Companies with a significant volume of credit/debit card payments rely heavily on payment processors to keep them afloat. Downtime equals lost revenue, so it’s not a function easily entrusted to a startup. That’s why there are fewer players in this category, and the three established ones (Adyen, Square, Stripe) continue to dominate the U.S. SMB market for third-party solutions. Notably, two of three (Adyen, Square) have gone public, further improving trust.
(Note: We exclude the payment arms Amazon or Shopify here since they primarily serve their own marketplaces).
Interestingly, 4 of the 9 startups were launched in the past 4 years. But those 4 are much smaller with combined website traffic of under 200,000 per month. In comparison, the big 3 each have more than 1 million visits each day!
Years since founding:
11 to 20 years >>> 3 startups
6 to 10 years >>> 2 startups
1 to 5 years >>> 4 startups
Note: We divided the payment providers into four categories:
- Charge card and expense management (see list here)
- Bill payments and/or invoicing specialists (list here)
- Payment processors (below)
- Subscription management platforms (list here)
Resources: Looking for digital banks, lenders, payment providers, insurance or digital accounting for small businesses? Check out our latest lists: Small Business (SMB) savings/treasury accounts (7) | SMB online lenders (33) | SMB challenger banks (15) | SMB insurers (15) | SMB credit cards/expense management (16) | Billpay & invoicing (16)| Payment processors (7) | SMB digital accounting/bookkeeping (21)
The FAB Score (Fintech Attention Barometer) is a proxy for the size and growth of fintech companies founded since 1999.
Top U.S. Payment Processing Challengers**
(ranked by FAB score**)
| Rank | Was (Jan’24) | Company | FAB Score | Reviewed | Founded | HQ | Total Fundin | Visits (Aug ’24) |
| 1 | 1 | Stripe | 12,240 | 6 Sep ’24 | 2010 | SF | $ 8,700 | 70,000,000 |
| 2 | 2 | Block/Square | 5,050 | 6 Sep ’24 | 2009 | SF | $ 870 | 39,700,000 |
| 3 | 3 | Adyen | 4,530 | 6 Sep ’24 | 2006 | Amsterdam | $ 1,366 | 35,100,000 |
| 4 | 4 | Balance | 223 | 6 Sep ’24 | 2020 | Tel Aviv | $ 431 | 11,000 |
| 5 | 5 | Nium | 76 | 6 Sep ’24 | 2015 | Singapore | $ 338 | 100,000 |
| 6 | 7 | Helcim | 50 | 6 Sep ’24 | 2020 | Calgary, Canada | $ 32 | 260,000 |
| 7 | 6 | PaymentCloud | 42 | 6 Sep ’24 | 2016 | LA | $ 45 | 170,000 |
| 8 | 8 | Link | 20 | 6 Sep ’24 | 2021 | SF | $ 30 | 18,000 |
| 9 | 9 | Chargezoom | 11 | 6 Sep ’24 | 2019 | LA | $ 12 | 8,100 |
Source: FintechLabs, 6 Sep 2024 using data from Crunchbase, SimilarWeb, Pitchbook
*Our business model depends on revenue from referrals and sponsors. When you see a referral link in the URL, we may earn a fee when a new account is started (thanks!). This can improve visibility on our website, but does not impact the company’s FAB score.
** The FAB score, Fintech Attention Barometer, is a proxy for the overall size of a private company since they typically do not release traditional metrics (# customers, deposits, AUM, etc). The score is based on VC funding, website traffic, mobile downloads, and the number of employees. It’s a work in progress, so expect changes in the formula.
