Bluepay

Founded in 2002 by John Rante, BluePay established itself as a technology-focused payment processing provider for merchants across the United States and Canada. The company catered to a diverse client base, from small businesses and non-profits to large B2B enterprises, offering solutions for online, in-person, and mobile transactions. BluePay's business model centered on providing a secure and integrated payment gateway. Revenue was generated through a combination of monthly fees, per-transaction fees, and a discount rate charged to the merchant.

BluePay's core service was its secure payment gateway, which enabled merchants to accept a wide variety of payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, and ACH payments. The company emphasized security, employing point-to-point encryption and tokenization to protect sensitive data. A key aspect of its strategy was deep software integration. The platform was designed to connect seamlessly with over 450 software platforms, including popular ERP, CRM, and e-commerce systems like QuickBooks, Magento, and WooCommerce. This integration simplified accounting and reconciliation for businesses. BluePay also offered a virtual terminal for processing phone and mail orders, recurring billing for subscription-based models, and mobile payment processing capabilities through hardware like the Clover Go card reader.

The company pursued strategic growth through acquisitions, such as purchasing Billhighway in 2016 to strengthen its position in the non-profit sector. This period of expansion culminated in a major milestone in October 2017, when First Data announced its intention to acquire BluePay for $760 million in an all-cash deal. At the time of the acquisition, BluePay was processing approximately $19 billion in annual volume for over 77,000 merchants. Following the acquisition by First Data (which was later acquired by Fiserv), the BluePay brand and its services were eventually consolidated under the Clover brand, which combines payment processing with a versatile suite of point-of-sale hardware and software solutions.

Keywords: payment processing, merchant services, payment gateway, B2B payments, card-not-present, software integration, First Data, John Rante, Bala Janakiraman, recurring billing, ACH processing, virtual terminal, e-commerce payments, POS integration, payment security, tokenization, Fiserv, Clover, Billhighway acquisition, merchant accounts