Usio, Inc 10-K for FY2025
Usio, Inc. (USIO)
About this 10-K
Usio, Inc filed this 10-K on March 18, 2026, covering the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 (FY2025).
Headline figures
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, as reported in this filing, compared with the same period a year earlier where the filing states it.
- Revenue
- $85.39M
- up 3.0% from $82.93M a year earlier
- Net loss
- $2.51M
- compared with net income of $3.31M a year earlier
- Diluted EPS
- -$0.09
- compared with $0.12 a year earlier
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form
(Mark One)
| | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 or 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended
For the transition period from ______ to ______
Commission File No.
USIO, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading symbol(s) | Name on each exchange on which registered |
| | | The |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. ☐ Yes ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. ☐Yes ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer ☐ | Accelerated filer ☐ |
| Smaller reporting company | |
| Emerging Growth company |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant's executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).
The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant on June 30, 2025, was $
As of March 16, 2026, the number of outstanding shares of the registrant's common stock was
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE: Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of Part III will be incorporated by reference information from the registrant’s proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the solicitation of proxies for the registrant’s 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on June 9, 2026.
| Usio, Inc. |
| FORM 10-K |
| For the Year Ended December 31, 2025 |
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| Item 1. | Business. | 1 |
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| Item 1B. | Unresolved Staff Comments. | 19 |
| Item 1C. | Cybersecurity. | 19 |
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| Item 7. |
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. |
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| Item 9. |
Changes In and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure. |
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| Item 9A |
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| Item 9C. | Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections. | 71 |
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| Item 12. |
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters. |
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| Item 13. |
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence. |
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FACTORS THAT MAY AFFECT FUTURE RESULTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K, or this Annual Report or this report, and the documents incorporated herein by reference contain certain forward-looking statements as defined under the federal securities laws. Specifically, all statements other than statements of historical facts included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K regarding our financial performance, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations and any other future events are forward-looking statements and based on our beliefs and assumptions. If used in this report, the words "will," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," and words or phrases of similar import are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect our current view with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, including, but without limitation, those risks and uncertainties contained in the Risk Factors section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC. Although we believe that our expectations are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Based upon changing conditions, any one or more of these events described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected or intended may not occur. All prior and subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to our Company or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. We do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this Annual Report to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as required by law.
Factors to consider when evaluating these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:
| • | Loss of key resellers could reduce our revenue growth. |
| • | If our security applications are breached by cyberattacks or are not adequate to address changing market conditions and customer concerns, we may incur significant losses and be unable to sell our services. |
| • | Our efforts to expand our product portfolio and market reach, including through acquisitions, may not succeed and may reduce our revenue growth and we may not achieve or maintain profitability. |
| • | Unauthorized disclosure of cardholder data, whether through breach of our computer systems or otherwise, could expose us to liability and protracted and costly litigation. |
| • | We have incurred substantial losses in the past and may incur additional losses in the future, and we may need additional financing in the future. We may be unable to obtain additional financing or if we obtain financing it may not be on terms favorable to us. Our inability to obtain additional financing when needed, or financing on terms favorable to us, could result in the loss of your entire investment. |
EXPLANATORY NOTE
This Annual Report includes estimates and other statistical data made by independent parties and by us relating to market size and growth and other data about our industry. This data involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such estimates. In addition, projections, assumptions and estimates of our future performance and the future performance of the markets in which we operate are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
We own or have rights to trademarks or trade names that we use in connection with the operation of our business, including our corporate names, logos and website names. In addition, we own or have the rights to copyrights, trade secrets and other proprietary rights that protect the content of our products and the formulations for such products. Solely for convenience, some of the trademarks, trade names and copyrights referred to in this report are listed without the ©, ® and ™ symbols, but we will assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights to our trademarks, trade names and copyrights. Please see “Business –Trademarks and Domain Names” for more information.
Other trademarks and trade names in this Annual Report are the property of their respective owners.
SUMMARY OF RISK FACTORS
The following is a summary of the most significant risks and uncertainties that we believe could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition to the following summary, you should consider the other information set forth in the “Risk Factors” section and the other information contained in this Annual Report.
