Free Decision Kit: business payment solutions

Your business members need payment acceptance. Right now, they're getting it somewhere else.

A structured merchant services program can help your credit union own the business payment relationship, generate non-interest income and compete with fintech alternatives on equal footing.

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Six sections in one PDF, sent to your inbox: the category landscape brief, buy box, ROI scenarios, 90-day pilot roadmap, PayOnward profile and executive objection guide.

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The state of business payment solutions in credit unions

Most credit unions leave business payment revenue on the table

Business payment solutions remain one of the least-penetrated product categories in the credit union channel. Many community banks offer some form of merchant services to their business customers. Industry-reported figures put the share of credit unions with a formal program at around 30%, and many of those rely on legacy ISO relationships with opaque pricing, limited credit union branding and minimal revenue share. Business members who trust their credit union for lending and deposits end up going elsewhere for payment acceptance. That weakens the primary relationship and leaves non-interest income on the table.

Over the last 12 to 18 months, contactless and digital payments have raised business member expectations. Fintech-first processors such as Square and Stripe have made it easy for small businesses to accept payments, setting an experience bar that many legacy ISO programs struggle to match. Credit unions exploring business services see payment acceptance as the connective tissue between deposits, lending and daily operations, and a well-structured program can generate non-interest income while deepening business member loyalty. The key challenge is finding a partner that understands the cooperative model, offers transparent economics and connects to the credit union's technology stack.

Category trends

Where the business payments category is heading

Business services as a growth strategy

Credit unions are increasingly treating business member services, including payment acceptance, as a deliberate growth lever, driven by competition from community banks and neobanks.

Revenue share replacing ISO markups

Merchant services pricing is moving toward transparent, tiered revenue-share arrangements as credit unions push for cooperative-aligned economics instead of traditional ISO markups.

Embedded payments in digital banking

Payment acceptance built into business member digital banking dashboards is emerging as a differentiator for credit unions competing against Square, Stripe and other fintech-first alternatives.

Contactless and e-commerce are table stakes

Contactless, mobile and e-commerce acceptance have become baseline expectations for small businesses rather than premium features.

Third-party merchant programs draw scrutiny

Third-party merchant services relationships carry due diligence expectations around pricing transparency, complaint handling and PCI compliance. Confirm current NCUA expectations with your regulator or counsel.

What the data says about business payment solutions in credit unions

$1.2T

Estimated annual U.S. small business card payment volume, the market your business members take part in with or without your help.

Industry-reported, 2023

67%

Share of small businesses that say their primary financial institution doesn't meet their payment acceptance needs.

Industry-reported, 2023

~30%

Estimated share of credit unions with a formal merchant services program for business members.

Industry-reported, 2024

Three gaps that can cost your credit union business member relationships

Many credit unions haven't formalized a business payment program, which cedes the daily operating relationship to competitors. Here's where the leakage happens.

No program at all

Many credit unions don't offer merchant services, so business members handle payment acceptance through Square, Stripe or bank-affiliated processors, outside the credit union relationship. Every transaction processed elsewhere is a reminder that the credit union isn't a full-service business partner, which can erode primary financial institution status over time.

ISO economics don't fit the cooperative model

Legacy ISO arrangements often come with opaque pricing, minimal credit union branding and little revenue share. Business members pay market rates while the credit union sees little return, and when pricing complaints arise the credit union carries the reputational risk without the tools to respond.

Payment data stays siloed

Without integration between the merchant services platform and the core, payment volume and business activity data can't inform underwriting, relationship management or member insights. Credit unions miss a signal about business member health that could support lending decisions, retention outreach and cross-sell.

Everything your exec team needs to decide on business payment solutions

The kit has six sections. Get it as a PDF in your inbox, or read the highlights on this page.

01 Category landscape brief

A plain-language overview of where the credit union channel stands on business payment solutions, and why the status quo is a business member retention problem. Includes the key market dynamics your board needs to understand.

02 Vendor-agnostic buy box

Eight criteria to apply to any merchant services partner before the first vendor demo. Apply them to PayOnward or to any alternative you're evaluating.

03 ROI scenarios

Three modeled scenarios (conservative, base and optimistic) showing how non-interest income scales with business member enrollment and processing volume, labeled illustrative, with notes on what to confirm with any vendor.

04 90-day pilot roadmap

A phase-by-phase launch plan covering vendor agreement, core integration, pilot launch and full program rollout, for credit unions that need to move from board approval to live members quickly.

05 Featured partner profile: PayOnward

A structured review of PayOnward's model, differentiators, risk factors and open questions, framed against the buy box so you can evaluate fit before committing. Includes vendor-stated claims and items to verify directly.

06 Executive objection guide

The questions your CEO, CFO, CIO and COO are likely to ask, with direct answers and follow-up questions to take back to any vendor you evaluate.

Vendor buy box

The minimum buy box for any business payment solutions vendor

These criteria apply to every partner in this category. Don't sign without checking all of them, whether you're looking at PayOnward or any other vendor.

