TouchNet

What TouchNet does

TouchNet Information Systems, Inc. is a U.S.-incorporated software company that provides integrated payment processing, commerce, and credential management solutions exclusively to colleges and universities. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Lenexa, Kansas, the company operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a Fortune 500 payments technology company with approximately 27,000 team members globally.

The company's core offering is the U.Commerce platform, an integrated suite organized into four solution areas: Student Finance (Bill+Payment, Payment Center, Payment Plans, eRefunds, Student Account Advisor, SponsorPoint), Campus Commerce (Marketplace, Payments & Departmental Deposits, Platform Reporting), Campus ID (OneCard Campus ID, Mobile ID, 360u App, Access, Dining), and Merchant Services (PayPath, PCI Services, RECON1, Genius University POS, Marketplace POS, OneCard Dining POS, Payment Processing). The platform integrates in real time with major Student Information Systems (Ellucian Banner, Ellucian Colleague, Oracle Student Cloud, PeopleSoft, Workday, Anthology), mobile platforms (Apple Wallet, Android), and a 250+ certified Partner Network with 3,000+ connections. TouchNet holds PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider, SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type II, TX-RAMP Level 2, GovRAMP, FERPA, GDPR, HECVAT, and WCAG 2.2 AA certifications, and is registered as a Federal Student Aid Third Party Servicer under Title IV.

TouchNet generates revenue through a combination of subscription-based software licensing for the U.Commerce platform and its modules, transaction fees from payment processing (tuition via PayPath, campus commerce via Marketplace, and POS systems), and professional services for outsourced payment plan administration. Distribution is enterprise-led through direct field sales to higher-education CFOs, VPs of Finance, and IT leadership, supplemented by a tiered channel partner network and co-branded offerings through the Ellucian Partner Network, with which TouchNet has reached 1,000 shared customers. The company markets to institutions through content (the FOCUS podcast, blog, case studies, eBooks), an annual client conference (COMTEC), webinars, and industry events. TouchNet reports serving more than 1,000 higher-education institutions across the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

Name

TouchNet

Legal name

TouchNet Information Systems, Inc.

Website

https://touchnet.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Short description

TouchNet, a Global Payments subsidiary, provides the U.Commerce platform integrating payments, campus commerce, and credential management exclusively for more than 1,000 colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Payments and Campus ID Software

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Campus / Student ID & Closed-Loop Stored Value (FSAMANAH)

Keywords

• Higher education payments
• Campus credential management
• Student account management
• Tuition payment processing
• Campus commerce software

Headquarters

HQ city

Lenexa

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, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Software/Subscription Licensing: TouchNet provides its U.Commerce platform and various solution modules (Bill+Payment, OneCard, Marketplace, etc.) to higher education institutions. The platform operates as an integrated suite suggesting subscription or licensing revenue from software deployment at institutions.
2. Payment Processing Services: TouchNet Merchant Services enables acceptance and management of transactions online, mobile, and POS. PayPath allows credit/debit card payments for tuition with service fees passed to card networks.
3. Transaction Fees from Campus Commerce: Marketplace uStores, uPay, and various POS solutions (Genius, OneCard Dining, Marketplace POS) generate transaction-based revenue from payment processing across campus departments and merchants.
4. Payment Plan Services: Payment Plans PLUS offers outsourced day-to-day payment plan management for institutions, generating service fees for management and administration of tuition installment plans.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

TouchNet provides an integrated software platform, U.Commerce, that delivers commerce and credentials solutions exclusively to higher education institutions. The platform bundles tuition billing, payment processing, campus ID management, dining and access control, merchant services, and reconciliation modules, integrated in real time with major student information systems including Ellucian, Oracle, Workday, PeopleSoft, and Anthology. TouchNet sells these solutions to colleges and universities through enterprise sales and a network of 250+ certified partners.

Product overview

TouchNet offers a unified platform-plus-modules architecture called U.Commerce, which provides integrated payment processing and ID management solutions exclusively for colleges and universities. The platform is organized into four solution suites: Student Finance (Bill+Payment, Payment Center, Payment Plans, eRefunds, Student Account Advisor, SponsorPoint), Campus Commerce (Marketplace, Payments & Departmental Deposits, Platform Reporting), Campus ID (OneCard Campus ID, Mobile ID, 360u App, Access, Dining), and Merchant Services (PayPath, PCI Services, RECON1, Genius University POS, Marketplace POS, OneCard Dining POS, Payment Processing). The platform integrates with major Student Information Systems including Ellucian Banner, Ellucian Colleague, Oracle Student Cloud, PeopleSoft, Workday, and Anthology. TouchNet also operates a Partner Network of 250+ certified technology partners enabling extended campus functionality.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• U.Commerce: Integrated, comprehensive and secure commerce and credentials platform enabling streamlined payment and ID management for higher education institutions.
• OneCard
• PayPath
• RECON1
• Bill+Payment
• Marketplace
• Student Account Advisor
• eRefunds
• SponsorPoint

