Money and cash flow are the lifeblood of a small business. And it’s an area often overlooked by traditional online banking providers. So a number of companies have emerged during the past decade-plus to better serve SMB needs. Most providers operate on a dual revenue model which includes:
a.) monthly subscription fees to create predictable recurring revenue
b.) transaction fees to cover interchange and other variable processing costs.

We divided the payment providers into four categories:

  1. Charge card & expense management (see our list here)
  2. Bill payments and/or invoicing specialists (see below)
  3. Payment processors (here)
  4. Subscription management platforms (here)

Unlike other fintech areas, 5 of the top 6 providers are at least 14 years old. And none of the 21 listed started in the past 5 years.

Year founded:
2000 to 2009 >>> 7
2010 to 2014 >>> 6
2015 to 2019 >>> 8
2020 or later >>> 0

Challenger of the Month*

 

Open a business account online for international success

Multi-currency accounts, high speed international transfers, borderless cards, expense management, and online payments—all in one platform.

Let’s get started

HQ: Singapore  |  Founded: 2015  |  Total Funding $902M  |  Website visits:  1,700,000 month

 

More: Looking for digital banks, lenders, payment providers, insurance or digital accounting for small businesses? Check out our latest lists: SMB online lenders (33) | SMB challenger banks (12) | SMB insurers (15) | SMB charge cards/expense management (16) | Billpay & invoicing (17)| Payment processors (7) | Subscription processors (7) | SMB digital accounting/bookkeeping (21)

The FAB Score Ranking (Fintech Attention Barometer) is a proxy for the size of a private fintech company.


Top U.S. BillPay & Invoicing Startups (ranked by FAB score***)

Rank Was Company FAB Score Review Date Founded HQ Funding ($M) Visits
(Jul ’24)
1 1 Wave Payments (HR Block) 1465 16 Aug 24 2009 Toronto 80 7,300,000
3 3 Bill.com 962 16 Aug 24 2006 SF 496 4,500,000
2 2 Freshbooks 740 16 Aug 24 2003 Toronto 330 3,300,000
4 4 Airwallex 525 16 Aug 24 2015 Singapore 902 1,800,000
5 5 Tipalti 411 16 Aug 24 2010 SF 715 1,300,000
6 6 AvidExchange 256 16 Aug 24 2000 Charlotte, NC 1760 100,000
7 7 Melio 161 16 Aug 24 2018 NYC 504 430,000
8 8 Vcita 105 16 Aug 24 2010 Seattle 15 540,000
9 9 Bonsai 97 16 Aug 24 2016 SF 0 480,000
10 10 Stampli 81 16 Aug 24 2015 SF 147 190,000
11 11 Plastiq 51 16 Aug 24 2012 SF 142 170,000
11 17 (t) BillerGenie 51 16 Aug 24 2018 Miami 9.5 220,000
13 12 Autobooks 50 16 Aug 24 2015 Detroit 97.8 90,000
14 14 PaySimple 48 16 Aug 24 2006 Denver 145 180,000
15 15 Emburse (ChromeRiver≥) 39 16 Aug 24 2014 LA 0.1 200,000
16 13 Plooto 37 16 Aug 24 2015 Toronto 26 130,000
17 16 Invoice2go (Bill.com) 36 16 Aug 24 2002 SF 60 200,000
18 19 Onlinecheckwriter 35 16 Aug 24 2008 SF 2.7 210,000
19 17 (t) InvoiceNinja 21 16 Aug 24 2014 Hefa, Israel 0 110,000
20 20 Routable 13 16 Aug 24 2017 Seattle 46 24,000
21 21 Beanworks 0 16 Aug 24 2012 Vancouver 12 5,500

Source: FintechLabs, 16 Aug 2024 using data from Crunchbase, SimilarWeb, SEMrush, Pitchbook, Linkedin

* FintechLabs receives advertising and/or affiliate revenue from the company
**Rank on 31 Jan 2024
***As nerds do, we are developing a proprietary score measuring the adoption of digital financial services at private companies that do not release traditional metrics (# customers, deposits, AUM, etc). We call it the FAB score, standing for Fintech Attention Barometer. The score uses money raised, valuation and website traffic as a proxy for company size and velocity of growth. It’s a work in progress, so expect changes down the road.
****Funding is the amount invested into the company as either equity or debt.