Credit union-specific revenue share ✓ Met

Full-spectrum payment acceptance ✓ Met

PCI DSS compliance and fraud tools ! Unconfirmed

Core and digital banking integration ! Unconfirmed

Dedicated credit union onboarding and support ✓ Met

Transparent, competitive pricing for business members ✓ Met

Regulatory and compliance alignment (NCUA, BSA/AML) ! Unconfirmed

Documented financial stability and vendor due diligence ! Unconfirmed

From board approval to live business members in 90 days

Days 1–30

Agreements and alignment

Execute the vendor agreement and complete third-party due diligence documentation under your vendor management policy.
Hold a discovery session to map your business member base, core processor environment and integration requirements.
Identify an internal champion and a cross-functional launch team (business services, operations, compliance, marketing).
Begin staff training on the merchant services value proposition and the referral process for frontline and business lending teams.
Establish baseline metrics and define success criteria for the 90-day program review.

Days 31–60

Integration and pilot

Complete technical integration and testing with your core processor and digital banking platform.
Run a pilot with 10 to 20 selected business members to validate the onboarding workflow and member experience.
Validate support processes and chargeback and fraud handling workflows with the vendor.
Develop credit union-branded marketing materials and outreach campaign assets for business members.
Build internal reporting dashboards for enrollment, processing volume and revenue share tracking.

Days 61–90

Full launch and optimization

Open the program to all eligible business members credit union-wide.
Run targeted outreach to existing business lending and business deposit members.
Hold a 90-day review of enrollment, processing volume, revenue share earned, member satisfaction and support activity.
Identify optimization opportunities: advanced features, new segments and refinements from pilot learnings.
Brief the board and executive team on program performance and a 12-month growth roadmap.

ROI model: illustrative only

The ROI case in three numbers

These figures are illustrative only. They show how non-interest income from a merchant services program scales with business member enrollment and processing volume. Revenue share basis points must be confirmed with any vendor you evaluate.

$45,000

Illustrative annual non-interest income in the base scenario (150 business members, $25K average monthly volume each)

6–9 mo.

Illustrative time to revenue-positive at base adoption levels, to be confirmed with the vendor

$168,000

Illustrative annual non-interest income in the optimistic scenario (400 business members, $35K average monthly volume each)

Illustrative only. Your results will vary. Both dollar figures assume a revenue share of 10 basis points, the top of the 5 to 10 basis point range used in the model. At 5 basis points, the income would be half as much. Confirm terms directly with PayOnward or any vendor you evaluate. The optimistic scenario assumes active promotion and strong business member adoption.

Questions your exec team will ask, answered

Our business member base is small. Is a merchant services program even worth it at our size?

It depends on your growth trajectory more than your current size. A credit union with 50 business members today can still build the infrastructure and referral habits that scale as that base grows. The conservative scenario in the kit models that starting point, but validate the revenue-share economics with any vendor before committing.

What if we don't want to use PayOnward specifically?

PayOnward is the featured partner for this category, but it isn't the only option. CUSO Payment Solutions (PSCU/Velera) and Fiserv (CardConnect/Clover) both operate in this space. The buy box on this page applies to any vendor, so use it to compare them against your core processor, asset size and business member profile.

How do we compete with Square and Stripe? Business owners already know those brands.

You don't need to out-market Square. You need to offer something it doesn't: a relationship with the institution that also holds the business's operating account and loan. The edge is integration and trust, not feature parity. A credit union-branded merchant services program signals a full-service business partner, which a payments-only fintech doesn't offer.

Who handles chargebacks and fraud disputes, us or the vendor?

That depends on how the vendor agreement is written, and it's one of the most important points to settle before you sign. Ask every vendor to spell out in plain language where the credit union's liability ends and theirs begins on chargebacks, fraud losses and PCI scope. A vague answer is a red flag.

What does our core processor need to support for this to work?

At minimum, your core processor should support API-based third-party integrations, or you need to be comfortable running a standalone merchant services platform alongside your existing systems. PayOnward says it integrates with major credit union core processors including Symitar and DNA (vendor-stated), but confirm integration depth for your environment before you sign. This is a key step in the first 30 days of the pilot plan.

What should we expect from NCUA when we add a merchant services program?

Expect to document third-party risk management for any new vendor relationship, and merchant services is no exception. Vendor due diligence typically covers financial stability, PCI compliance, complaint handling and pricing transparency, and your compliance team should review BSA/AML requirements for business payment flows before launch. The first 30 days of the pilot plan are built around this work. Confirm current NCUA expectations with your regulator or counsel.

Related guide: Payments

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All adoption and usage statistics are labeled as vendor-stated or publicly reported. ROI figures are illustrative only; your results will vary. Pricing and contract terms must be confirmed directly with the vendor. See our Methodology and Disclosures pages.

Content on this page is for informational purposes only and doesn't constitute financial, legal or regulatory advice. CU 2.0 isn't a broker-dealer, investment advisor or registered financial institution. Featured partners may compensate CU 2.0.