Payments & Fintech Acquisitions in Texas

Bizcap, together with its U.S. affiliate NewCo Capital Group, has acquired fintech 8fig, integrating the AI-driven e‑commerce funding and planning platform into the Bizcap Group while preserving 8fig's brand and leadership. The deal strengthens Bizcap's AI underwriting and cash‑flow planning capabilities to accelerate product development and global expansion in SME non‑bank lending.

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation has acquired Mercury Financial LLC for approximately $162 million in cash (with potential earn-outs tied to future credit performance), making Mercury a wholly owned subsidiary. The deal adds 1.3 million serviced credit card accounts and $3.2 billion in receivables, expanding Atlanticus' presence in the near-prime credit card market and providing additional technology, distribution partnerships, and scale.

LLR Partners has made a strategic growth investment in ePayPolicy, joining existing investor Serent Capital to support the company’s next stage of product and go-to-market expansion. The capital will be used to accelerate product innovation, bolster sales and customer support, and continue organizational buildout to better serve insurance industry customers.

PDI Technologies has acquired P97 Networks, a Houston-based provider of a cloud-based mobile commerce, payment, and digital marketing platform serving convenience retail, fuel, and automotive markets. PDI plans to invest in and expand the P97 platform to broaden payment, loyalty, and omnichannel consumer engagement capabilities across connected devices and transportation networks.

Audax Private Equity and existing investor Lovell Minnick Partners completed a joint recapitalization of Fortis, a Plano-based embedded payments technology provider, closing on March 11, 2025. The investment will fund product and technology development, accelerate Fortis' M&A (buy‑and‑build) strategy, and support global expansion and infrastructure scaling; terms were not disclosed.

IXOPAY, a K1 Investment Management portfolio company and payments orchestration platform, has merged with Aperia Compliance, a PCI DSS validation and risk management business formerly part of Aperia Solutions. The combined business—operating as Aperia Compliance, an IXOPAY company—bundles IXOPAY's enterprise tokenization and orchestration capabilities with Aperia Compliance's PCI Level 3/4 services to expand compliance, security and payment capabilities for merchants, ISOs, processors and banks worldwide.

Stripe has acquired stablecoin payments platform Bridge for $1.1 billion, marking the largest acquisition in both Stripe's history and the crypto industry. Bridge provides APIs and software that enable businesses to accept stablecoin payments; the deal accelerates Stripe's push into crypto-backed payment rails and stablecoin support.

Genstar Capital has agreed to make a significant investment in AffiniPay, a provider of practice management software and embedded payments for legal, accounting, and professional services firms. TA Associates will remain a meaningful investor while funds advised by Apax will fully exit; the capital will be used to extend AffiniPay's product suite and accelerate growth across new products and verticals.

Seattle-based Retail Lockbox has acquired Houston-based remittance and document processing provider eRemitt. The deal expands Retail Lockbox's geographic footprint and client relationships in the remittance/payments space while combining complementary lockbox and document-management capabilities.

New York-based Phalanx Impact Partners has made a strategic growth investment in Dallas-area fintech CollateralEdge to support the company’s expansion of its collateral-enhancement platform for community and regional banks. The investment will help CollateralEdge scale its proprietary portal that automates collateral pricing and underwriting support to increase middle-market lending to underserved communities.

NMI, a Schaumburg, Illinois-based payments technology company, has acquired the commercial division of payments software provider Sphere. The acquisition brings 23 commercial employees and Sphere's Irving, Texas office to NMI, and is intended to enhance NMI's underwriting, risk management and merchant account creation capabilities; terms were not disclosed.

Nashville-based Celero Commerce has acquired Dallas-based Finical, a provider of electronic payments technology for small and mid-sized businesses. The deal expands Celero's capabilities and scale in payments processing — bringing its pro forma annual card volume to roughly $25 billion — and marks Celero's tenth acquisition since launching in 2018.

Fortis, a US-based embedded payments and commerce technology provider, has acquired SmartPay, an embedded payments solution provider with strong ERP and enterprise software relationships. The acquisition will add SmartPay’s team and customer relationships to Fortis and expand its capability to serve software platforms, marketplaces and scaling businesses, coinciding with Fortis’ launch into Canada and new settlement features.

Rêv Worldwide, together with funds advised by Searchlight Capital Partners, completed the acquisition of the Netspend consumer business from Global Payments in an all-cash transaction valued at $1 billion. The carve-out returns Netspend to its founders, Roy and Bertrand Sosa, and positions the combined Rêv–Netspend business to expand globally and accelerate digital product innovation in prepaid and consumer payments.

ParkHub, a Dallas-based parking software and payments provider, has acquired Fuzse, a Dallas payments integrator founded by Lane Conner. The deal brings payments integration capabilities and payment-driven customer insights into ParkHub's parking management and payments platform to expand its payments innovation and product capabilities.

