Central Payment

About Central Payment

Central Payment, also known as CPAY, was established in 2005 by brothers Matthew and Zachary Hyman in San Rafael, California. The company positioned itself as a merchant service provider, focusing on delivering transaction processing solutions to small and medium-sized businesses across the United States, particularly in the retail, restaurant, and personal services sectors. The business operated through an Independent Sales Agent (ISA) model, utilizing a network of over 700 active independent agents to acquire merchants.

The company's core service offering includes processing for all major credit and debit cards, such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. Central Payment provides a comprehensive suite of products to facilitate electronic transactions, including countertop terminals, mobile payment readers, virtual terminals for online payments, and full-featured point-of-sale (POS) systems. For e-commerce clients, it utilizes the Authorize.Net payment gateway. Additionally, the company offered services like gift card programs and a loyalty and marketing solution aimed at helping businesses grow. The brand was eventually retired following its full acquisition, with its website redirecting to TSYS.

Central Payment's growth trajectory led to a significant strategic partnership in 2012 when Total System Services (TSYS) acquired a 60% majority stake, forming a joint venture. At the time of this deal, Central Payment was processing over $3.5 billion in annual credit card sales for more than 40,000 merchants. This collaboration was intended to enhance Central Payment's distribution model and leverage TSYS's extensive processing capabilities. Over the following years, TSYS incrementally increased its ownership, culminating in the acquisition of the final 15% equity stake in April 2018, which valued Central Payment at $840 million. Post-acquisition, Central Payment's operations were fully integrated into TSYS.