Risks Related to Our Business
| • | Loss of key resellers could reduce our revenue growth. |
| • | Market conditions could negatively impact our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition. |
| • | If our security applications are breached by cyberattacks or are not adequate to address changing market conditions and customer concerns, we may incur significant losses and be unable to sell our services. |
| • | Our efforts to expand our product portfolio and market reach, including through acquisitions, may not succeed and may reduce our revenue growth and we may not achieve or maintain profitability. |
| • | Unauthorized disclosure of cardholder data, whether through breach of our computer systems or otherwise, could expose us to liability and protracted and costly litigation. |
| • | If our efforts to protect the security of information about our customers, cardholders and vendors are unsuccessful, we may face additional costly government enforcement actions and private litigation, and our sales and reputation could suffer. |
| • | If we fail to comply with the applicable requirements of the respective card networks, they could seek to fine us, suspend us or terminate our registrations. |
| • | If we do not adapt to rapid technological change, including as a result of AI, our business may fail. |
| • | Fraud by merchants or others could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition. |
| • | We have incurred substantial losses in the past and may incur additional losses in the future, and we may need additional financing in the future. We may be unable to obtain additional financing or if we obtain financing it may not be on terms favorable to us. Our inability to obtain additional financing when needed, or financing on terms favorable to us, could result in the loss of your entire investment. |
| • | Business interruptions or systems failures may impair the availability of our websites, applications, products or services, or otherwise harm our business. |
| • | We rely on our relationship with the Automated Clearing House network, and if the Federal Reserve rules were to change, our business could be adversely affected. |
| • | If we lose key personnel or we are unable to attract, recruit, retain and develop qualified employees, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. |
| • | If our third-party card processing providers or our bank sponsors fail to comply with the applicable requirements of Visa, Mastercard and Discover credit card associations or if our current processors cancel or fail to renew our contracts, we may have to find a new third-party processing provider, which could increase our costs. |
| • | We may not be able to obtain and maintain sufficient insurance coverage. |
| • | We have recorded significant deferred tax assets, and we might never realize their full value, which would result in a charge against our earnings. |
| • | Our prepaid card revenues from the sale of services to merchants that accept Mastercard cards are dependent upon our continued Mastercard registration and financial institution sponsorship and, in some cases, continued participation in certain payment networks. |
| • | If our software fails, and we need to repair or replace it, or we become subject to warranty claims, our costs could increase. |
| • | We will be liable for separation payments in case of change in control, termination without cause, non-renewal of the agreement, death, or disability under the employment agreement with our Chairman, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Hoch, which could have an adverse effect on our cash position and on our financial results. |
| • | We depend on Louis A. Hoch, our Chairman, President, Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer, and if he ceased to be active in our management, our business may not be successful. |
| • | Risks associated with reduced levels of consumer spending could adversely affect our revenues and earnings. |
| • | We are subject to risks and write-offs resulting from fraudulent activities and losses from overdrawn cardholder accounts that could adversely impact our financial performance and results of operations. |
| • | Our business strategy includes identifying businesses and assets to acquire, and if we cannot integrate acquisitions into our Company successfully, we may have limited growth. |
| • | If we do not manage our credit risks related to our merchant accounts, we may incur significant losses. |
Risks Related to Our Industry
| • | The electronic commerce market is evolving and if it does not continue to grow, we may not be able to sell sufficient services to make our business viable. |
| • | If we cannot compete successfully in our industry, we could lose market share and our costs could increase. |
| • | Payments and other financial services-related regulations and oversight are material to our business and any failure by us to comply could materially harm our business. |
| • | As an agent of, and third-party service provider to, our issuing banks, we are subject to indirect regulation and direct audit and examination by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or FRB, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. |
| • | We are subject to U.S. laws, regulations, rules, standards, policies, contractual obligations and other legal obligations, particularly those related to privacy, data protection and information security, and our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could harm our business. |
| • | We are subject to the CARD Act which could subject us to civil and criminal liabilities. |
| • | Our business is subject to U.S. federal anti-money laundering, or AML, laws and regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act, or BSA. AML laws among other things, require certain financial services providers to develop and implement risk-based anti-money laundering programs, report large cash transactions and suspicious activity and maintain transaction records. |
| • | We are subject to regulations relating to prepaid card programs which could further increase our compliance costs. |
| • | The use of AI could make us subject to evolving regulatory risks |
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
| • | Our stock price is volatile, and you may not be able to sell your shares at a price higher than what you paid. |
| • | If security or industry analysts publish reports that are interpreted negatively by the investment community, publish negative research reports about our business, cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports or us, our share price could decline. |
| • | Additional stock issuances could result in significant dilution to our stockholders. |
| • | We may issue additional equity securities, or engage in other transactions that could dilute our book value or affect the priority of our common stock, which may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. |
| • | We may issue shares of preferred stock with greater rights than our common stock. |
| • | We have not paid any cash dividends in the past and have no plans to issue cash dividends in the future, which could cause our common stock to have a lower value than that of similar companies which do pay cash dividends. |
| • | Shares eligible for future sale may depress our stock price. |
| • | Our directors and officers have substantial control over us. |
| • | We have adopted certain measures that may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of our Company. |
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Unless the context indicates otherwise, all references in this Annual Report to “Usio,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Usio, Inc. and its subsidiaries.