Challenger Billpay & Invoicing Suppliers in the United States


1. Wave (acquired by H&R Block)
FAB Score = 1,465 (up 160 since Jan ’24)
– HQ: Toronto
– Founded: 2009
– Raised $79.8M (Crunchbase)
– Exit: Acquired by H&R Block for US$400M in June 2019
– Website visits: 7.3M (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 369 (Pitchbook), up 64 since Jan, up 63 since Aug ’23, up 28 from Mar ’23
– Articles: 339 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin:  17,000 followers (305 employees, up 5 since Jan, up 2 since Aug ’23, unchanged since March ’23)
iOS rating: 4.4 (6,000 reviews, up 300 since Aug ’23)
– Rating: 4.4 ( 1,600 reviews per Software Advice, up 80 since Jan ’24).

2. Bill.com (see also #13 Invoice2Go)
FAB Score = 962 (up 220)
– HQ: San Francisco Bay Area
– Founded: 2006
– Raised $496M including $216M in its Dec 2019 IPO (Crunchbase)
– Annual revenue (TTM): $1.2B (Yahoo)
– Market Cap: $5.1B (NYSE:BILL 15 Aug ’24) down $3.3B since 30 Jan ’24; down $6.7B since 29 Aug 2023, down $3.1B since 24 April 2023
– Website visits: 4.5M (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 2,520 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Jan ’24, up 250 from Aug ’23
– Articles: 243 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 55,000 followers (2,990 employees, up 60 since Jan ’24, up 40 since Aug ’23)
iOS rating: 4.9 (47,300 reviews, up 1,200 since Jan ’24)
Capterra: 4.2 (514 reviews, up 11 since Jan ’24)

3. Freshbooks
FAB Score = 740
(down 20)
– HQ: Toronto
– Founded: 2003
– Raised $332M including $131M in 2021 and $125M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 3.3M (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 617 (Linkedin), down 47 since August
– Articles: 650 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 88,00 followers (588 employees, down 29 since Jan ’24, down 76 since Aug ’23, down 110 since Mar ’23)
iOS rating: 4.7 (10,900 reviews, up 200 since Aug ’23)
SoftwareAdvice rating: 4.5 ( 4,420 reviews, up 40 since Jan ’24)

4. Airwallex
FAB Score = 525 (up 20 since Jan)
– HQ: Singapore
– Founded: 2015
– Raised: $902M including $100M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 1.8M (July ’24, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 1,500 (Pitchbook)
Linkedin: 82,000 followers (1,370 employees)
– Article citations: 306 (Crunchbase)

5. Tipalti
FAB Score = 411 (down 40)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2010
– Raised $715M including $150M (debt) in May 2023 & $270M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Valuation: $8.3B (based on Dec 2021 round)
– Website visits: 1.3M (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 1,240 (Pitchbook), up 190 since Jan ’24, up 130 since Aug ’23, up 114 since April ’23
– Articles: 232 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin:  44,000 followers (1,280 employees, up 170 since Jan ’24, up 246 since Aug. 23, up 270 since April ’23)
G2 rating: 4.5 (206 reviews, up 42 since August)

