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Radar · Payments in San Diego

Best Payments Companies in San Diego, United States

The 33 best Payments companies in San Diego, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: GreenBox POS.

33companies tracked
$168.5Mdisclosed funding
0unicorns
13have raised
FLIAR INTELLIGENCE · PAYMENTS × SAN DIEGO

Our analysis of 50 Payments companies

$20.7b in tracked funding; 100% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.

50companies analysed
100%cloud-native stacks
2025funding peak (by rounds)
15unicorns
2017median founding year

Ranked: Best Payments companies in San Diego

#CompanyDisclosed fundingLast roundStageFounderFoundedTech stackPatents & IP focusRecent signals
1GreenBox POS
Software and hardware PoS solutions to businesses for accepting crypto payments
$83M60 mo agoPublic—2016———
2ImageWare Systems
Provider of cloud-based multi-modal biometrics systems
$67M71 mo agoPublicJim Miller
Chairman & CEO
1987———
3Bitmo
Mobile payment and reward points application
$6M91 mo agoDeadpooled—2015———
4Transaction Wireless
Digital gift cards and marketing platform
$4M202 mo agoAcquired—2006—20 patents
Patents concentrated in computing, sensing & instrumentation
—
5OnBudget
GPR prepaid card
$3M115 mo agoDeadpooledJim Collas
CEO & President
2012———
6ImageWare
Cloud based platform offering multi model biometric solutions
$2M57 mo agoAcquired—1987———
7Quippi
US-Mexico cross border gift cards
$2M84 mo agoAcqui-HiredMichael Aleles
CEO & Co-Founder
2012—2 patents
Cross‑border digital gift‑card issuance and payment processing platforms
—
8US Encode
Payments network built on satellite network
$155K148 mo agoSeedBrian Murray
Founder & CEO
2002—11 patents
Token-based online authentication and enrollment systems for secure electronic transactions
—
9VRAY
Mobile wallet gateway enabling secure, simple eCommerce payments across platforms
$150K88 mo agoSeedJack Shauh
Co-Founder & CTO
2016—7 patents
Mobile payment processing integrated with telecom billing and authentication services
—

Top 12 Payments companies in San Diego

#1
Public · San Diego, California · founded 2016 · 110 employees
$83.3Mraised
▾

Software and hardware PoS solutions to businesses for accepting crypto payments. It features QuickCard Kiosk for depositing funds via cash, card, or ACH. It also provides merchants with tools for business management including payroll processing and sales auditing. The POS offers tracking, reporting, and sales integration with the QuickCard system for payment processing.

Funding rounds
  • Nov 2021Post IPO$80.3M
  • Dec 2020Series A$2.7M
  • Aug 2018Seed$306K
  • Aug 2018Conventional Debt—
Investors
Centrecourt Asset Management, TRITON FUNDS
Tech stack
WagtailPythonDjangoAmazon Web ServicesHstsAmazon Cloudfront
#2
Public · San Diego, California · founded 1987 · 26 employees
$67Mraised
▾

Provider of cloud-based multi-modal biometrics systems. It offers multi-factor biometric authentication via mobile devices, on-premises and in the cloud. The solution incorporates voice, fingerprint, facial recognition, signature, iris, and other biometric capture feature available to a customer.

Funding rounds
  • Nov 2020Post IPO$11.6M
  • Sep 2020Post IPO$2.2M
  • Sep 2018Post IPO$10M
  • Sep 2017Post IPO$11M
Founders & team
Jim MillerChairman & CEO
Investors
Grantham Capital, TRITON FUNDS
Tech stack
WordpressMysqlPhpYoast SeoNginxCloudflare
#3
Acquired · San Diego, California · founded 1987 · 20 employees
$2.5Mraised
▾

Cloud based platform offering multi model biometric solutions. It offers multi model biometric solutions for the capturing,verification and identification of individuals. It integrates with existing access control,biometric authentication,booking,credentialing and identity verification systems.

