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:
- Charge card & expense management (see our list here)
- Bill payments and/or invoicing specialists (see below)
- Payment processors (here)
- 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.
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)
