Payforge
Payforge is a bootstrapped, payments-exclusive engineering services firm founded in 2021 that builds AI-driven payment systems for payments companies, fintechs, and banks. It delivers merchant acquiring, network switching, issuing, and treasury modernization projects across 5 countries via outcome-based and time-and-materials engagements.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersSeattle, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Payforge does
Payforge is a privately held, bootstrapped engineering services company founded in 2021 that builds AI-driven payment systems and provides specialized engineering services for payments companies, fintechs, and banks. Headquartered in Seattle with a global delivery footprint across 5 countries and 9 cities (Atlanta, London, Bucharest, Sofia, Chișinău, with Buenos Aires and Bogotá launching H1 2026), the firm operates through two legal entities: Payforge UK Ltd and Payforge USA LLC, and employs 51–100 people.
The company delivers four core payments service pillars—Merchant Servicing and Acquiring, Network Switching and Clearing, Issuer Processing and Issuing, and Banking Payments and Treasury—supported by five capability services covering Product and Portfolio Strategy, User Experience Design, Architecture and Engineering, Data Engineering and AI, and Cloud Platforms and DevOps. Its technology stack is cloud-native, API-first, and event-driven, with notable capabilities in stablecoin rails integration (real-time cross-border settlement), transaction orchestration, adaptive retry/routing for authorization optimization, and ML/AI operationalization on Google Cloud (BigQuery, Vertex AI). The firm maintains SOC 2 Type II certification and demonstrates fluency in PCI-DSS, SOX, and PSD2, enabling it to serve regulated bank and fintech clients.
Payforge monetizes through outcome-based and time-and-materials professional services engagements sold via direct enterprise sales to product and engineering leaders, supplemented by referral channels through partnerships with TSG (payments consulting) and Google Cloud Platform (enablement, with Google actively referring clients). Its only publicly named customer is BVNK, a cross-border payments provider using Payforge to implement real-time payouts via stablecoin rails. The leadership team comprises CEO Petru Metzger, CTO Mihai Petrescu, COO Septimiu Mitu, and CRO Alex Clifton.
Payforge firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Payforge
- Legal name
- Payforge UK Ltd and Payforge USA LLC
- Website
- https://payforge.ai
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Payforge is a bootstrapped, payments-exclusive engineering services firm founded in 2021 that builds AI-driven payment systems for payments companies, fintechs, and banks. It delivers merchant acquiring, network switching, issuing, and treasury modernization projects across 5 countries via outcome-based and time-and-materials engagements.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Payforge industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Payments Engineering Services
- NAICS
- Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Engineering Services (8711)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Payouts, Disbursements & Mass Payments Infrastructure (FSAGABAN)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Cross-Border Payouts & Mass Disbursements (Pay-outs) (FSAMAIAJ), Embedded Payments (Pay-ins, Pay-outs, Wallets) (FSAGALAB), Developer Tooling & SDKs for Payments (Gateway Tooling) (FSAMACAL)
Keywords
Where Payforge is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Seattle
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices8 records
Markets served
Payforge business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Engineering Services - Outcome-Based Engagements: Long-running projects for clients with outcome-based pricing models. The company delivers measurable business impact through dedicated engineering teams that work on client projects.
- Engineering Services - Time-and-Materials Engagements: Professional services billed on time-and-materials basis for flexibility in engagement scope and duration.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Payforge product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Payforge is an engineering services company purpose-built for the payments ecosystem. It helps payments companies, fintechs, and banks modernize payment infrastructure and deliver payments capabilities through outcome-based and time-and-materials engagements. Core service pillars cover merchant servicing and acquiring, network switching and clearing, issuer processing and issuing, and banking payments and treasury, supported by capability services in product strategy, UX design, architecture and engineering, data engineering and AI, and cloud platforms and DevOps.