Funding rounds
  • Jan 2022Unattributed$2.5M
Investors
TRITON FUNDS
#4
Deadpooled · San Diego, California · founded 2015 · 16 employees
$6Mraised
▾

Bitmo is a mobile payment application that allows consumers to pay at merchant location with tapping or scanning by linking their bank account to the mobile app. The application is also concentrated on loyalty and reward points for the users. The app also allows P2P money transfer.

Funding rounds
  • Mar 2019Seed$3M
  • Dec 2018Seed—
  • Sep 2018Seed$3M
Investors
Everplus Capital, Gyft, Dosh, Acorns, Longboard Capital, Cambridge Companies SPG
Tech stack
WordpressMysqlMariadbPhpOceanwpVarnish
#5
Acqui-Hired · San Diego, California · founded 2012 · 5 employees
$2.4Mraised
▾

Quippi is the first fee-free International Shopping Card that empowers immigrants who live in the U.S. to support their loved ones abroad. Quippi’s cards are accepted at major retailers in Mexico, including Chedraui and Coppel. The customer buys a gift-card PIN offline or online and sends the PIN to his/her family/friends in Mexico. The latter can now use the PIN to buy from partner stores or sites. The retailer on behalf of which Quippi releases the card is charged, not the consumer.

Funding rounds
  • Oct 2019Series A$150K
  • Jan 2014Series A$2.3M
Founders & team
Michael AlelesCEO & Co-Founder
Investors
Avalon Ventures, Accion, Franklin Templeton Investments, EvoNexus
#6
Deadpooled · San Diego, California · founded 2012 · 16 employees
$2.7Mraised
▾

OnBudget card is a General Purpose Reloadable (GPR) prepaid card. It provides a prepaid MasterCard and associated Smartphone App which enables user to manage monthly household spending and budgets.The OnBudget solution is optimized for budget management, tracking spending trends and giving the user valuable savings insights.Users set a monthly budget load and start using the card.OnBudget card is a General Purpose Reloadable (GPR) prepaid card.

Funding rounds
  • Mar 2017Series A$390K
  • Sep 2015Series A$350K
  • Oct 2014Series A$2M
Founders & team
Jim CollasCEO & President
#7
Acquired · San Diego, California · founded 2006 · 27 employees
$4.2Mraised
▾

Digital gift cards and marketing platform. The platform offers B2C and B2B gift card and integrated marketing capabilities, allowing clients to quickly deploy, acquire customers, build loyalty, and grow their bottom line. It enables retailers to easily connect and intelligently engage with consumers through multiple channels, such as online, mobile, social, and more.

Funding rounds
  • Dec 2009Series A$2M
  • Sep 2008Series A$2.2M
Investors
Okapi Venture Capital, Mission Ventures
Tech stack
Adobe Experience ManagerJavaJqueryAdobe Dynamic Media ClassicHstsDigicert
#8
Seed · San Diego, California · founded 2016 · 2 employees
$150Kraised
▾

Mobile wallet gateway enabling secure, simple eCommerce payments across platforms. They empower merchants to offer diverse mobile wallet options through a simple integration, granting shoppers the freedom to use their preferred mobile wallet on any browser. This approach simplifies the checkout experience, enhances security by eliminating the sharing of card data, and reduces merchant chargebacks. They deliver mobile wallet freedom to eCommerce, enabling simple checkout experiences for shoppers, which translates to more sales. They offer REST APIs for easy integration, supporting all common mobile wallet types. Their solutions cater to card-not-present payment environments, including conversational commerce, IVR systems, and AI chatbot platforms. They provide a secure, cross-platform solution for online payments.

Funding rounds
  • 2019Seed$150K
Founders & team
Elan MevasseCEOJack ShauhCo-Founder & CTOAndrew BanhCo-Founder
Investors
Franklin Templeton Investments, EvoNexus
#9
Seed · San Diego, California · founded 2002
$155Kraised
▾

Developer of satellite-based payment platform designed to provide secure connectivity for banking and payments infrastructure across the African continent. The company provides a satellite network, mobile SDK, and transaction switch, enabling banks to provide customers with new banking and payment services via their mobile phones as well as bring the millions of unbanked into the formal financial system.

