Priority Racks up Revenue Gains As It Looks to Expand Into New Services Such As Cash Processing

Priority Technology Holdings LLC late on Wednesday reported $144 million in revenue for 2021’s December quarter and $514.9 million for the full year, increases of 35.7% and 27.4% year-over-year, respectively. 

The Alpharetta, Ga.-based company, which ranks among the 25 largest merchant processors in the country, handles payments and related services for enterprise businesses as well as small sellers, a wide spectrum unusual among most payments providers. 

“Our financial performance for the quarter and the year reflects the strength we anticipated and expect to achieve in the months and quarters ahead,” said Tom Priore, Priority chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. “We have built a one-of-a-kind technology and operating platform to collect, store, and send money to power modern commerce networks.”

Priority Holdings LLC went public in the summer of 2018 as the result of a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company called M I Acquisitions Inc. At that time, it took on the name Priority Technology Holdings Inc., and since then has enjoyed steady growth. The company’s MX Merchant Suite, which serves small and medium-sized businesses through a network of independent sales organizations and software vendors, serves more than 240,000 merchant accounts and processes more than $62 billion in yearly volume, according to information the company released Thursday. Growth rates were not immediately available.

Among recent ventures for Priority is a partnership with The Brinks Co., the cash-transportation company. In January, Priority agreed to participate in BLUbeem, a program Brink’s announced in December to let merchants take in cash payments and have them credited through a mobile app to their bank accounts through Brink’s.

Priority has also grown increasingly profitable, with a nearly 50% increase year-over-year in gross profit in the latest quarter to $48.7 million. Gross profit for all of 2021 totaled $155 million, up 22% from 2020, the company reported.