General
As a cloud-based, Fintech payment processor, we serve multiple industry verticals with technology that facilitates payment acceptance and funds disbursement in a single, full-stack ecosystem. We provide payment acceptance through multiple payment methods including: payment facilitation, prepaid card and electronic billing products and services to businesses, merchants and consumers. We seek to grow our business both organically through the continued development and enhancement of our products and services and through acquisitions of new products and services. We will continue to look for opportunities (both internally and externally) to enhance our offerings to meet customer demands as they arise.
Since 1998, through our merchant services business lines, which now consist of Automated Clearing House, or ACH, and complementary services, credit card processing and prepaid cards, Usio has entered a number of market verticals within the payments industry in order to satisfy the growing payment needs of consumers and merchants across the United States. Beginning with our Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment, or EBPP, product that launched the Company, we entered into the electronic funds transfer space through the ACH network, developing ancillary and complementary products such as PINless debit in 2016, and Remotely Created Checks, or RCC, account validation, and account inquiry in 2019. These supplementary product options offer customers access to faster and more convenient payment options and tools to improve operating efficiencies. Further, our credit card payment offering was expanded in 2017 with the development of Payment Facilitation, or PayFac, which utilizes our unique technology that allows for instant enrollment of merchants and combined our suite of payment options into an integrated platform for merchants and customers to utilize.
Through our innovative Prepaid Debit Card platform, we offer a variety of prepaid card products such as reloadable, incentive, promotional and corporate card programs. Combined with our printing and mailing services, we can satisfy the diverse requirements of customer needs with physical and virtual document creation and distribution, including traditional paper checks. Our Consumer Choice product, developed and introduced in 2022, provides flexible ways to initiate a variety of payment distributions through a multitude of payment methods including physical prepaid and virtual cards, ACH, paper checks, real-time PINless debit and others. This offering allows us a superior opportunity to increase our cross-selling efforts through all of our payment methods. Throughout 2025, we enhanced our Consumer Choice product to accommodate additional methods of disbursement, such as issuing funds through PayPal and Venmo, alongside integration with the PIN4 network to allow cardless ATM withdrawals.
With the growing need for faster payment methods, we continue to invest in technology that can help us further expand our suite of payment technology. With the rise of Real Time Payments, or RTP, we began expansion into this market vertical in 2023, which serves as an alternative to ACH payments. We also continue to enhance our existing product offerings, with improvements in reporting, data management, fraud and risk monitoring, ease of access, and accelerations in client onboarding and implementation times. With our transition to a cloud-based platform, our speed, security, and scalability in payment processing have been further expanded, allowing us to seamlessly grow as the market demands.
In our over 25 year history, we have created a loyal customer base that relies on us for our convenient, secure, innovative and adaptive services and technology, and we have built long-standing and valuable relationships with premier banking institutions such as Fifth Third Bank, Sunrise Bank, TransPecos Bank and others.
Payment Acceptance. We provide integrated electronic payment processing services to merchants and businesses, including credit, and debit card-based processing services and electronic funds transfer via the ACH network. The ACH network is a nationwide electronic funds transfer system that is regulated by the Federal Reserve and the National Automatic Clearing House Association, or NACHA, the electronic payments association, and provides for the clearing of electronic payments between participating financial institutions. Our ACH processing services enable merchants or businesses to both disburse and collect funds electronically using e-checks instead of traditional paper checks. An e-check is an electronic debit to a bank checking account that is initiated at the point-of-sale, on the Internet, over the telephone, or via a bill payment sent through the mail via a physical check. E-checks are processed using the ACH network. We are one of nine companies that hold the prestigious NACHA certification for Third-Party Senders and were the second company to receive the certification and are the most tenured to hold the certification.