6. AvidXchange
FAB Score = 256 (down 2)
– HQ: Charlotte, NC
– Founded: 2000
– Raised: $1.8B of which $660M was in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Market cap: $1.7B (15 Apr 2024), down $600M since 30 Jan ’24, down $400M since 29 Aug ’23, up $200M since 24 April ’23; NASDAQ: AVDX
– Annual revenue: $413M (TTM) (Yahoo), up $50M since Jan ’24
– Website visits: 100,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 1,600 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Nov 2022
– Articles: 151 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin:  46,000 followers (1,750 employees, up 110 since Jan ’24, up 110 since Aug ’23, up 213 since April ’23)
G2 review:  4.3 (257 reviews, up 35 since Jan ’24)

7. Melio
FAB Score = 161 (down 46)
– HQ: NYC
– Founded: 2018
– Raised $504M including $360M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 430,000 (July 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 618 employees (Pitchbook), down 14 since Jan ’24, up 16 since Aug ’23, up 21 since April ’23)
– Articles: 83 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 29,000 followers (614 employees, down 32 since Jan ’24, down 30 from Aug ’23, up 17 since April ’23)
Capterra rating: 4.2 (376 reviews, up 8 since Jan ’24)

8. Vcita
FAB Score = 105 (down 26)
– HQ: Seattle area (Bellevue)
– Founded: 2010
– Raised $15M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 540,000 (July ’24; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 200 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Aug ’23, up 28 since April ’23
– Articles: 51 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin:  12,000 followers (184 employees, up 4 since Jan ’24, down 7 since Aug ’23, up 10 since April ’23)
iOS rating: 3.5 (98 reviews, up 7 since Jan ’24)
Software Advice rating: 4.4 (257 reviews, up 3 since Jan ’24)

9.Bonsai
FAB Score = 97 (up 12)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2016
– Raised: $120,000 in 2016 (Crunchbase)
– Website traffic: 480,000 (July ’24, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 50 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Jan ’24, up 1 since Aug ’23, up 16 since April ’23
– Articles: 9 (Crunchbase)
LinkedIn followers: 4,000 (52 employees, up 4 since Jan ’24, up 4 since Aug ’23, up 20 since April ’23)
Trustpilot score: 4.2 (445 reviews, up 30 since Jan ’24)

10. Stampli
FAB Score = 81 (up 2)
– HQ: San Francisco Bay Area (Mountain View)
– Founded: 2015
– Raised $147M including $61M in 2023 and $50M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 190,000 (July ’24; SimilarWeb)
– Employees:  300 (Pitchbook), up 35 since Jan. ’24, up 83 since Aug ’23, up 86 since Nov ’22
– Articles: 76 (Crunchbase)
– LinkedIn: 9,000 followers (297 employees, up 22 since Jan ’24, up 52 since Aug ’23, up 77 since April ’23)
G2 rating: 4.6 (1,290 reviews, up 240 since Jan ’24)

11 (tie). Plastiq (acquired by Priority, Aug 2023)
Fab score = 51 (down 10)
– Founded: 2012
– HQ: San Francisco
– Raised: $142 million including $75M in 2020 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 170,000 (July ’24; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 103 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Aug ’23, down 60 since April ’23
– Articles: 69 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 6,000 followers (61 employees, down 21 since Jan ’24, down 41 since Aug ’23, down 72 since April ’23)
Trustpilot: 3.2 (953 reviews, down 1)

11 (tie). BillerGenie
FAB Score = 51 (up 24)
– Founded: 2018
– HQ: Miami
– Funding: $9.5M including $6M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Articles: 19 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 220,000 (July ’24, SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 42 (Pitchbook), up 2 since Jan ’24, up 2 since Aug ’23
Linkedin: 7,000 followers (46 employees, up 8 since Jan. ’24, up 9 since Aug ’23)

13. Autobooks
FAB Score = 50 (up 7)
– Founded: 2015
– HQ: Detroit, Michigan
– Raised: $97.8M including $25M in 2021 & $50M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 90,000 (July ’24; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 86 (Pitchbook), down 6 since Jan ’24, dow 6 since Aug ’23, down 54 since April ’23
– Articles: 34 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 5,000 (85 employees, down 6 from Jan ’24, down 7 from Aug ’23, down 14 since April ’23)
FeaturedCustomers: 4.8 (785 reviews, up 148 since Jan)

