Tricera

What Tricera does

Tricera, LLC is a family-owned payment processing and business services company headquartered in Apex, North Carolina, founded in 2019 by payment industry veterans who previously built operational systems for major payments companies. The company provides full-service merchant payment acceptance across in-store (chip, tap, key, dip, swipe), mobile, online/eCommerce, and invoicing channels, anchored by its proprietary Tricera Secure payment gateway and the Tricera Flex dual-pricing/cash-discount program that allows merchants to eliminate or reduce processing fees. Beyond core processing, Tricera bundles industry-specific Point of Sale systems (restaurant hybrid POS, quick-service cloud POS with free KDS/menu boards/queue, retail with unlimited SKUs), a full-service Payroll & HR platform with tax management and Work Opportunity Tax Credit automation, an Invoicing Suite that achieves 85% same-day payment rates, Level 3 interchange optimization for B2B and government transactions (up to 34% cost reduction), QuickBooks/Salesforce/NetSuite/WooCommerce/Magento integrations, gift and loyalty programs, and a recently launched AI Marketing Suite.

Processing is executed primarily on the TSYS network, which handles over 32 billion transactions per year for Tricera, with the company moving more than $500 million annually on its payment rails across 17 U.S. states. Technology partners include hardware OEMs Dejavoo, Pax, and Clover, and the company supports cardholder data migration from Stripe, CardConnect, Heartland Portico, and Authorize.net, positioning Tricera as a competitive alternative for merchants seeking to leave incumbent processors.

Tricera monetizes via transaction-based processing fees (interchange-plus or Flex dual pricing), recurring monthly subscriptions for POS hardware/software (e.g., Clover Growth Plans at $84.95-$89.95/month per device), and subscription fees for Payroll & HR and Gift & Loyalty modules. Go-to-market is dominated by an Independent Sales Organization (ISO) agent channel offering lifetime residuals with no vesting, supplemented by direct sales targeting merchants processing $20-50k+ per month, and strategic bank/credit-union partnerships. The company explicitly positions itself as family-owned with no Wall Street, private equity, or external funding, emphasizing lifetime rate locks, no long-term contracts, and no cancellation fees as structural differentiators from "behemoth" processors.

Name

Tricera

Legal name

Tricera, LLC

Website

https://tricera.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Tricera is a family-owned U.S. payment processor and business services company serving SMBs across 17 states, offering payment processing, POS systems, payroll, invoicing, and eCommerce solutions through an agent/ISO network and direct sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing

NAICS

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

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated POS Payments (ISVs & Vertical POS Platforms) (FSAMADAD)

Keywords

• Payment processing services
• Merchant services
• Point of sale systems
• Payroll and HR
• Interchange optimization

Headquarters

HQ city

Apex

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing Fees: Transaction-based fees from processing credit and debit card payments. Offers both traditional interchange-plus pricing and Tricera Flex dual pricing program.
2. Point of Sale Systems: Monthly subscription fees for POS hardware and software, including restaurant, retail, and quick service POS solutions.
3. Payroll & HR Services: Full-service payroll processing with tax management, onboarding, benefits administration, and HR compliance tools.
4. Gift & Loyalty Programs: Gift card and loyalty program services including physical and digital eGift cards, free design services, and mobile app branding.
5. Agent/Partner Residuals: Lifetime residuals paid to agents for merchant accounts they bring on, with no vesting requirements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Tricera is a family-owned payment processor providing full-service credit and debit card processing for in-store, mobile, invoicing, and eCommerce channels, anchored by its Tricera Flex dual pricing program and Level 3 interchange optimization. The company complements core processing with industry-specific POS systems, a full-service payroll and HR platform, an invoicing suite, gift and loyalty programs, and a free AI-powered marketing suite, all running on its proprietary Tricera Secure payment gateway.

Product overview

Tricera is a family-owned payment processing company offering a comprehensive suite of business services. The core offering centers on Tricera Flex (dual pricing/cash discount program to eliminate fees) and full-service payment processing for in-store, mobile, online, and invoicing channels. This is complemented by industry-specific Point of Sale systems (restaurant hybrid POS, quick service cloud POS, retail inventory management), a complete Payroll & HR platform with tax management and compliance tools, and an Invoicing Suite achieving 85% same-day payment rates. Additional products include Level 3 Processing for B2B/government transaction optimization (34% cost reduction), QuickBooks Integration for seamless accounting workflows, eCommerce payment processing across major shopping carts, Gift & Loyalty programs, and a free AI Marketing Suite for content creation. The proprietary Tricera Secure gateway powers transactions, while Agent CRM and Partner/Merchant Portals provide operational tools. Processing exceeds half a billion annually on rails handling 32+ billion transactions per year.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tricera Flex (Dual Pricing Program) Dual pricing and cash discount program that enables merchants to eliminate processing fees by offering cash and card price options to customers. Automates compliance, signage, and fee calculations. Average client savings reported as $1,439-$1,480 per month.
• Payment Processing Full-service payment processing for in-store (chip, tap, key, dip, swipe), mobile, invoicing, and online channels. Includes next-day funding with real-time reporting and human-first support.
• Point of Sale (POS) Systems Industry-specific POS solutions including hybrid POS for restaurants (conversational ordering, modifiers), cloud-based quick service POS with free KDS/menu boards/queue, and retail POS with unlimited SKU inventory management. White-glove setup and support included.
• Payroll & HR Full-service payroll platform with tax management (setup, calculate, audit, file), employee onboarding, talent management, unlimited payrolls, QuickBooks sync, immediate direct deposit, and HR compliance tools (FLSA, ACA). Includes Work Opportunity Tax Credit automation up to $9,600 per eligible hire.
• Invoicing Suite Web-based invoicing solution with itemized invoices, customer vault for secure payment storage, automated data passing for best rates. Achieves 85% of invoices paid within one day and supports Flex fee elimination.
• eCommerce Payments Integrated eCommerce payment processing connecting to major shopping carts including WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, Shopify, Volusion, PrestaShop, 3dCart, and InfusionSoft. Includes interchange optimization saving up to 34% on processing fees.
• Level 3 Processing / Interchange Optimization Targeted processing optimization for B2B and government cardholders. Passes 26 data fields per transaction to achieve up to 34% reduction in interchange costs (e.g., 2.95% to 1.90% on business credit cards). Automated and integrated with QuickBooks, WooCommerce, Magento, Salesforce, and NetSuite.
• QuickBooks Integration Seamless QuickBooks integration allowing merchants to stay within QuickBooks workflow. Supports Tricera Flex for fee elimination, automated invoice delivery and payment posting, unlimited payment links, scheduled payments, recurring billing, and virtual terminal. Same-day invoice processing achieves 85% payment rate in one day.
• Gift & Loyalty Real-time stored value platform with physical and digital eGift cards, built-in loyalty programs, free design service, and mobile app for customer balance checking. Supports conversion from existing gift card programs.
• AI Marketing Suite Free AI-powered marketing suite leveraging generative AI to help merchants build advertisements, images, and social media content. Available to partners and their referred merchants.
• Tricera Secure Payment Gateway Proprietary payment gateway (api.tricerasecure.com/v2) supporting transaction processing, batch management, recurring/scheduled payments, invoicing, customer management, fraud center with 11 modules, hosted payment pages, and user access management.