Product overview
Payforge is an engineering services company purpose-built for the payments ecosystem, offering consulting and technology services rather than a packaged software product. The company provides four core service pillars under its Payments Expertise domain: Merchant Servicing and Acquiring, Network Switching and Clearing, Issuer Processing and Issuing, and Banking Payments and Treasury. These core payment services are complemented by five capability services—Product and Portfolio Strategy, User Experience Design, Architecture and Engineering, Data Engineering and AI, and Cloud Platforms and DevOps—which provide the strategic and technical foundations needed to deliver the payment infrastructure. Together, these services enable payments companies, fintechs, and banks to modernize their technology, add payment capabilities, and scale their operations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Merchant Servicing and Acquiring Engineering services for next-gen merchant servicing and acquiring technology, including automated underwriting, dynamic pricing engines, transaction orchestration, and real-time settlement capabilities for payment service providers (PSPs).
- Network Switching and Clearing Network switching and clearing services within the payments expertise domain, enabling transaction routing and settlement across payment networks, with adaptive retry, issuer-aware handling of declines, tokenization strategies, and event-driven clearing flows.
- Issuer Processing and Issuing Issuing and issuer processing services for payment card and account issuance, supporting the full lifecycle of card-based payment instruments.
- Banking Payments and Treasury Payments and treasury services for banking institutions, enabling comprehensive payment processing and treasury management capabilities.
- Product and Portfolio Strategy Strategic consulting to define product roadmaps, prioritize initiatives, and align technology investments with business objectives for payments companies, fintechs, and banks.
- User Experience Design Design services for creating intuitive interfaces, scalable design systems, component libraries, and user research-driven experiences for payment products.
- Architecture and Engineering Engineering services for designing scalable, maintainable payment architectures, building greenfield platforms, evolving existing systems, and implementing robust APIs for payments clients.
- Data Engineering and AI Services for building enterprise data platforms, developing and operationalizing ML/AI models, democratizing analytics, and optimizing data governance and privacy for payments clients.
- Cloud Platforms and DevOps Infrastructure services for cloud architecture, Infrastructure as Code deployment, automated security and compliance, and cost optimization for payment platforms.
Quantifiable outcome
- Instant settlement worldwide in minutes, not days
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Payforge
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Payforge technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability6 records
Feature7 records
Payforge partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- TSGcoreTSG is a consulting partner providing payments strategy and delivery. Together, Payforge and TSG bring analytics-driven consulting and deep engineering expertise to help clients modernize, accelerate, and build resilient solutions. The partnership bridges vision and execution with one integrated team and enables clients to move faster with less risk through domain-focused support.
- GCP (Google Cloud Platform)coreGoogle Cloud Platform serves as an enablement partner. Google refers clients to Payforge to build, test, and scale on Google Cloud. Payforge delivers production-ready data, analytics, and AI solutions that drive real business outcomes using GCP infrastructure. The partnership enables rapid prototyping and deployment on secure, scalable GCP infrastructure and helps unlock data and AI capabilities with BigQuery and Vertex AI.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Payforge competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Payforge social profiles
Digital presencePayforge compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Payforge financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Payforge leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Payforge funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Payforge M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Payforge
What does Payforge do?
Payforge is an engineering services company purpose-built for the payments ecosystem. It helps payments companies, fintechs, and banks modernize payment infrastructure and deliver payments capabilities through outcome-based and time-and-materials engagements. Core service pillars cover merchant servicing and acquiring, network switching and clearing, issuer processing and issuing, and banking payments and treasury, supported by capability services in product strategy, UX design, architecture and engineering, data engineering and AI, and cloud platforms and DevOps.
Is Payforge a public or private company?
Payforge is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Payforge founded?
Payforge was founded in 2021. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Payforge based?
Payforge is headquartered in Seattle, United States, in the North America region.
How does Payforge make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Engineering Services - Outcome-Based Engagements are the primary driver. The others are engineering Services - Time-and-Materials Engagements.
Does Payforge have an API?
No public API is recorded for Payforge.
What industry is Payforge in?
Payforge's product category is Payments Engineering Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAGABAN, Payouts, Disbursements & Mass Payments Infrastructure, with a secondary code of FSAMAIAJ, Cross-Border Payouts & Mass Disbursements (Pay-outs). Its NAICS code is 52232 and its SIC code is 7371.