Funding rounds
  • Jul 2014Seed$155K
Founders & team
Brian MurrayFounder & CEO
#10
Deadpooled · San Diego, California · founded 2010
$25Kraised
▾

MobiMagic is a provider of PoS platform which enables developers migrate a restaurant's existing PoS data to mPoS devices including iOS and Android devices. The solution allows inventory and menu management on the app and allows staff to take orders and payments on the mobile devices as opposed to a single PoS terminal. It offers a white labeled mobile ordering technology available for download on mobile marketplaces like Apple App Store. It also integrates customer billing and ability to send e-receipts to the customers via email.

Funding rounds
  • May 2011Seed$15K
  • Oct 2010Seed—
Founders & team
Jeremy BurskyCEO
#11
Deadpooled · San Diego, California · founded 2022
—raised
▾

Card issuing and processing solutions for businesses. Provides innovative payment card solutions that integrate modern card issuing and processing capabilities with configurable private-label solutions, and optimized program management, offering clients the shortest and most cost-effective path to a high-quality payment card program.

Funding rounds
  • Feb 2022Seed—
Founders & team
Jim CollasCEO
Investors
MJC Partners, NOEMIS Ventures
#12
Seed · San Diego, California · founded 2017 · 5 employees
—raised
▾

Online rental payment platform for landlords. The platform enables property owners to collect rents and tenants to make payments. Features include onboarding assistance, automated reporting, tracking tenants, rental reminders and more.

Funding rounds
  • Jan 2022Seed—
Founders & team
Ryan AbellFounder & CEO
Investors
Amplify Marketing, RevRoad
Tech stack
AdrollAdroll Cmp SystemAmazon CloudfrontAmazon S3Amazon Web ServicesAnt Design

Funding & investor landscape

$168.5Mtotal disclosed funding
10companies funded
28disclosed rounds
0rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
TRITON FUNDS3 rounds
EvoNexus2 rounds
Franklin Templeton Investments2 rounds
Accion1 rounds
Acorns1 rounds
Amplify Marketing1 rounds
Avalon Ventures1 rounds
Blueprint Equity1 rounds
Cambridge Companies SPG1 rounds
Centrecourt Asset Management1 rounds

Notable founders

Jim Miller
Chairman & CEO · ImageWare Systems
Michael Aleles
CEO & Co-Founder · Quippi
Jim Collas
CEO & President · OnBudget
Elan Mevasse
CEO · VRAY
Jack Shauh
Co-Founder & CTO · VRAY
Brian Murray
Founder & CEO · US Encode
Jeremy Bursky
CEO · MobiMagic
Ryan Abell
Founder & CEO · PayRent
Prism market signals · United States · country-scoped Prism corpus, 1,750,783 docs

Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage

Share of Payments coverage by sub-theme.

Regulatory-risk over time rising

Funding & growth over time

funding rising · growth rising

RESEARCH SIGNALS · United States

How research on Digital Payments is moving in the United States

A read on the academic research around Digital Payments — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 1,534 United States-affiliated papers.