Our payment acceptance services are delivered in a variety of forms and situations. For example, our capabilities allow merchants to convert a paper check to an e-check or receive card authorization at the point-of-sale, allow our merchants’ respective customer service representatives to take e-check or card payments from their consumers by telephone, and enable their consumers to make e-check or card payments directly through the use of a website or by calling an interactive voice response telephone system.
Similarly, our PINless debit product allows merchants to debit and credit accounts in real-time.
In the first half of 2025, we began, and completed, development of a new EBPP product. This offering allows merchants to create and distribute bills to their customers that can be viewed, and paid, online through our platform and payment processing services, increasing the opportunities for cross-selling between our various business lines.
Card-Based Services. Our card-based processing services enable merchants to process both traditional card-present, tap-and-pay, or "swipe" transactions, as well as card-not-present transactions. A traditional card-present transaction occurs whenever a card holder physically presents a credit or debit card to a merchant at the point-of-sale. A card-not-present transaction occurs whenever the customer does not physically present a payment card at the point-of-sale and may occur over the Internet, mail, or telephone. A tap-and-pay transaction occurs whenever a consumer taps their phone on a physical terminal utilizing third party wallet services like Apple Pay®, Samsung Pay™ and Google Pay™.
Payment Facilitation. Following the completion of the Singular Payments acquisition in 2017, we launched our payment facilitation, or PayFac, platform called "PayFac-in-a-Box" in late 2018 targeting partnership opportunities with app and software developers in bill-centric verticals, such as legal, healthcare, property management, utilities and insurance. The PayFac-in-a-Box platform 'integration layer' offers a simple integration experience for technology companies who are looking to monetize payments within an existing base of downstream clients. The added value of offering our integration partners access to real-time merchant enrollment, credit card, debit card, ACH and prepaid card issuance capabilities through a single vendor partner relationship in face-to-face, mobile and virtual payment acceptance environments provides a true single channel commerce experience through an application programming interface, or API.
Prepaid and Incentive Card Services. Through our December 2014 acquisition of the assets of Akimbo Financial, Inc., we added a highly talented technical staff of industry subject matter experts and an innovative cardholder service platform including cardholder web and mobile applications and launched what is now our UsioCard business. As a result of this acquisition, through our subsidiary, FiCentive, Inc., we offer customizable prepaid cards which companies use for expense management, incentives, refunds, claims and disbursements, as well as unique forms of compensation such as per diem payments, government disbursements, and similar payments. This comprehensive money disbursement platform allows businesses to pay their contractors, employees, or other recipients by choosing among a prepaid debit Mastercard, real-time deposit to a checking account, traditional ACH, direct deposit or paper check. These cardholder web and mobile applications have been fully integrated into FiCentive’s prepaid card core processor, and now support all program types and brands offered by FiCentive and its clients.
As part of our Prepaid card-based processing services, we develop and manage a variety of Mastercard-branded prepaid card program types, including consumer reloadable, consumer gift, incentive, promotional, general and government disbursement and corporate expense cards. We also offer prepaid cards to consumers for use as a tool to stay on budget, manage allowances and share money with family and friends. Our UsioCard platform supports Apple Pay®, Samsung Pay™ and Google Pay™ with full mobile wallet provisioning.
In 2025 we also launched, and rolled out a new distribution strategy for our Prepaid card services, with a wearable device program. Our prepaid cards can now be successfully loaded onto items such as watches, wristbands, belt buckles, or nearly any wearable product through the use of embedded chips. We first demonstrated this new product in October 2025, and continue to refine the product, anticipating it will assist in enhancing our prepaid card program's marketability and diversity in the overall payment ecosystem.