Lateral Investment Management has made a $35 million growth equity investment in FirstClose, a fintech provider of underwriting workflow automation, point-of-sale software, and data services for mortgage and home equity lenders. The funding will be used to accelerate product development, expand sales and customer success teams, and pursue organic growth and potential acquisitions to broaden FirstClose’s footprint across the U.S. lending market.

Till Payments has acquired ZIPS, the payment processing business unit of hospitality technology provider Ziosk, and absorbed ZIPS employees into Till’s North America operations. The deal strengthens Till’s integrated payments capabilities, creates a long-term partnership with Ziosk (which will continue using Till’s processing), and accelerates Till’s expansion across North America.

Repay Holdings Corporation (REPAY) acquired Payix, a Fort Worth-based omni-channel payment and collections SaaS platform, for up to $115 million ($95 million at closing plus up to $20 million earnout). The deal, financed with cash on hand and revolver capacity, strengthens REPAY's position in the automotive loan-repayment vertical and accelerates expansion into the BNPL market.

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has completed its acquisition of American First Finance (AFF), adding AFF as a wholly owned subsidiary and establishing FirstCash's entry into the lease-to-own and point-of-sale payment space. AFF brings a nationwide network of over 6,500 merchant partner locations and technology for "no credit required" retail financing; Doug Rippel, AFF's founder and former chairman, joined the FirstCash Board following the close.

Falfurrias Capital Partners has made a majority investment in Chargeback Gurus, a Texas-based provider of chargeback prevention and recovery services for eCommerce and card-not-present merchants. Falfurrias will support Chargeback Gurus' expansion of industry verticals and geographies and invest in technology, sales, and service enhancements; Leonis Partners served as financial advisor to Chargeback Gurus.

Quext, a Lubbock-based proptech platform, acquired a majority stake in fintech Viva Equity to integrate Viva's digital banking products (Viva First and Relm) and embedded finance capabilities into Quext’s multi-family property management platform. The deal aims to improve resident financial inclusion—particularly for Latino, student and underserved renter communities—while reducing operating costs for multi-family operators through embedded payments and banking features.

Deluxe Corporation agreed to acquire First American Payment Systems from Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board and Stella Point Capital for $960 million in an all-cash transaction. The deal expands Deluxe's merchant acquiring and omnichannel payments capabilities, bringing a large base of SMB merchants and enhanced payments technology into Deluxe's portfolio.

DocuPhase, a LoneTree Capital‑backed business process automation platform, has acquired Clearwater Payments, a Dallas‑based cloud electronic billing and payments provider. The add‑on expands DocuPhase’s AP/AR automation suite to deliver end‑to‑end accounts payable and receivable payment capabilities for enterprise clients in banking, insurance, and utilities.

Atlanta-based payments provider Paya, backed by private equity firm GTCR, has acquired The Payment Group (TPG) from Thompson Street Capital Partners for $21 million. The acquisition strengthens Paya’s government and utilities payments footprint—notably expanding its presence in Texas—and brings TPG’s ~600 municipal customers onto Paya’s platform.

ZenBusiness has completed the acquisition of Austin-based fintech Joust and will relaunch the business as ZenBusiness Money. The deal brings Joust's business banking, merchant services, and invoice protection tools into the ZenBusiness platform to expand financial services for microbusinesses and freelancers.

Fiserv has acquired Bypass Mobile, an Austin-based independent software vendor that provides enterprise point-of-sale (POS) systems and back-office management tools for restaurants, stadiums and other multi-site operators. The acquisition will integrate Bypass’s POS and insights capabilities into Fiserv’s universal commerce platform to enhance omni-commerce and payment experiences; terms were not disclosed.

REPAY Holdings Corporation acquired Ventanex for up to $50 million, paying $36 million at closing with up to $14 million payable via performance-based earnouts. The Dallas-based integrated payments provider (serving consumer finance, mortgage servicers and B2B healthcare) will expand REPAY's vertical footprint and create cross-sell and growth opportunities; the deal was financed with cash on hand and an upsized credit facility.

Serent Capital, a San Francisco and Austin-based private equity firm, made a significant growth investment in ePayPolicy to accelerate product development, user experience improvements, and market expansion in the Excess & Surplus insurance payments market. ePayPolicy, founded in 2014 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, serves over 2,300 customers and processes roughly $2 billion in payments annually; Leonis Partners advised ePayPolicy on the transaction.

Paysafe Group acquired MeritCard Solutions (MeritCard Solutions, LP), a Dallas-based merchant account provider, in 2016. MeritCard has since been fully absorbed into the Paysafe brand and its website now redirects to Paysafe's homepage.

The Riverside Company has entered a strategic investment partnership with Kasasa (formerly Kasasa by BancVue), taking a minority/partnership stake while Kasasa’s leadership and management remain significant owners. Riverside will support Kasasa’s continued growth and expansion as the fintech and marketing services provider rebrands to Kasasa and seeks to scale its products for community banks and credit unions.