookstores, and other on-campus services. Delivered as a multi-tenant solution accessible via web (clients.paygo.com.co), iOS, and Android, with online/offline POS, inventory and food production modules, and integrations to Colombian payment gateways, accounting systems, and school administration software.

Quantifiable outcome

• 83 educational institutions serving 85,000 users across 15 cities in Colombia

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration14 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• SIIGOcoreTechnology or IntegrationAccounting system integration allowing payGO transaction data to sync with SIIGO financial software used by Colombian businesses.
• SAP Business OnecoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with SAP Business One enterprise resource planning system for accounting and financial management synchronization.
• CG1coreTechnology or IntegrationAccounting system integration allowing transaction synchronization with CG1 financial software.
• PhidiascoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with Phidias school management software, the most recognized school administration system in Colombia.
• PayUcoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment gateway integration for processing credit card and PSE transactions when parents recharge student wallets.
• EnLíneaPagoscoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment gateway integration for processing online transactions for wallet recharges.
• TuCompracoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment gateway integration for transaction processing during wallet recharges.
• ZonaPAGOScoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment gateway integration for processing recharge transactions.
• Amazon Web ServicescoreTechnology or IntegrationCloud infrastructure provider hosting the payGO platform. POS systems synchronize with Amazon servers for data backup and real-time reporting.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• MySchoolBucks: US-based school meal and cafeteria payment platform allowing parents to fund student accounts and pay for school meals online. Most directly comparable to payGO in use case (parent-funded student wallet for cafeteria purchases) though serving a different geography.
• FACTS Management (Nelnet): Tuition management and payment platform for private K-12 schools, including billing, financial aid assessment, and online payments. Closely comparable as a school-centric financial administration platform.
• NutriSlice: School nutrition and menu management platform that integrates with school payment systems and POS for cafeteria operations. Comparable on the cafeteria operations and POS-adjacent layer of payGO's stack.
• Veracross: School management system for independent/private schools with integrated billing, payment, and student information functions. Directly comparable to the administrative + payments bundle payGO sells to private schools.
• RevTrak: K-12 payment processing platform for schools handling cafeteria, fees, and student purchases. Comparable as a specialized school payments SaaS with parent top-up and merchant-of-record functions.

Broad incumbents

• PowerSchool: Dominant K-12 SIS and edtech platform with integrated payments, fee management, and cafeteria modules. Comparable as a broader K-12 platform that includes school payments as part of a much larger suite.
• Linq (K-12 Operations): K-12-focused operations platform offering payments, forms, registration, and HR for schools. Overlaps with payGO's school administration and payment workflows, though more horizontally positioned.
• Mercado Pago: Dominant LatAm digital wallet and payment processor. While not school-specific, it could enter or power school cafeteria payments in Colombia and represents a meaningful adjacent/competitive threat to payGO's wallet layer.

Others

• PayU: Major LatAm payment gateway and processor. Currently a payGO partner/integrator, but at sufficient scale it could offer a competing school wallet solution built on top of its own PSP rails.

Regional players

• Pomelo: LatAm fintech infrastructure provider offering cards, wallets, and payment orchestration. While not school-focused, comparable as a LatAm-built payments API/wallet platform that could be extended into the education vertical.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/paygocards
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/paygocards

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 payGO