***Funding invested into the company as either equity or debt.
Challenger Payment Providers in the United States
1. Stripe
FAB Score = 12,240 (up 1,190 from Jan 2024)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2010
– Raised $8.7B including $6.5B in 2023 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 70 million (Aug 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 8,020 (Pitchbook), unchanged since June 2023
– Articles: 3,900 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 900,000 followers (9,940 employees, up 1,340 since Jan ’24, 1,940 since June ’23)
– Trustpilot rating: 2.2 (14,500 reviews, up 1,500 since Jan)
2. Block/Square
FAB Score = 5,050 (down 80)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2009
– Went public Nov 2015 (NYSE:SQ) at $2.9B valuation
– Raised $870M including $11M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Revenue: $23.5B TTM
– Market cap: $37.6B (6 Sep 2024)
– Website visits: 45.0M (Aug 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 13,000 (Pitchbook), up 600 since Jan. ’24, up 600 since June ’23
– Article citations: 8,500 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 577,000 followers (7,110 employees, down 170 since Jan ’24, down 60 since June ’23)
– Rating: 4.2 (5,010 reviews per TrustPilot, up 690 since Jan)
3. Adyen
FAB Score = 4,530 (up 340 since Jan)
– HQ: Amsterdam
– Founded: 2006
– Went public June 2018
– Raised $1.4B all prior to 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Market cap: $39B (6 Sep 2024)
– Revenues: $1.9B TTM (Yahoo Finance)
– Website visits: 35.1 M (Aug 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 4,230 (Pitchbook), up 350 since Jan ’24, up 900 since June ’23
– Articles: 1.050 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 265,000 followers (4,600 employees, up 120 since Jan ’24, up 400 since June ’23)
– Rating: 4.7 (3,630 reviews per FeaturedCustomers, up 800 since Jan)
4. Balance
FAB Score = 223 (unchanged)
– HQ: Tel Aviv
– Founded: 2020
– Raised: $431M including $416M in 2022, $15M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 11,000 (Aug 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 104 (Pitchbook), up 4 since Jan ’24, up 8 since June ’23
– Articles: 46 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 8,000 followers (108 employees, up 14 since Jan. ’24, up 10 since June ’23)
– Rating: 5.0 (Note: Only 5 reviews per Capterra)
5. Nium
FAB Score = 76 (up 29)
– HQ: Singapore
– Founded: 2015
– Raised $338M including $50M in Jun 2024, $200M in 2021, $13M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 100,000 (Aug 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 985 (Pitchbook), down 15 since Jan ’24, up 40 since June ’23
– Articles: 214 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 205,000 followers (1,010 employees, up 5 since Jan ’24, down 19 since June ’23)
– Rating: INA
6. Helcim
FAB Score: 50 (up 18)
HQ: Calgary, Canada
Founded: 2020
Raised: $32M including $20M in Feb 2024, $12M in 2022 (Crunchbase)
Website visits: 260,000 (Aug 2024; SimilarWeb)
Employees: 155 (Pitchbook), up 15 since Jan ’24, up 6 since June ’23
Article citations: 16 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 11,000 followers (151 employees, up 14 since Jan ’24, up 13 since June ’23)
Trustpilot: 4.1 (489 reviews, up 137 since Jan)
7. PaymentCloud (acquired by Electronic Merchant Systemes)
FAB Score = 42 (up 3)
– HQ: LA (Sherman Oaks)
– Founded: 2016
– Raised $45M including $35M in 2022, $10M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 170,000 (Aug 2024; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 93 (Pitchbook), up 7 since Jan ’24, up 7 since June ’23
– Articles: 24 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 3,000 followers (86 employees, down 7 since Jan ’24, down 1 since June ’23)
– Rating: 4.7 (18 reviews per Capterra, up 2 since Jan)
8. Link
FAB score = 20 (down 2)
HQ: SF
Founded: 2021
Funding: $30M, including $20M in 2023, $10M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
Article citations: 20 (Crunchbase)
Website visits: 18,000 (Aug 2024, SimilarWeb)
Employees: 48 (Pitchbook), unchanged since Jan ’24, up 8 since June ’23
LinkedIn: 2,000 followers (50 employees, up 3 since Jan ’24, down 7 since June ’23)
9. Chargezoom
FAB Score = 11 (unchanged)
HQ: LA (Irvine)
Founded: 2019
Funding: $12M including $10M in 2022, $2M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
Web visits: 8,100 (Aug 2024, SimilarWeb)
Employees: 10 (Pitchbook), down 6 since Jan ’24, down 7 since June ’23
Article citations: 11 (Crunchbase)
Linkedin: 1,000 followers (17 employees, down 1 since June)
No longer accepting new business
Fast (winding down business)
– HQ: San Francisco
– Founded: 2019
– Raised $125M including $102M in 2021 (Crunchbase)
– Website visits: 210,000 (May 2023; SimilarWeb)
– Employees: 400 (Pitchbook), unchanged
– Articles: 110 (Crunchbase)
– Linkedin: 22,300 followers
– Rating: 4.5 (2,870 reviews per TrustPilot)
Note: We excluded PayPal from because they are more of an enterprise solution, and less importantly, was founded in 1998, so a little old/established for a “challenger” list.
