1.14.2025
Payment technology is evolving rapidly, and businesses in the restaurant industry face unique challenges when it comes to managing transactions efficiently and cost-effectively. Austin Mac Nab, Founder and CEO of VizyPay, has dedicated his career to addressing these challenges by creating solutions tailored specifically for small and mid-sized businesses. With over 20 years of experience in payments, Austin brings a deep understanding of the operational pressures and shifting consumer expectations that restaurants navigate daily.
VizyPay is a payment technology company focused on simplifying processes and offering transparent solutions that cater to the needs of smaller businesses. Restaurants, which often operate with tight margins and limited resources, benefit significantly from tools that help streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and reduce costs. VizyPay’s solutions reportedly saved merchants more than $40 million in processing fees in 2024. In total, the company has processed 131 million transactions for its 12,000-plus nationwide merchants.
In this Spotlight Interview, Austin discusses VizyPay’s approach to addressing the payment processing needs of restaurants. He shares the story of how his experiences in the payments industry inspired him to build a company that prioritizes the needs of its clients. From customizable payment solutions to a focus on transparency and customer service, Austin explains how VizyPay is helping restaurants stay competitive in a fast-changing market. He also offers insights into emerging trends in payment technology and what VizyPay has planned for the future of restaurant payment solutions.
What inspired you to launch VizyPay and disrupt the status quo of the payments space? Can you share the story behind the founding of the company and how your previous experiences influenced your decision?
After spending about a decade excelling as an executive sales director at a payments company, I observed small business owners being forced to overpay for technology that wasn’t well-suited to their business and I felt the payments industry was ripe for disruption. From there, I started and failed at five businesses, learning and growing each time before putting everything on the line once more, risking my hard-earned personal savings and bankruptcy to start VizyPay at age 33.
I joined forces with my neighbor and Managing Partner Frank Pagano and a silent partner to fully bootstrap, or invest, $197K of our own money into VizyPay, with the goal of building programs and services that catered to the needs of small business owners. Frank was a successful small business owner and together with my experience in payments our combined knowledge created a fintech that prioritizes transparency, culture and support of small business owners. Since then, VizyPay has amassed more than 12,000 small business merchants in all 50 states all while remaining completely self-funded and owner-controlled.
What sets VizyPay apart from larger payment processing companies in terms of culture, transparency, and focus on small business owners?
VizyPay’s company culture is unlike any other in the fintech industry. Its “work hard, play hard” mentality keeps its employees dedicated to and enthusiastic about the work they do day in, day out to service small business owners. Distinguished for its decision to prioritize character traits over resume content in the hiring process and commitment to diversity, VizyPay has assembled a team of over 60% diverse minorities and 27% women – impressive statistics for any fintech company, much less one based in Iowa.
Keeping its merchants at the forefront of all it does, VizyPay operates with a level of transparency one can not find elsewhere in the payments space. While other companies delete or disable reviews, VizyPay solicits reviews from its merchants, upholding its core values of transparency and trust. The company amassed 2,374 reviews on Trustpilot in 2024 while still holding a 4.9-star rating. It’s also known for its incredible customer service, with an average answer rate of 23 seconds and a 90.3% success rate of solving tickets at first glance. Recognizing small businesses generate approximately 44% of U.S. economic activity, VizyPay is committed to being a resource to develop local economies by providing transparent, powerful, and informed payment solutions. VizyPay seeks to grow individual small businesses through their provided services while educating them on the industry to create positive change at the industry level.
How does VizyPay’s payment technology help restaurants streamline their operations and improve efficiency? Also, how does it help them adapt to changing consumer expectations, such as contactless payments and mobile ordering?
90% of restaurant operators are small businesses that compete for every dollar they earn. Many payment processors were designed for large-scale businesses with high operations and are not equipped to meet the needs of all restaurants of smaller sizes. VizyPay’s solutions are tailored to each merchants’ needs and offer technology that is easy to implement and customizable. VizyPay’s terminal options include desktop, handheld and touchscreen choices that make receiving payments a breeze in any restaurant setting. The point-of-sale, or POS systems make operations seamless by easily managing inventory, tracking orders and processing bills all in one place.
Can you share examples of how VizyPay’s payment technology has helped restaurants, in particular, improve their operations and save money? Any specific success stories or testimonials from restaurants that have benefited from VizyPay’s payment technology solutions?
A PYMNTS study showed 68% of consumers use their credit cards to purchase food at a restaurant. When the average credit card processing fee ranges from 1.5% and 3.5% these fees can be a major expense for restaurants. On top of that, payment processing equipment like POS terminals can be expensive for a restaurant just getting started, but many might not realize leasing a terminal can cost more in the long run, as many high-end processors establish a small monthly leasing fee. While it sounds minor, leasing contracts lock merchants into four-year leases that cannot be canceled. VizyPay refuses to lock its merchants into long-term contracts to give them the flexibility they need to adjust their services depending on their business’s needs.
How does VizyPay’s payment technology solutions help restaurants provide a seamless and convenient payment experience for their customers?
VizyPay’s payment technology solutions are suited for nearly any restaurant type – whether that be a bistro with outdoor dining, a local pizza shop with majority of sales coming through on delivery orders, a small one-window ice cream shop or a traditional sit-down restaurant. Handheld terminals improve order efficiencies for one-the-go, quick-stop purchases. Desktop terminals maintain a traditional approach and touchscreen options modernize any dining establishment. VizyPay merchants can choose from these various payment options that can be tailored to fit the customers expectations and improve their dining experience.
How does VizyPay’s payment processing app integrate with existing restaurant management systems and POS systems?
At this time, Clover is the only software or POS system that VizyPay is built out for, so restaurants that are utilizing Clover or VizyPay will have a seamless integration without interruption to operations. In the future, we’d like to create other apps with Clover that solve the specific needs businesses, like restaurants, might have.
What security measures does VizyPay have in place to protect sensitive customer data during payment transactions?
We wholeheartedly understand the importance of protecting sensitive information that is necessary for payment processing and take the security of it very seriously. Since VizyPay is compatible with Clover users only right now, it leverages Clover’s encryption called Transarmor, which is end-to-end tokenization services that masks any payment or card holder information accessible to the public.
Can you discuss any future plans or developments that VizyPay has in store for its payment technology solutions?
We rely on our support team and sales staff who deeply understand the concerns and needs of business owners. We take their insights to our development team and from there we’re able to create additional apps and provide solutions to restaurant and business owners that resolve some of the issues they commonly face.
Can you share any insights or trends you’ve observed in the restaurant industry regarding payment technology and consumer preferences?
The one thing that always sticks out to me is the desire for improved accessibility. Business owners do not want to have to use their POS system for daily or monthly reporting, so incorporating tools such as mobile solutions or online reporting into the platform streamlines operations and makes it easy for the business owners to get a holistic view of how their business is running.
