In a Nutshell: Gravity Payments is not your average credit card payments processor. Since its Founder and CEO Dan Price started the company at the age of 19, Gravity has been about giving clients a seamless payment solution without the headaches and fees of other processors. Gravity works closely with clients and identifies needs to get them up and running so the companies can stay focused on the day-to-day of running their own businesses. Price’s honest approach and strong sense of integrity permeate Gravity’s workforce to create a unique culture in the payments world, benefitting employees and clients.
Credit card processing companies don’t often grab big headlines in the news since they tend to operate in the background. And for many businesses, one payments processor is as good (or bad) as the next.
But, Gravity Payments is different.
The company’s Founder and CEO Dan Price made national headlines in 2015 when he announced his plan to implement a minimum salary of $70,000 for every employee at Gravity. Price has never been a typical CEO, and it’s his unique vision that has set the company apart since its inception in 2004.
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As a high school student, Price was playing guitar in a rock band — mostly regional gigs in rural southwest Idaho where he grew up. He learned that his friend Heather, who owned one of the coffee shops where his band played, was barely keeping the business afloat, in part, because of what Price saw as excessive fees imposed by her credit card processor.
“I discovered through my dad, who worked as a consultant, the world of credit card processing,” Price told Forbes. “So I offered to help Heather with her business and was able to get her a better deal on her processing. And because of that, she told people about me.”
That was also when Price’s mission in life became clear. He had seen Heather and other friends being taken advantage of by their payment processors and decided to fight against the big companies bullying the independent businesses he cared about.
Reports of Price’s passion spread by word-of-mouth to other independent businesses and helped his young company’s reputation. After being hit hard by the 2008 recession, the company regrouped and has been steadily growing ever since.
We recently spoke with Gravity’s Director of Finance, Edwin Dutton, to learn more about what sets Gravity apart, its payment solutions, and the company’s unique culture…