Electronic and Paper Billing. On December 15, 2020, we entered into the business of electronic bill presentment, document composition, document decomposition and printing and mailing services serving hundreds of customers representing a wide range of industry verticals, including utilities and financial institutions, through the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Information Management Solutions, LLC, or IMS. This product offering provides an outsourced solution for document design, print, and electronic delivery to potential customers and entities looking to reduce postage costs and increase efficiencies. This acquisition increased our ability to grow new revenue streams and allowed us to reenter the electronic bill presentment and payment revenue stream. Usio Output Solutions, Inc., or Output Solutions, offers a unique, and complementary payment related solution to our merchant services products of ACH, credit card, and prepaid card processing, with an opportunity for enhanced cross-selling efforts. The success of this business line depends on our ability to realize the anticipated growth opportunities, although we cannot provide any assurance that we will be able to realize these opportunities. Since the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of IMS, we have invested in new equipment to enhance the capacity and speed of the business unit, such as a new inserter and folder, on October 1, 2023, that was implemented over the course of 2024, and a new printer in September 2025 that will be installed and operational in the first half of 2026. Further, in December 2024, we partnered with an outsourced presorting company to further automate our print and mail systems. Despite challenges in growing revenues from Output Solutions in 2025, we have significantly reduced labor costs related to print and mail processing. We believe this reduction has better positioned the business line to pursue and successfully generate much larger opportunities than we previously were able to through the increase in capacity and automation. Results have already been realized, as the quantity of mail we printed and delivered in the first two months of 2026 was higher than in any other two-month period in the history of the Company.
"Usio One". Throughout 2025, we adopted and began implementing our "Usio One" strategy, designed to unify our brand, sales approach, and payments offerings. Through this strategy, we are developing enhanced client onboarding features, superior customer management, improved reporting and fraud monitoring, alongside a consolidated sales and marketing team to better cross-sell our various payment methods and ancillary services. We believe this strategy will help better position our merchant services and Output Solutions business segments to customers and the broader payments related market as a more cohesive service offering. In turn, we anticipate being able to better leverage our resources, reduce friction in new customer acquisition, and drive more meaningful cross-selling opportunities, which we anticipate will help increase our products' stickiness and customer retention. Success from this strategy has already been realized by our sales and client management staff through the generation of new integrations between our existing customers and our ancillary business lines. The consolidation of our various technologies into a more seamless product continues to progress, and we anticipate that it will ultimately result in a client and customer onboarding process that enables all of our customers to automatically be enrolled in, and have access to, each of our payment acceptance and issuing products. In turn, we expect this to eliminate the need for distinct contracts, dashboards, funding accounts, and support teams per product.
PostCredit Acquisition. In November of 2025, we acquired substantially all of the assets of PostCredit, allowing an entry point into the expense management space. PostCredit was a developing technology that would cater to companies looking for fund management and expense tracking that integrated with various Enterprise Resource Planning, or ERP, systems. The Company anticipates continuing to develop this technology, while simultaneously integrating it into our existing products, opening a new sales channel to the broader market already utilizing ERPs such as Microsoft Business Dynamics and Business Central. This would combine seamlessly with the EBPP product launched in 2025, allowing clients to send invoices, payments, manage funds, and reconcile with their various ERP platforms utilizing our payment channels. In combination with the other efforts of our Usio One strategy, we believe we will be able to develop a central Usio Hub that further encourages and incentivizes the utilization of our products, cross-sells our corporate expense solution, and assists in retaining the deposits we hold for our customers to help maintain or grow our interest revenues. We believe we will be able to implement phased portions of this strategy, and other PostCredit related projects, by the end of 2026.
Industry Background and Trends
In the United States, the use of non-paper-based forms of payment, such as credit and debit cards, has risen steadily over the past several years. According to the triennial 2022 Federal Reserve Payments Study, or FRPS, as updated through July 27, 2023, with supplementary reporting on Cards and Alternative Payments in 2021 and 2022 released in November 2024, the estimated number of non-cash payments continue to increase at accelerated rates. This data was further supplemented by the Federal Reserve's Diary of Consumer Payment Choice, released annually, and last updated in 2025, covering statistics from 2024.
The growth of electronic commerce has made the acceptance of card-based and other electronic forms of payment crucial for businesses, both large and small, in order to remain competitive.