14. PaySimple (division of EverCommerce)
FAB Score = 48 (up 10)
– HQ: Denver, Colorado
– Founded: 2006
– Raised $145M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 180,000 (July ’24; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 83 (Linkedin), down 8 since Nov 2022
– Articles: 45 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 4,000 followers (71 employees, down 3 since Jan ’24, down 13 since Aug ’23, down 12 since April ’23)
iOS rating: 4.5 (note: only 2 reviews)
Capterra rating: 4.5 (298 reviews, up 2 since Jan ’24)

15. Emburse (acquired by Chrome River in 2019; Chrome River merged with Certify in 2019)
FAB Score = 39 (up 4)
Founded: 2014
HQ: LA
Funding: $120,000 in 2016 (Crunchbase)
Website visits: 200,000 (July ’24, SimilarWeb)
Employees: 1,000 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Aug ’23
Articles: 67
Linkedin: 18,000 followers (852 employees, down 94 since Jan. ’24, down 100 since August ’23)

16. Plooto
FAB Score = 37
(down 4)
HQ: Toronto
– Founded: 2015
– Raised $26M including $20M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Articles: 33 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 130,000 (SimilarWeb, July ’23)
– Employees: 110 (Rocket Reach)
Linkedin: 7,000 followers (117 employees)

17. Invoice2Go (acquired by Bill.com)
FAB Score = 36 (up 2)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2002
– Raised $60M prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Exit: Acquired by Bill.com for $625M in July 2021
– Website visits: 200,000 (Jan ’24; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 106 (Pitchbook), unchanged since April ’23
– Articles: 92 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin:  9,000 followers (19 employees, down 5 since Jan ’24, down 25 since Aug ’23, down 32 since April ’23)
iOS rating: 4.8 (48,500 reviews, up 2,900 since Jan)
Capterra rating: 4.3 (243 reviews, up 7 since Jan)

18. Online Check Writer
FAB score = 35 (up 14)
– Founded: 2008
– HQ: San Francisco
– Raised: $2.7M prior to 2020 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 210,000 (Jan ’24; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 133 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Jan ’24, up 1 since Aug ’23
– Articles: 51 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 33,000 followers (134 employees, up 4 since Jan. ’24, up 5 since Aug ’23, up 21 since April ’23)
Trustpilot: 4.4 (1,620 reviews, down 60 since Jan ’24)

19. InvoiceNinja
FAB Score = 21 (down 6)
– HQ: Hefa, Israel
– Founded: 2014
– Raised Unknown (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 110,000 (July ’24; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 4 (Linkedin)
– Articles: 19 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 470 followers (5 employees, unchanged since Aug ’23)
iOS rating: 4.9 (69 reviews, up 9 since Jan)
Software Advice rating: 4.8 (163 reviews, up 2 since Jan)

20. Routable
FAB Score = 13 (up 1)
– HQ: Seattle
– Founded: 2017
– Raised $46.5M including $30M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 24,000 (July ’24; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 100 (Pitchbook), down 19 since Jan ’24, down 29 since Aug ’23, 42 from April ’23
– Articles: 11 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 10,000 followers (85 employees, down 25 since Jan ’24, down 33 since Aug ’23, down 49 since April ’23)
FeaturedCustomers rating: 4.8 (656 reviews, up 187 since Jan ’24)

21. Beanworks (acquired by Quadient, March 2021)
FAB Score = 0 (down 1)
– Founded: 2012
– HQ: Vancouver, Canada
– Funding: $12.3M in 2017 and 2018 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: less than 5,500 (July ’24, SimilarWeb)
– Articles: 19 (Crunchbase)
– Employees: 90 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Aug 2023
Linkedin: 8,000 followers (115 employees, down 14 since Jan ’24, down 18 since Aug ’23)