research sentiment over time
200820172026
enthusiastic · positive · guarded tone
Tone is overwhelmingly optimistic and intensifying — the enthusiastic (strongly-positive) share moved 15% → 32% across 2008–2026.
top research entities
  • Film Independent35
  • Community Partners26
  • Tufts University24
  • Federal Reserve22
  • University of Washington21
leading researchers
Crypto Education Research Lab · Ignacio Mas · Wen‐Chen Hu · Chuleeporn Changchit · Chung-wei Lee · Nikhilesh Dholakia · Morten Rask · Qasim Ajao
▲ Breakthroughs169 · 11%
▲ 8%→13% share
▲1.6× share momentum0 median citations66% since 2021mostly methods-led
Breakthroughs are rising (8%→13% of field), led by Payment system.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Payment system4→23
  • Mobile payment18→28
  • Payment service provider5→14
  • Financial services1→8
  • Financial transaction1→8
Newly emergingDatabase transaction 0→29 · Financial inclusion 0→8 · Payment processor 0→7
Landmark Monopoly without a Monopolist: An Economic Analysis of the Bitcoin Payment System · 223 cites
◆ Advancements431 · 28%
▲ 23%→31% share
▲1.3× share momentum0 median citations61% since 2021mostly empirical
Advancements are rising (23%→31% of field), led by Mobile payment.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Mobile payment62→120
  • Financial inclusion10→54
  • Payment service provider4→41
  • Financial services10→45
  • Database transaction9→34
Newly emergingFinTech 0→18 · Cryptocurrency 0→16 · Payment processor 0→14
Landmark The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money · 1,312 cites
▼ Concerns558 · 36%
▼ 44%→30% share
▼0.7× share momentum1 median citations46% since 2021mostly empirical
Concerns are cooling (44%→30% of field), led by Financial inclusion.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Financial inclusion23→46
  • Financial services23→38
  • Cryptocurrency8→19
  • Transparency (behavior)1→11
  • Database transaction11→20
Newly emergingDigital transformation 0→9 · Settlement (finance) 0→8 · Asset (computer security) 0→5
Landmark Risk Sharing and Transactions Costs: Evidence from Kenya's Mobile Money Revolution · 1,237 cites
RESEARCH HOTSPOTS · United States

Where digital payments is researched across United States

Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.

Boston71 · +0.04
Hot · Developing countryAdvancing · Computer securityOpportunity · Settlement (finance)Concern · Mobile payment
SF Bay Area30 · +0.09
Hot · Database transactionAdvancing · Mobile paymentOpportunity · Healthcare systemConcern · Incentive
New York25 · +0.20
Hot · Database transactionAdvancing · Service (business)Concern · Financial services
Seattle22 · +0.03
Hot · Financial servicesAdvancing · Mobile paymentOpportunity · MedicaidConcern · Financial inclusion
Chicago22 · +0.08
Hot · Payment systemOpportunity · DiscountingConcern · Mobile payment
Ann Arbor22 · +0.25
Hot · MicrofinanceAdvancing · CashOpportunity · Investment (military)Concern · Payment system
Pittsburgh18 · +0.12
Hot · Mobile deviceAdvancing · Mobile paymentOpportunity · Mobile computing
Philadelphia16 · -0.14
Hot · Financial servicesConcern · Reimbursement
Atlanta15 · +0.31
Hot · Mobile paymentOpportunity · Database transaction
Austin9 · +0.14
PATENT SIGNAL · United States

Who's filing digital payments patents in the United States

United States digital payments patent filing is cooling — 1,412 filings from 1,167 assignees (2016–2025), led by Mastercard International, VISA INT Service ASS, Paypal; annual filings 189→106.

1,412 filings1,167 assigneespeak 190/yr2016–2025
filing momentum (YoY 2016–2025)
top patent filers
  • Mastercard International310
  • VISA INT Service ASS111
  • Paypal81
  • VISA USA63
  • Intuit45
  • EBAY45
  • BANK Of America44
  • IBM44

Common questions

How many Payments companies are there in San Diego, United States?
Radar tracks 33 indexable Payments companies headquartered in San Diego, United States that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Payments companies in San Diego, United States?
The Payments companies in San Diego, United States on this list have raised a combined $168.5M in disclosed equity funding across 10 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Payments company in San Diego, United States?
GreenBox POS is the highest-funded Payments company in San Diego, United States, with $83.3M in disclosed equity funding.
How many Payments companies in San Diego, United States are funded?
10 of the 33 Payments companies in San Diego, United States on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Payments unicorns are there in San Diego, United States?
None of the Payments companies in San Diego, United States on this list currently has a disclosed valuation of $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in San Diego, United States Payments companies?
The most active investors in San Diego, United States Payments companies on this list include TRITON FUNDS, EvoNexus, Franklin Templeton Investments, Accion, Acorns.
Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories

Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.

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