| • | In 2024, cash payment use as a percentage of total payments was 14%, having declined every year since 2021, and down from 31% in 2016.1 |
| • | In 2024, credit and debit card payments accounted for 65% of U.S. consumers total payments per month, up from 51% of total payments in 2018.1 |
| • | 23% of consumer purchases and peer-to-peer payments were made remotely in 2024, a share that has increased each year since 2021 when it was 18%.1 |
| • | U.S. consumers made an average of 11 payments per month with a mobile phone in 2024, up from four payments per month in 2018.1 |
| • | The value of core noncash payments in the United States grew 9.5% per year from 2018 through 2021, faster than in any previous FRPS measurement period since 2000.2 |
| • | The number of core non-cash payments, comprising debit card, credit card, ACH, and check payments, reached 204.5 billion in 2021, an increase of 30.7 billion from 2018. The value of these payments totaled $128.51 trillion in 2021, an increase of $31.47 trillion from 2018, more than twice the rate of increase in the previous three-year period (2015 to 2018).2 |
| • | ACH payments exhibited accelerating growth, increasing 8.3% per year by number and 12.7% per year by value from 2018 to 2021, and accounted for more than 90% of the rise in non-cash payments.2 |
| • | In 2021 ACH transfers grew to $91.85 trillion, representing 72% of core non-cash payments value.2 |
| • | For calendar year 2022, general-purpose (GP) card payments reached 153.3 billion transactions and $9.76 trillion in value.2 |
| • | From 2021 to 2022, GP card payments grew 6.0% by number and 10.5% by value, effectively continuing the growth trajectory from 2018 to 2021, where they grew 6.5% and 10.3% by year, respectively.2 |
| • | In 2022, remote payments represented 36.2% of the total number of card payments, down slightly versus the 37.7% of total card payments at the end of 2020. This decline represented the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.2 |
| • | Chip authenticated payments accounted for 87.5% of in-person GP card payments in 2022, compared to 75.2% in 2020, while 29.1% used chip and PIN, and 19.7% were contactless.2 |
| • | From 2015 to 2018, total card payments - the sum of credit card, non-prepaid debit card and prepaid debit card payments - increased 25.9 billion to reach 157 billion payments by number and increased $2.35 trillion to reach $9.43 trillion by value in 2018.2 |
| • | In 2022, private-label (PL) card payments, including PL credit cards, PL prepaid cards, and electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards, totaled 12.8 billion transactions and $0.64 trillion in value, down 2.1% and 18.1% respectively from 2021.2 |
| • | Within card payments, prepaid debit card payments had the highest growth rate in 2021 over 2018, by value, at 20.6%, compared with 13.7% per year for non-prepaid debit card payments and 7% for credit card payments.2 |
| • | Mobile wallet payments continued to exhibit strong growth, reaching 14.4 billion transactions in 2022, up from 2.9 billion in 2018.2 |
1 Source: 2024 Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice.
2 Source: 2022 Federal Reserve Payments Study & 2023 annual Supplement.
Figure 1 (below) illustrates the overall growth in key non-cash metrics since the Federal Reserve Payments Study was first reported for the year 2000 and reflects the acceleration of growth in recent years.
Figure 2 (below) illustrates the overall growth in key cash metrics since the Federal Reserve Payments Study was first reported for the year 2000 and reflects the acceleration of growth in recent years.
Note: All estimates are on a triennial basis, except that card payments were estimated for every year since 2015. Credit card payments include general-purpose and private-label versions. Prepaid debit card payments include general-purpose, private-label, and electronic benefits transfer, or EBT, versions. Estimates for prepaid debit card payments are not available for 2000 or 2003. The points mark years for which data were collected and estimates were produced. Lines connecting the points are linear interpolations.
Source: 2022 Federal Reserve Payments Study & 2023 annual Supplement.
Figure 3 (below) illustrates the overall percentage share of payment instrument use for all payments since 2016 and reflects the increasing share of non cash payment each year.
Source: 2024 Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice.
We believe that the electronic payment processing industry will continue to benefit from the following trends:
Favorable Demographics
As consumers age, we expect that they will continue to use the payment technology to which they have grown accustomed. More consumers are beginning to use card-based and other electronic payment methods for purchases at an earlier age. These consumers have witnessed the wide adoption of card products, technology innovations such as mobile phone payment applications, widespread adoption of the internet and a significant increase in card not present transactions and on-line shopping during COVID-19, which subsequently remained at levels higher than prior to 2020. As younger consumers comprise an increasing percentage of the population and as they enter the work force, we expect purchases using electronic payment methods will become a larger percentage of total consumer spending. We believe the increasing usage of smart phones as an instrument of payment will also create further opportunities for us in the future. We also believe that contact-less payments such as Apple Pay®, Samsung Pay™ and Google Pay™ will increase payment processing opportunities for us.
Increased Electronic Payment Acceptance by Small Businesses
Small businesses are a vital component of the U.S. economy and are expected to contribute to the increased use of electronic payment methods. The lower costs associated with electronic payment methods are making these services more affordable to a larger segment of the small business market. In addition, we believe these businesses are experiencing increased pressure to accept electronic payment methods in order to remain competitive and to meet consumer expectations. As a result, many of these small businesses are seeking to provide customers with the ability to pay for merchandise and services using electronic payment methods, including those in industries that have historically accepted cash and checks as the only forms of payment for their merchandise and services.