Products and services

• U.Commerce Core integrated platform providing comprehensive payment and ID management solutions for higher education institutions, connecting all campus payment and access points and enabling business task transformation into streamlined processes and services. Supports 250+ partner integrations and 3,000+ connections.
• Bill+Payment Comprehensive payment portal for student accounts that automates, manages, and secures campuswide payments, featuring the Student Account Center with consent manager, student payments, parent pay, uWallet stored payment profiles, real-time account balances, and automated statement delivery.
• Payment Center Expandable PCI-compliant payment environment allowing institutions to offer a wide range of payment options while maintaining data compliance and security, including Payment Points, Payment Gateway, and Management Dashboard for centralized campus payment system oversight.
• Payment Plans Self-service tuition installment payment plan system enabling students to schedule, budget, and make interest-free payments, with real-time SIS integration, automated reminders, and payment plan recalculation as student account activity occurs. Includes Payment Plans PLUS for outsourced day-to-day plan management.
• eRefunds Student disbursement and refund solution offering multiple refund options including direct deposit (ACH), digital check, paper check, and credit card refunds, with real-time SIS integration and multi-factor authentication for secure cardholder data handling.
• Student Account Advisor Dashboard solution providing centralized oversight and one-stop access to students' financial footprint on campus, including account balances, holds, demographics, consent management, and notification settings, pulling information from TouchNet solutions and SIS.
• SponsorPoint Third-party payment management solution featuring automated statements, payments, and reconciliation for employer-sponsored, government-sponsored, and other third-party sponsored students.
• Marketplace E-commerce platform enabling campus entities to create, manage, and operate online storefronts (uStores), embedded payments (uPay), registration sites, and secure payment pages, with flexible product database, integrated inventory management, and omnichannel solutions.
• Payments & Departmental Deposits Cashiering solution modules supporting multiple cashier stations with real-time SIS communication, enabling acceptance of ACH, credit card, debit card, paper check, and cash payments with automatic general ledger posting.
• Platform Reporting Analytics and reporting dashboard aggregating data from Marketplace and Payment Gateway with pre-built dashboards for analysis, reconciliation, and scheduled email delivery with flexible export options.
• OneCard Campus ID Cloud-based card credential management system syncing with student information systems, managing permissions, privileges, and financial authorizations including declining balance payments, check-in functionality, secure door access, and dining programs.
• Mobile ID Mobile credential solution enabling students to add OneCard Campus ID to Apple and Android devices, providing NFC-based secure door access, class and event check-ins, and declining balance payments with tap-of-phone functionality.
• 360u App Native mobile app serving as single point of access for campus experience, connecting students to buildings, check-ins, event registration, campus navigation, uWallet fund management, and campus communications with single sign-on.
• OneCard Access Campus door access control solution with lock integration supporting wired, wireless, electronic strike, magnetic locks, and biometric readers, featuring permission-based groups for controlling access to residence halls, classrooms, labs, and secure areas.
• OneCard Dining Campus dining management solution including OrderAhead ordering app, flexible meal plans with up to eight meal periods per day, meal equivalences, declining balance payments, and automated reporting with OneCard Task Scheduler.
• PayPath Credit and debit card payment solution enabling institutions to offer card payments for tuition and qualified services at no cost to the institution by controlling transaction processing end-to-end, with real-time processing and automated SIS posting.
• PCI Services Payment Card Industry compliance solution helping institutions protect sensitive payment data, achieve compliance, and reduce annual documentation overhead, including self-service portal, compliance reporting, SMART SAQs, breach protection, and quarterly vulnerability scans.
• RECON1 Reconciliation analytics platform unifying data from campus SIS, payment processing, and U.Commerce solutions with dashboards for transaction analysis, fee monitoring, batch summaries, funding summaries, and chargeback management.
• Genius University POS Enterprise point-of-sale solution built to scale with university operations, accepting payments, streamlining workflows, managing inventory, and reducing wait times, with variants for campus retail, dining and food service, and stadiums and venues.
• Marketplace POS Mobile point-of-sale solution extending Marketplace uStore capabilities for in-person payments at any location on or off campus, providing PCI-compliant processing, cashier session oversight, easy reconciliation, and automatic backend system updates.
• OneCard Dining POS Campus dining point-of-sale system combining POS hardware and software with meal management functionality, supporting traditional dining plans, campus card transactions, and meal plan purchases with configurable meal periods and automatic menu pricing updates.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tennessee Tech University achieved 90% online FTE transactions with online payments through Bill+Payment
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration13 records

AI capability4 records

Feature11 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, featured and flagship.

• ElluciancoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2014Ellucian is a major student information systems provider. TouchNet has been a partner since 2014, with solutions including Ellucian Payment Center and Ellucian OneCard VIP. The partnership has reached 1,000 shared customers marking a decade of innovation. TouchNet has been named Ellucian Partner of the Year for 2023, 2024, and 2025.
• AnthologycoreTechnology or IntegrationTouchNet integrates with Anthology Student for payment processing and student account management. Joint webinars explore benefits of fully integrated payment center with Anthology Student.
• OraclecoreTechnology or IntegrationOracle is a major student information systems provider with Oracle Student Cloud integration available through TouchNet's U.Commerce platform.
• WorkdaycoreTechnology or IntegrationWorkday is a major student information and financial systems provider. TouchNet integrates with Workday for seamless payment processing and student account synchronization.
• PeopleSoftcoreTechnology or IntegrationPeopleSoft is a major student information systems provider. TouchNet provides payment processing integrations for PeopleSoft campuses.
• TransferMatefeaturedTechnology or IntegrationTransferMate is a featured partner for international payments. Joint content explores benefits of integrating international payments with TransferMate including improved student experience for international students and simplified cross-border transactions.
• GradGuardfeaturedTechnology or IntegrationGradGuard is a featured partner for tuition protection programs. Podcast featuring Derrick Shy from GradGuard explores benefits of tuition protection programs for students and institutions.
• Global Payments Inc.flagshipTechnology or IntegrationTouchNet is a subsidiary of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a Fortune 500 payments technology company. TouchNet leverages Global Payments' technology, expertise, and scale to ensure product development and support lead the higher education industry. Global Payments has 27,000 team members globally.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Nelnet Campus Commerce: Nelnet's campus commerce division offers tuition payment plans, campus payments and financial services for higher education institutions - directly competing with TouchNet's Bill+Payment, Payment Plans and SponsorPoint solutions for the same higher-ed buyer.
• Transact (formerly CBORD): Transact provides campus card systems, mobile credentials, dining and commerce for higher education - a direct overlap with TouchNet's OneCard Campus ID, Mobile ID, Dining and 360u App offerings to the same college and university buyers.
• Flywire: Flywire specializes in international tuition payments and education-related cross-border transactions - directly competing with TouchNet's TransferMate partnership and Tuition/Payment Center for international student payment flows.
• Cashnet (Hunt Business Solutions): Cashnet provides campus payment processing and tuition installment plans for higher education, competing head-to-head with TouchNet's Payment Center and Payment Plans modules for the same administrative buyer.
• Heartland Campus Solutions: Heartland's higher education payments solutions target the same campus merchant services and tuition processing use cases as TouchNet's PayPath and merchant services stack, and overlap competitively on PCI-compliant card acceptance.
• Tuition Management Systems (TMS): TMS provides outsourced tuition payment plans and student billing services for colleges and universities - a direct specialist competitor to TouchNet's Payment Plans and Payment Plans PLUS offerings.

Broad incumbents

• Blackbaud: Blackbaud's higher education payment and tuition management solutions (within its broader fundraising, CRM and financial suites) overlap with TouchNet's Bill+Payment and Payment Plans modules, competing for the same campus CFO/bursar buyer.
• ACI Worldwide: ACI is a large incumbent in enterprise payment processing and merchant acquiring with capabilities increasingly used in higher education bill payment flows, providing a broad-platform alternative to TouchNet's specialized higher-ed stack.
• FIS (Fidelity National Information Services): FIS offers enterprise payment and merchant processing capabilities that overlap with TouchNet's merchant services, payment processing, and reconciliation modules for institutional buyers across verticals including higher education.

Emerging players

• Instructure (Canvas/Student Information): Instructure's Canvas and adjacent higher-education workflow tools give it a natural position to extend into campus payments and credentials, making it an emerging adjacent competitor to TouchNet's U.Commerce platform from within the institutional tech stack.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@TouchNetInfoSys?sub_confirmation=1
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/touchnet-information-systems-inc

Compliance8 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 TouchNet