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Spotlight Innovators
Spotlight Innov ators

Ride the Waves to

Smarter, Scalable

Profits with Fluid Pay

T he evolution of the payments industry is nothing short of remarkable. In just a few decades, we’ve transitioned

from paper-based transactions to smart devices and fully cloud-based systems. ISOs and agents have been
instrumental in this transformation, guiding merchants through each major wave of change.

The Three Waves of Payment Innovation

Wave 1: From Paper to Electronic – The Rise of Countertop Terminals The first big leap occurred with the
introduction of countertop terminals and the phase-out of the manual "knuckle-buster" machines. These 80s
and 90s-era technologies freed merchants from daily bank visits and introduced electronic payments and value-
added services. Disruptive advancements like electronic checks, ACH, and wire transfers followed, creating
faster payment flows and new recurring revenue opportunities for merchants.
Wave 2: The Mobile Revolution and the Fintech Boom The smartphone changed everything. No longer
just communication devices, mobile phones became powerful tools for payments, ushering in a new era of
ecommerce. Giants like Amazon and PayPal leveraged mobile tech to transform shopping behavior. Today,
mobile-based commerce is a booming market worth nearly $100 billion—and still growing.
Wave 3: EMV, AI, and Intelligent Payments We’re now in the age of EMV cards and artificial intelligence. AI is
rapidly becoming one of fintech’s most transformative tools—helping monitor transactions, prevent fraud, and
deliver real-time insights. By integrating with crypto, gateways, and emerging payment rails, AI is making the
future of payments faster, safer, and smarter.

The Birth of Fluid Pay: Designed to Be Different
Simplifying payments has never been simple. After more than 20 years combined at NMI, Nick Cucci and Jeff Rooney
decided to disrupt the status quo. In 2017, they launched Fluid Pay, a truly cloud-based payment platform.
Unlike other companies that only partially use the cloud, Fluid Pay’s entire infrastructure—databases, processors,
everything—runs fully in the cloud. This allows for instant scalability and unmatched flexibility.

“Our mission from day one has been clear,” said Cucci. “We built a cloud-first platform that scales with merchants of all
sizes—without ever competing with our partners.

We don’t sell merchant accounts, and we never will. We’re here to make our partners shine from behind the scenes.”
Before launching Fluid Pay, Cucci stepped away from fintech to run a car dealership.

But after four years, he and Rooney were ready to return to their fintech roots—and they started Fluid Pay from a modest
10x10 airplane hangar office in West Chicago, IL.

Built for Growth: Fluid Pay’s Partner-First Approach

Own Your Pricing: Partners can fully manage pricing structures for sub-partners, agents, and merchants. Fluid
Pay allows direct merchant billing or partner-controlled billing models.
Simplify Billing: With a single, all-inclusive monthly fee for active services, partners avoid the per-product
charges common with other gateways. This streamlines cost management and reduces complexity.
Guaranteed Non-Competition: Fluid Pay stands alone with its formal non-compete guarantee. They will never
underwrite, poach, or sell to your merchants. Trust and innovation are at the company’s core.
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