About
Apriva, a fintech based in Phoenix, Arizona, enables vending operators to accept their customers’ preferred method of choice. This includes credit and debit cards; swipe, chip or tap payments; mobile wallets like ApplePay, GooglePay and Samsung Pay; campus and military ID cards; and more. Apriva’s clients vary in size from small-business vending operators to major food brands.
Apriva has made it their mission to be the easy way for vending operators to get paid. Gone are the days of fishing through pockets for coins and straightening dollar bills. Apriva helps vending operators evolve to accept new payment options that reflect what’s more likely to be in peoples’ pockets—cards and smartphones.
Apriva has also become a complete platform for vending operators. From point-of-sale solutions, a secure gateway, and merchant processing services for operating vending machines, to payment solutions needed to run businesses like mobile payment acceptance, digital invoices and register solutions, Apriva offers a complete set of tools for clients to power their businesses.
Vending operators need their solutions to be future-proof. Often payment devices are installed and not touched for years, so when technology changes or new payment models come online, having to change out hardware is prohibitive. That’s where Apriva comes in—they can update solutions remotely to keep up with business requirements and trends.
The challenge
Both consumers and vending operators win when kiosks and vending machines accept modern payment methods. But this shift adds new layers of complexity for vending businesses: new point-of-sale equipment, new payment methods and often a new merchant services relationship. In the new world of cashless payments, each vending operator might have to find a merchant acquirer and sign up to receive card processing services.
Apriva wanted to minimize the effort for its customers.
Apriva offers multiple solutions tailored to different customer needs, which means the complexity increases exponentially.
David Riddiford
President of Apriva
In talking to customers, Apriva discovered they wanted a single point of contact for both the vending point-of-sale solution and the merchant processing services. Adding merchant services would require Apriva to take on payment facilitation and become what’s known in the payments industry as a PayFac (payment facilitator).
“We recognized the need to bundle processing with our point of-sale-technology,” says Riddiford. “We also recognized that understanding the regulatory aspects and that evaluating risk and fraud was not our specialty.”
The solution
J.P. Morgan walked Apriva through the various requirements of becoming a payment facilitator. "J,P. Morgan let us know what they were experts at and could handle for us," Riddiford said. “This freed us up to focus on crafting solutions to meet our client’s specific needs.”
In much the same way, J.P. Morgan created a solution that met Apriva’s specific needs. As a merchant acquirer, processor and card issuer, J.P. Morgan customized PayFac services to fit specific requirements. With payment facilitation supported by J.P. Morgan, Apriva owns the end-to-end customer experience and offers differentiated payment solutions around its core offering.
The results
Apriva now bundles vending payment solutions and merchant acquirer services as part of their core offering. Its customers no longer need to sign up with a merchant acquirer. Apriva has also added a new revenue stream built around payment facilitation. The company offers a payment platform-as-a-service for businesses and others looking for custom payment solutions.
J.P. Morgan supports the commerce backbone for Apriva, advises on payments-related risk, and supports the regulatory requirements of KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance.
“The main reason we partnered with J.P. Morgan was trust. We have shared a common customer for at least 10 years—a common customer with expectations for excellent service,” says Riddiford. “Being able to bring payments from J.P. Morgan to the table gives customers confidence that the offering is real, that there’s a well-known financial services firm standing behind it, and that their revenue stream, and their money, is safe.”
To learn more, please contact your J.P. Morgan representative.
