Payments & acquiring
Merchant acquiring, payment orchestration, and checkout infrastructure for mid-market sellers.
Top three
| Rank | Company | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | PlaidUS and Canadian apps, lenders, and banks that need bank account linking, identity checks, and bank payments through one API. | 82 |
| 2 | Basis TheorySoftware platforms and merchants with engineers that want an independent PCI vault and freedom to use any payment provider. | 80 |
| 3 | LithicUS fintechs and software companies that want to launch virtual or physical card programs through APIs. | 79 |
1 more tied at 3. See all 35 ranked
All rated companies in this sector
Plaid
Plaid is a San Francisco company whose APIs let apps and banks link bank accounts, verify identity and income, move money by bank transfer, and check for fraud.
Built for: US and Canadian apps, lenders, and banks that need bank account linking, identity checks, and bank payments through one API.
PaymentsFor businessesBasis Theory
Basis Theory is a San Francisco payment vault company whose developer platform tokenizes card and other sensitive data so merchants can reuse it across payment providers.
Built for: Software platforms and merchants with engineers that want an independent PCI vault and freedom to use any payment provider.
PaymentsFor businessesLithic
Lithic is a New York card issuing processor whose APIs let fintechs and businesses launch virtual and physical card programs, with usage-based pricing.
Built for: US fintechs and software companies that want to launch virtual or physical card programs through APIs.
PaymentsCard issuerFor businessesSpreedly
Spreedly is a Durham, North Carolina, payment orchestration platform that vaults cards and routes payments across many gateways for online merchants.
Built for: Online merchants and platforms on several payment gateways that want one card vault and smarter routing.
PaymentsFor businessesFinix
Finix is a San Francisco payments company that helps platforms, marketplaces, and merchants accept payments, pay out sellers, and run PayFac-style programs.
Built for: Platforms and merchants that want North American payment processing, payouts, and PayFac tooling together.
PaymentsFor businessesRainforest
Rainforest is an Atlanta embedded payments provider that lets software platforms offer merchant acceptance without registering as a payment facilitator.
Built for: Software platforms that want embedded merchant payments without registering as a payment facilitator.
PaymentsFor businessesHighnote
Highnote is a San Francisco card issuing and embedded payments platform that runs issuing, acquiring, credit, ledger, and money movement on one API.
Built for: US platforms, fintechs, and brands that want issuing, acquiring, and credit on one ledger.
For businessesCard issuerPaymentsModulr
Payment accounts by API or portal with Faster Payments, Bacs, SEPA and virtual cards; UK and Dutch e-money institution. Private; 2025 turnover ~$79M.
Built for: UK and European businesses, payroll providers and platforms that automate pay-ins and pay-outs from accounts they control.
PaymentsHolds client moneyFor businessesMoov
Moov is a US payments platform that helps software companies accept, store, send, and spend money across card and bank rails through one stack.
Built for: Software companies that want embedded acceptance, wallets, payouts, and cards in one payments stack.
PaymentsFor businessesPayabli
Payabli is a Miami payments infrastructure platform that helps software companies accept payments, pay vendors, and run payment operations through one API.
Built for: Vertical software companies that want embedded acceptance, payouts, and payment ops without full PayFac registration.
PaymentsFor businessesClearBank
ClearBank is a London, England, clearing and embedded banking bank that gives fintechs, banks, and other regulated firms UK and EU accounts, payment scheme access, and protected deposits.
Built for: Fintechs, payments firms, and banks that need UK or EU accounts, payment scheme access, and protected deposits from a licensed bank.
PaymentsFor banksFor businessesHolds client moneyForm3
Form3 connects banks and regulated fintechs to domestic and international payment schemes in real time through a single API. It is a London cloud-native account-to-account payments platform. Private; YE Mar 2025 group turnover ~$26.9M.
Built for: Banks and regulated fintechs that need real-time account-to-account payment infrastructure through one cloud API.
