Now Processing $2B Annually, Swipely Adds Support For Multi-Location Businesses

Swipely, a company that helps physical merchants collect credit card payments and market to their customers, now processes $2 billion in annual sales for its customers, it told TechCrunch.

The company released the figure in conjunction with new product features that will allow its product to be used by businesses that have multiple locations, harmonizing data, and allowing for partial access for leaders with single-location purview, for example.

Throughout its life, Swipely has reported its processing rate, allowing us to track its growth:

According to company CEO Angus Davis, Swipely has grown more than 50 percent for seven straight quarters. It most recently raised a $12 million Series B round early last summer. Swipely charges retailers a percentage of dollars processed, of course, and also fees for its other services. The company declined to comment on its potential to raise new capital.

The company also declined to comment on its financial metrics, but did indicate that it operates in a similar fashion to other SaaS companies, with high expected gross margins, and a “strong [Customer Acquisition Cost] ratio.” It was recently reported that Square, another payment-processing company, has gross margins of 34 percent. Square is processing payments at a rate of $30 billion per year, or around 15 times as much as Swipely.

The two companies have different customer bases, which Swipely has stated publicly a few times. TechCrunch reported when the company raised its last traunch of capital that its average customer processes around $1 million in payments annually.

Can Swipely keep growing at its past percentage rates? I asked the company specifically if the new product updates designed to better support companies with multiple locations will help it sustain its percentage growth rate. Davis estimated that the new capabilities could perhaps let them grow 20 percent more quickly than they otherwise might be able to, but also cautioned that since the technology is new, it’s too soon to be sure.

Also the law of large numbers comes into play at some point, at which Swipely will likely report the change in dollars processed in dollar, not percentage, terms.

Swipely has been growing quickly, and almost quietly. Let’s see how long it takes them to get to $3 billion.

IMAGE BY FLICKR USER Jo Jakeman UNDER CC BY 2.0 LICENSE (IMAGE HAS BEEN CROPPED)