Growth in Online Transactions
Market researchers expect continued growth in card-not-present transactions due to the steady growth of the internet and electronic commerce. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, estimated retail e-commerce sales for 2024 were estimated at $1,192.6 billion, an increase of approximately 8.1% from 2023, and e-commerce sales in 2024 accounted for 16.1% of total sales, compared to 15.3% in 2023.
Strategy
We believe that our success in 2026 and beyond will continue to depend in large part on our ability to (a) scale recurring revenues and deepen partner relationships, (b) expand our product offerings, (c) pursue disciplined, accretive opportunities, (d) enhance shareholder value via operational execution and capital allocation, and (e) assimilate current and future acquisitions of companies and customer portfolios. We will continue to invest in our sales force and technology platforms to drive revenue growth. In particular, we are focused on growing our ACH merchants, adding new software integrators, and growing our electronic bill presentment, document composition, document decomposition, printing and mailing services business while providing incremental services to existing merchants. In addition to our near-term growth opportunities, we are focused on leveraging and optimizing the infrastructure of our business to enable expansion of our payment processing and mail and printing capabilities without significantly increasing our operating costs. We continue to seek ways to grow revenue, and net new client implementations and onboards occur regularly due to our ability to address the needs of our market.
Growing Revenues. Revenue growth remains a consistent focus for the Company, as we strive to achieve expanded scale, and establish a strong reputation within the financial technologies space. This growth assists us in maintaining our diversified offerings and remaining relevant in the payments ecosystem by developing payment platforms that address the current needs of our marketplace. In 2025, our revenues increased 3% to $85.4 million, as compared to $82.9 million in 2024, due primarily to strong growth in our ACH and complementary services line of business, though offset in large part by declines in our prepaid card services line of business and interest revenues. The strong growth in our ACH and complementary services line of business was due to organic growth from existing customers and net new client implementations and onboarding. The decrease in our prepaid card services revenues was due to declines from one of our key prepaid card programs, as its business was impacted by the loss of a key customer that made significant contributions to Usio revenues in 2024. Lower interest revenues were driven by interest rates and interest bearing deposits declining versus the prior year.
Expand our product offerings. We maintain a committed focus on the ever changing technological landscape within the payments ecosystem. We believe that regularly attending payments focused conferences, webinars, and training sessions, alongside our consistent communication with customers and clients, enables us to be informed of the most current, and future, applications and evolutions of financial technologies. We believe that this allows us to implement new feature functionality to existing products and introduce new payment methods. This has led to our evolution from being an EBPP provider at the Company's founding, to the diverse payment provider we are today, with offerings such as ACH processing, PINless debit, RTP, prepaid card issuance, and credit card processing. In the digital marketplace, it is especially crucial to match the need for diversified payment options in an increasingly ecommerce driven world.
Pursue disciplined, accretive opportunities. Acquisitions have been a key element in our growth-focused strategy, both by adding net new customers and by enhancing our suite of payment technologies. This is evident through our acquisitions of Akimbo Financial, Inc., Singular Payments, and IMS, which allowed us to introduce new offerings such as prepaid card issuance, PayFac, and electronic bill presentment, all of which represent significant portions of our current revenues. The Company continually evaluates the markets for opportunities to acquire or partner with accretive opportunities that align with our core competencies. In 2025, we acquired the assets of PostCredit, which we believe once again represents an opportunity to enhance our existing products and to introduce us as a new competitor in the expense management market vertical. We cannot assure you that we will be able to complete any acquisitions in the future.
Enhancing shareholder value via operational execution and capital allocation. By appropriately managing our expenses (which are discussed under "- Results of Operations - Selling, General and Administrative Expenses" below), we believe we can achieve better economies of scale, and drive revenue growth. We believe that carefully evaluating our existing selling, general and administrative, or SG&A, expenses, and balancing them against the need for client implementation and support, together with our technology staff driving product innovation, will guide our operational strategies while maintaining a focus on efficiencies and profitability. SG&A expenses were up in the year, at $18.4 million as compared to $16.7 million in the prior year. The increase in SG&A expense was primarily due to increases in salary alongside increases in network infrastructure, travel expenditures, professional fees, and other various general expenses. For more information, see "-Results of Operations - Selling, General and Administrative Expenses" below.