PaymentsFor banksFor businessesPaymentology
Paymentology is a London issuer processor that helps fintechs, digital banks, and banks launch and run card programs in more than 65 countries.
Built for: Digital banks, fintechs, and banks running card programs across many countries.
For businessesFor banksCard issuerPaymentsSoFi Technology Solutions
SoFi Technology Solutions, formerly Galileo, is a Salt Lake City company owned by SoFi that runs card issuing, account processing, and digital banking software for fintechs, banks, and brands.
Built for: Fintechs, banks, and brands that want card issuing, account processing, and a banking core from one long-standing processor.
PaymentsFor banksCard issuerVolante Technologies
Volante Technologies is a New York payments software company that runs real-time, wire, ACH, and cross-border payment processing for banks as a cloud service or as software they operate.
Built for: Banks that want wire, real-time, and cross-border payments modernized on ISO 20022 as a cloud service.
PaymentsFor banksi2c
i2c is a Redwood City, California banking and payments platform that runs credit, debit, and prepaid processing and digital banking for issuers.
Built for: Banks, credit unions, and large fintechs that want credit, debit, and prepaid on one processor.
For businessesFor banksCard issuerPaymentsPomelo
Pomelo is a Buenos Aires payments infrastructure company that offers card issuing, processing, and BIN sponsorship to fintechs and banks in Latin America.
Built for: Fintechs and banks that want to issue cards across Latin America from one platform.
For businessesFor banksCard issuerPaymentsEnfuce
Enfuce is a Finnish card issuer processor and licensed e-money institution that runs payment card programs in the public cloud for European brands.
Built for: European fintechs and brands that want issuing, processing, and a license from one partner.
For businessesCard issuerPaymentsMarqeta
Marqeta is a card-issuing platform. Fintechs, lenders, and large brands use it to issue and process debit, prepaid, and credit cards through APIs.
Built for: Card programs with real volume, mainly in the US, that want fine control over how each payment is approved and funded.
PaymentsFor businessesPublic companyPaystand
Paystand is a Scotts Valley B2B payments network that automates receivables for mid-market firms, with flat-fee pricing instead of card fees.
Built for: Mid-market finance teams that want to move B2B receivables off checks and card fees.
PaymentsFor businessesThredd
Thredd runs a platform for issuing and managing debit, credit, and prepaid cards, virtual or physical, and for managing accounts, balances, and transactions in real time. Private; 2025 revenue ~$56M.
Built for: Fintechs, banks and programme managers that issue cards at scale in the UK, Europe or Asia-Pacific.
PaymentsFor banksFor businessesTilled
Tilled is a Boulder payments company that lets software platforms offer card and ACH processing under their own brand through PayFac-as-a-Service.
Built for: Vertical software platforms that want white-label payments revenue without their own PayFac registration.
PaymentsFor businessesToken.io
Token.io builds payment technology that moves money directly between bank accounts, so merchants can offer Pay by Bank at checkout across UK and European banks. Private; $80M raised.
Built for: Payment providers, banks and large merchants adding pay-by-bank under their own brand.
PaymentsFor banksFor businessesTrueLayer
TrueLayer is a pay-by-bank network. Merchants use it to take account-to-account payments, send payouts, and save a customer's bank for repeat payments across the UK and Europe.
Built for: Merchants and platforms with many UK or European customers that want to cut card costs with pay-by-bank checkout and fast payouts.
PaymentsFor businessesYapily
Yapily provides open banking software that lets apps connect to thousands of banks in 19 countries, read account data with customer consent, and start payments through one integration.
Built for: PSPs, lenders, or software vendors that need payments initiation and account data through one open-banking provider.
PaymentsFor businessesFor banksZeta
Zeta is a banking technology company whose cloud-native Tachyon platform processes credit cards, debit cards, loans, and deposits for banks.
Built for: Banks replacing mainframe card processing with a cloud-native platform.
