Oct. 19, 2022

A payment technology company based in Sioux Falls is growing quickly as it helps small and midsized businesses better connect with their customers.

Phase 3 Payments has been in operation since March 1, 2021, and partners Blake Wilson and Dustin Robinson have seen it expand rapidly since its creation. The company focuses on working with smaller businesses in the retail and restaurant industries to offer a new payment gateway and “gold-standard customer service,” the owners said.

“Our industry has had a bad rep for a long time, getting people into bad contracts, rate increases and poor customer service,” said Wilson, who serves as CEO. “Our game plan since day one is no contracts, earning the business month in and out. And we find the best tech that works with your business, whether that’s in-house or one of the new softwares coming out every day.”

Phase 3’s payment gateways allow clients to accept typical credit card payments, Venmo or crypto.

Local customers include newly opened SoDak Soda and ‘Brosia Bowl, along with more established businesses like Stubbies, though the company does have a footprint across the country.

“A business probably has over 90 percent of their revenue coming through credit card processing — even B2B businesses,” Wilson said. “That gateway is an extremely important part of their business, and if they don’t have someone to talk to directly (instead of a chat bot) when things go wrong, then it could be devastating.”

The company has “been growing like crazy” in the past six months, seeing a 200 percent increase in revenue. While the team is working remotely, Phase 3 Payments plans to move into an office at the Lake Lorraine development within the next six months. Technology and service employees will work from the office while salespeople will continue to work remotely.

The office is just under 6,000 square feet, and Wilson plans to move 12 employees into the space.

“It’s pretty big for that size,” Wilson said. “But I know we’ll continue to grow, so I got an office a little bigger than we need right out the gate.”