Quantifiable outcome

• Average savings of $1,439-$1,480 per month through Flex dual pricing program
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration19 records

AI capability2 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• QuickBookscoreTechnology or IntegrationDeep integration with QuickBooks for seamless invoicing and payroll processing. Merchants can process payments directly within QuickBooks, with payments auto-posting back to QuickBooks. Supports Flex program for fee elimination within QuickBooks workflow.
• WooCommercecoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with WooCommerce WordPress eCommerce platform. Tricera Secure gateway connects via Accept Blue plugin for WordPress, enabling payment processing with interchange optimization.
• Magento 2 / Adobe CommercecoreTechnology or IntegrationEnterprise-level eCommerce integration with full interchange optimization on Magento transactions. Custom transactional templates built for each merchant.
• SalesforcecoreTechnology or IntegrationTricera Secure PayLink integration with Salesforce for payment processing within CRM. Supports scheduled payments, recurring invoicing, and automated payment collection tied to Opportunities.
• TSYScoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary payment processing network transmitting over 32 billion transactions per year. Core infrastructure partner for payment processing services.
• DejavoocoreTechnology or IntegrationHardware partner for payment terminals including Dejavoo P-Series and iPOS cloud-based POS. Devices support bluetooth, mobile POS, and NFC tap payments.
• PaxcoreTechnology or IntegrationHardware partner for payment terminals including Pax A35, Q30, A920, S300, and E800. Wide range of countertop and mobile payment devices.
• ClovercoreTechnology or IntegrationClover POS hardware integration with Tricera as payment processor. Supports Retail, Restaurant, and Service Growth Plans. Migration assistance available for merchants switching from competing processors.
• Banks & Credit UnionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnerships where Tricera trains bank teams on payment capabilities beyond Clover or single systems, aiming to drive new deposit and loan accounts to the bank's doorstep.
• Boy Scouts of AmericaminorOthersFinancial support provided to Boy Scout troops as part of community involvement initiatives. Supporting values and next-generation leadership development.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Stripe: Global payments and financial infrastructure platform serving SMBs through enterprise software. Comparable on eCommerce, invoicing, and developer gateway; Tricera explicitly supports migrations from Stripe.
• Square (Block): Dominant SMB payments and POS incumbent. Comparable to Tricera across in-store, online, and invoicing, but at vastly larger scale and with embedded software (Square Payroll, marketing, banking) that overlaps Tricera's roadmap.
• PayPal Zettle: SMB in-store and online payment solution under PayPal. Comparable on payment processing and POS for SMBs, but part of a much broader PayPal ecosystem that Tricera does not match in scale.

Direct peers

• Helcim: SMB payment processor offering interchange-plus pricing, online invoicing, POS, and an integrated merchant portal. Directly comparable to Tricera in targeting SMBs with transparent, cost-saving pricing and a bundled software stack.
• Stax (formerly Fattmerchant): Subscription-based payment processor targeting SMBs with interchange-plus pricing and integrated invoicing. Closely comparable to Tricera's traditional pricing and invoicing suite, with a similar focus on transparent SMB pricing.
• Toast: Restaurant-focused POS and payments platform. Highly comparable to Tricera's restaurant POS offering and SMB restaurant segment, with deeper software functionality but overlapping payment economics.
• Lightspeed Commerce: POS and payments platform for retail and restaurant SMBs. Comparable to Tricera's retail and restaurant POS bundles with integrated payment processing.
• Clover (Fiserv): POS and payment-processing platform sold through ISOs and bank partners. Tricera actively migrates Clover merchants and integrates Clover hardware; directly comparable in SMB POS and processing.
• North American Bancard: Large independent sales organization (ISO) offering payment processing, POS, and payroll to SMBs. Closely comparable to Tricera's ISO/agent-led distribution model and bundled product suite.
• Payment Depot: Membership-style payment processor for SMBs with interchange-plus pricing. Closely comparable to Tricera's traditional pricing model and SMB customer segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tricerapay
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Tricerapay
• Facebookfacebook.com/tricerapay
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tricerapay
• Instagraminstagram.com/tricerapay

Compliance1 record

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 Tricera