Sacra estimates Checkout.com hit $260M in revenue in 2021, growing just 3% year-over-year from $253M in 2020. This marked a significant slowdown from previous years when the company saw explosive growth - 73% in 2020, 95% in 2019, and 60% in 2018.

The company focuses exclusively on enterprise customers, processing hundreds of billions in payment volume annually for major clients like Netflix, Pizza Hut, Coinbase, and Farfetch. Unlike competitors who target SMBs, Checkout.com maintains a lean sales operation representing just 13% of headcount while dedicating nearly two-thirds of staff to product and engineering.

Checkout.com has been consistently profitable since 2012, though with lower margins than key competitor Adyen. The company's UK/Europe division showed 10% EBITDA margins in 2019 compared to Adyen's 40%+ margins at a similar scale. This likely reflects aggressive investment in growth and expansion.

The company has raised over $1.8B in funding, reaching a $40B valuation in 2022. With operations across 19 countries and 1,700 employees, Checkout.com is expanding rapidly in the US market while building new capabilities in areas like marketplace payments, treasury services and Web3 infrastructure.

Checkout.com was founded in 2009 by Guillaume Pousaz in Singapore as Opus Payments, initially processing payments for merchants in Hong Kong. The company rebranded to Checkout.com in 2012 and relocated to London.

Checkout.com found product-market fit as an enterprise-focused payments platform for large online merchants, particularly serving complex use cases like marketplaces and subscription businesses that needed highly customizable payment solutions.

The core product is a unified payments API that enables enterprises to process online payments across multiple currencies and payment methods. When integrated, merchants can accept credit cards, digital wallets, and local payment methods through a single technical integration. The platform handles the entire payment flow - from accepting the initial transaction to processing it through various payment networks and providing detailed reporting.

What distinguishes Checkout.com's approach is its focus on customization for large merchants. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all solution, the platform allows enterprises to tailor payment flows, customize checkout experiences, and configure specific rules for different markets or customer segments. For example, a global marketplace can automatically route transactions through optimal payment paths based on the customer's location while maintaining consistent reporting across all regions.

The company has expanded its offering to include intelligent payment routing, fraud prevention, and treasury services - all built around the core payments infrastructure that large online merchants require.

Checkout.com is a payments infrastructure company that processes online transactions for large enterprise merchants, charging a percentage fee plus fixed amount per transaction through an interchange++ pricing model. The company focuses exclusively on high-volume enterprise clients, differentiating itself from competitors like Stripe who serve businesses of all sizes.

The company monetizes by marking up the base interchange and scheme fees from card networks, typically charging between 2.3-2.9% + $0.30 per transaction depending on volume. This transparent pricing model passes through the underlying card network costs while adding a consistent markup. Checkout.com also generates revenue from processing alternative payment methods like digital wallets and bank transfers, charging both gateway and method-specific fees.

Unlike competitors who pursue broad market coverage, Checkout.com maintains a laser focus on serving sophisticated enterprise clients with complex payment needs. The company provides extensive customization options and dedicated support teams to these large merchants. This enterprise-focused strategy allows Checkout.com to win and retain high-value customers like Netflix, Farfetch and Coinbase who process billions in annual payment volume. The company expands revenue within existing clients as their transaction volumes grow and by cross-selling additional services like fraud prevention, payouts and treasury management.

Checkout.com operates in the global payments processing market alongside established public companies and emerging fintech players, with distinct competitive dynamics across different segments and regions.

The core enterprise payments space is dominated by public companies like Adyen, which processes $571B in annual volume and focuses on large merchants with complex needs. While both target enterprise clients, Adyen emphasizes organic growth and technological superiority, maintaining lower sales headcount (3% vs Checkout.com's 13%). Traditional processors like Worldpay, Global Payments, and Fiserv continue to hold significant market share but face challenges from more technologically advanced competitors.

Geographic specialization creates distinct competitive dynamics. Adyen built early traction in Europe by supporting alternative payment methods, while Stripe initially focused on the US market where credit card acceptance rates are higher. Checkout.com has leveraged its roots in Asia and the Middle East to win major regional players like Careem, while maintaining strong European presence. This has led to the emergence of region-specific competitors who understand local payment preferences and regulations.

Traditional bank-owned processors like JPMorgan's Chase Paymentech and Bank of America Merchant Services maintain advantages through their card-issuing relationships. These processors achieve superior authorization rates for transactions on their own cards, leading many large merchants to maintain relationships with both bank-owned and independent processors. This dynamic creates a natural ceiling on market share potential for independent processors like Checkout.com.

Checkout.com has tailwinds from the global shift to digital payments and enterprise-focused payment processing, with opportunities to expand into adjacent markets through geographic expansion, payment infrastructure modernization, and financial services enablement.

The majority of new internet users come from outside Western markets, creating massive growth potential for Checkout.com's enterprise payment processing. The company has already demonstrated success expanding into the Middle East and Asia, processing over $225B in yearly transaction volume. Through strategic acquisitions like Pin Payments in Australia and organic expansion into new regions, Checkout.com can tap into emerging market growth while maintaining its focus on large enterprise customers.

As traditional bank-based payment infrastructure ages, Checkout.com has the opportunity to become the modern backbone for enterprise payments processing. The company's API-first approach and focus on authorization rates positions it to capture volume from legacy processors, particularly in markets transitioning from cash to digital payments. By building deeper integrations with local payment methods and developing new infrastructure products, Checkout.com can expand beyond its current 0.22% take rate.

Checkout.com's enterprise relationships and payment processing capabilities create natural expansion opportunities in adjacent financial services. The company can leverage its position to offer treasury services, working capital solutions, and banking-as-a-service capabilities to its merchant base. Early moves into areas like identity verification through the Ubble acquisition demonstrate the potential to build a comprehensive financial services platform for global enterprises.

Margin pressure from enterprise focus: Checkout.com's strategy of focusing exclusively on large enterprise clients creates significant margin pressure. Unlike competitors who serve a broader market, Checkout.com must heavily customize solutions and provide extensive support for each client. This shows in their relatively low 10% EBITDA margins compared to Adyen's 40%+ margins at a similar scale. The high-touch enterprise model may prove difficult to scale profitably without compromising service quality.

Geographic expansion costs: Checkout.com's aggressive international expansion requires maintaining significant cash reserves in each new market to satisfy local regulations. This capital-intensive approach explains their frequent large funding rounds despite being profitable. As they push into new regions, especially the US market, these regulatory capital requirements will continue to strain resources and potentially limit growth velocity.

Limited merchant diversification: With only 1,200 merchants compared to competitors' millions, Checkout.com is heavily exposed to individual client churn risk. While these are large enterprise clients, the concentration means losing even a few key accounts could materially impact revenues. Their enterprise-only strategy makes rapidly replacing lost volumes challenging due to long sales cycles and implementation timelines.