Clear terms before you start
Processing, software, equipment, and other services can have different agreements. We want the merchant to understand what applies before anything goes live.
About
We knew business owners
We knew business owners
deserved better.
So we built Phase 3.
Blake Wilson and Dustin Robinson founded Phase 3 on March 1, 2021 after spending years in the payments industry.
We had seen what business owners hated most: confusing pricing, agreements they did not understand, hardware that did not fit the business, and support that disappeared when something went wrong.
So we built Phase 3 around a simpler idea: understand the business first, recommend what actually fits, and stay accountable after the sale.
Today, Phase 3 brings payments, point of sale, and digital growth together from one Sioux Falls team.
- $1.7B
- Annual processing volume
- 2,000+
- Active merchants
- 98%
- Merchant retention
- No. 1,710
- Inc. 5000, 2026
$1.7B annual processing volume, 2,000+ active merchants, and 98% merchant retention are based on Phase 3 records.
Inc. 5000 ranked Phase 3 No. 1,710 on the 2026 list.
Phase 3 was previously ranked No. 427 with 955% three year growth.
Why we exist
We saw what business owners hated.
We saw what business owners hated.
So we built around it.
We kept seeing the same frustrations. Pricing that was difficult to compare. Equipment chosen before anyone understood the business. Agreements that merchants did not fully understand. Support that felt very different after the sale than it did before it.
None of those problems required a new invention. They required a different way of operating.
Phase 3 was built to understand the business first, explain the options clearly, recommend the payment setup that actually fits, and stay involved after the merchant starts processing.
Make the decision easier to understand. Then earn the relationship after the sale.
How we operate
Simple principles.
Simple principles.
Applied to the real business.
The right answer can change from one merchant to the next. The way we make the decision should not.
Understand the business, explain the options, make the terms clear, and support what gets implemented.
Pricing you can understand
We explain the processing structure, recurring charges, equipment costs when applicable, and the numbers used to compare the options before recommending a change.
If something costs money, it should not be difficult to find.
Support after the sale
Payment and equipment support is available 24/7 from a US based team. The exact support path can also depend on the processor, software provider, gateway, or technology involved in the merchant setup.
The relationship should not disappear when the application is approved.
The system should fit the business
A restaurant, contractor, retailer, clinic, professional firm, and online business do not need the same payment setup. We start with how the business actually operates before deciding what technology belongs in it.
Sometimes the right answer is keeping what already works.
If it does not fit the business, we should say so.
Sometimes the right recommendation is a new system. Sometimes it is changing only the payment setup. Sometimes it is leaving part of the current operation alone.
The people
The people
The people
behind Phase 3.
Phase 3 was founded by Blake Wilson and Dustin Robinson. The company has grown a lot since 2021, but it is still personal to the people building it.
Our families have been part of the story from the beginning. We want the businesses we work with to know there are real people behind the company, the decisions, and the support.
Blake Wilson
Chief Executive Officer
Blake co founded Phase 3 and leads the company, product direction, growth, and the decisions about what Phase 3 builds next.
For Blake, building a company worth putting his family's name behind matters as much as how fast it grows.
Dustin Robinson
Chief Sales Officer
Dustin co founded Phase 3 and leads the relationships, sales organization, and the work of turning a merchant opportunity into a long term Phase 3 relationship.
For Dustin, the company is personal too. The people behind the business matter just as much as the numbers behind it.
The team behind the founders
The company is bigger than two people.
Phase 3 is supported by the people who work with merchants every day across sales, applications, underwriting communication, implementation, payment and equipment support, product, and Phase 3 Digital.
The goal is simple: when a merchant needs something after the sale, there should still be a company behind the answer.
Growth
Every figure on this site, and where it came from.
We would rather attribute a figure than let you assume it is bigger than it is.
| Figure | What it is |
|---|---|
| No. 1,710 Inc. 5000, 2026 | Inc. 5000, 2026 list. Reported by SiouxFalls.Business, August 2026. This is our current ranking. |
| Previously No. 427 on the Inc. 5000 with 955% three-year growth | A prior Inc. 5000 ranking. We are proud of it, and it is history rather than our current position, so we do not present it as one. |
| $1.7B Processed a year | Company-reported annual processing volume. |
| 2,000+ Active merchants | Company-reported active merchant count. |
| 98% Stay with us | Company-reported merchant retention. With no contract holding anyone in place, which is the part we are actually proud of. |
Sioux Falls
Why being here matters.
Not as a marketing line. As an operating constraint.
When your office is in the same city as a meaningful share of your customers, you run into them. At the grocery store, at their kid’s game, at the restaurant you are processing for. That is a real check on how you treat people, and it is one most of this industry does not have.
We serve merchants nationwide from Sioux Falls. But the standard is set by the ones we might bump into on a Saturday.