For banksCard issuerPaymentsEpisode Six
Episode Six is an Austin, Texas payments software company whose TRITIUM platform runs card issuing and ledgers for banks and brands in more than 50 countries.
Built for: Banks and large brands running card, wallet, and ledger programs in many countries.
For businessesFor banksCard issuerPaymentsNymCard
NymCard is a Dubai issuer processor licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE that runs card issuing, lending, and money movement across the Middle East.
Built for: Banks and fintechs in the Gulf, Egypt, and Pakistan that want cards and lending from a local processor.
For businessesFor banksCard issuerPaymentsVitesse
Vitesse lets insurers, brokers, and claims firms pay claims, hold and move funds in many currencies, and see their cash positions in one place. It is a payments and treasury platform for insurers. Private; revenue ~$42M in the year to March 2025.
Built for: Insurers, MGAs and claims administrators paying claims across several countries.
PaymentsHolds client moneyFor businessesVolt
Open-banking payments network for pay-by-bank checkout and payouts in the UK, Europe and Australia. Private; 2024 turnover ~$23M.
Built for: Merchants and payment companies that want pay-by-bank checkout and payouts in several regions through one connection.
PaymentsFor businessesWallester
Wallester is a Tallinn card issuer and Visa Principal Member that offers white-label card programs and a business expense card platform.
Built for: European fintechs and companies that want branded Visa cards or expense cards with a ready-made app.
For businessesCard issuerPaymentsPaynetics
Paynetics is a Bulgarian e-money institution that offers card issuing, payment accounts, acquiring, and BIN sponsorship to fintechs and companies in Europe.
Built for: European fintechs and program managers that want accounts, cards, and BIN sponsorship from one licensed issuer.
For businessesCard issuerPaymentsTribe Payments
Tribe Payments gives banks, financial technology companies, and payment businesses a cloud platform for issuing cards, processing merchant payments, and offering digital banking. Private; YE2024 turnover ~$10.2M.
Built for: Banks, fintechs, and acquirers that want modular issuer or acquirer processing on a cloud platform.
PaymentsCard issuerFor banksFor businessesPCI-PAL
PCI-PAL provides software that lets contact centers take card payments across voice and digital channels while keeping card numbers away from agents, recordings, and internal systems.
Built for: Organizations that take card payments by phone or in digital messaging.
PaymentsFor businessesPublic companyChange Financial
Change Financial provides card issuing and transaction processing, plus PaySim software for testing payment systems. It is a Mastercard card issuing partner in Australia and New Zealand.
Built for: Australian and New Zealand banks and fintechs that need card issuing and program management.
PaymentsCard issuerFor banksPublic companyCriteria for this sector
Four criteria measure buyer needs in this sector. The other four remain identical from sector to sector and cover the vendor and its commercial terms.
| Payment methods and markets Sector criteria | Supported countries and currencies, along with local methods, cards and wallets. |
|---|---|
| Acceptance and reliability Sector criteria | Tools for higher approval rates, and the openness of uptime reporting. |
| Developer experience Sector criteria | Quality across test environments, documentation, SDKs and APIs. |
| Fraud and risk tools Sector criteria | Built-in risk controls, fraud screening and dispute handling. |
| Product depth and roadmap Vendor criteria | Coverage of the job by the product, and how active development is. |
| Onboarding and support Vendor criteria | Implementation aid, documentation and support channels offered by the company. |
| Pricing transparency Vendor criteria | How much pricing a buyer can view before any sales conversation. |
| Contract terms Vendor criteria | Exit terms, minimums and commitments, to the extent the company publishes them. |
Reports on this sector
Fintech Startup Burn Rate Statistics: 2026 Report
We analyzed monthly financials from 412 venture-backed fintech startups and share our breakdown of net burn by stage and segment, spending mix, runway at the next raise, and burn-efficiency fundraising odds.