Assimilating Current and Future Acquisitions. The assimilation of our previous acquisitions has been critical in both the retention of purchased assets and their growth, through cross-selling and implementation into our broader infrastructure, which allows for increased diversity of offerings and support. Successfully assimilating acquisitions remains a crucial priority for the success of the Company. The recent acquisition of PostCredit represents an especially critical component of this strategy, and may require significant time investment and capital expenditure to fully implement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully assimilate new and future acquisitions.
Products and Services
Our suite of payment solutions is driven by a sophisticated infrastructure that merges our own technology with strategic alliances, offering secure, scalable, and resilient payment processing services. Leveraging the latest in cloud computing and cybersecurity, including Microsoft Azure's robust security features, we work to ensure the protection of data transmissions and transactions. Our adoption of Azure's hub-spoke architecture and other cutting-edge technologies supports enhanced performance and security, facilitating seamless integrations with third-party processors and offering tailored payment services to meet the specific requirements of our clients.
The platform supports secure data exchanges using state-of-the-art encryption standards and secure communication protocols, using the latest technology in best-practices encryption to safeguard electronic transactions across the internet. With comprehensive data warehousing, we offer efficient storage, retrieval, and data analysis, ensuring all sensitive information is encrypted and securely managed.
Payment Acceptance. Our service offerings encompass a broad spectrum of ACH transaction processing, including innovative solutions such as Represented Check and Check Conversion for electronic payment facilitation. Clients have the flexibility to initiate transactions via our online portal or leverage our expertise for transaction processing on their behalf via a robust API set.
We extend merchant services across major card networks (VISA, Mastercard, American Express, Discover), supported by online and physical terminal access. Our proprietary platform merges ACH and card processing capabilities, enabling businesses to handle both e-checks and card payments efficiently. Simultaneously, we offer a variety of supplementary service products for the payment acceptance space, such as PINless debit, and RTP, which offer faster means of fund disbursement to address the growing desire of near instant fund transfers.
The expansion of our platform and the transition to cloud-based infrastructure underscore our commitment to speed, security, and scalability in payment processing. Our direct Fed ACH system integration, facilitated by our NACHA certification, exemplifies our efforts to optimize processing efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance merchant services.
Prepaid and Incentive Card Services. Our Prepaid and Incentive Card Issuance Services are anchored by our sophisticated processing platform, which supports an array of card program types in partnership with prominent banks and offers highly customizable digital solutions. A key feature of our innovative service offerings is the integration of an external authorization engine that provides real-time transaction authorization through a unique dual-funding mechanism, enhancing transactional flexibility and user experience by allowing for the application of real-time value loads by the program managers. This engine, coupled with our comprehensive support for popular mobile wallets via Mastercard’s Digital Enablement Services, underscores our commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to deliver seamless and enriched payment experiences. Our platform's rapid custom solution deployment capability further cements our position as a leader in the market, demonstrating our dedication to innovation and operational agility in meeting the advanced payment solution needs of our clients.
Electronic Billing. Following the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of IMS, we have enhanced and expanded our services to include electronic bill presentment and comprehensive document management solutions, catering to a wide array of industries. Our state-of-the-art digital printing capabilities, combined with our status as a seamless mailer with USPS, enable us to meet high-volume demands efficiently, ensuring we remain at the forefront of printing and mailing services. Output Solutions provides printing and mailing services to utilities, healthcare providers, credit unions, banks, governmental agencies, and manufacturing and other customers that have high volume billing and printing needs. Since the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of IMS, we have invested in new equipment to enhance the capacity and speed of the business unit, such as a new inserter and folder, on October 1, 2023, that was implemented over the course of 2024. Further, in December 2024, we partnered with an outsourced presorting company to further automate our print and mail systems. Despite challenges in growing revenues from Output Solutions in 2025, we have significantly reduced labor costs related to print and mail processing. We believe this reduction has better positioned the business line to pursue and successfully generate much larger opportunities than we previously were able to through the increase in capacity and automation. Results have already been realized, as the quantity of mail we printed and delivered in the first two months of 2026 was higher than in any other two-month period in the history of the Company.
The Company capitalizes the costs associated with software developed or purchased for internal use. The software is capitalized when both the preliminary project stage is complete and the software being developed is placed-in service. Capitalized costs include only (i) external direct costs of materials and services consumed in developing or obtaining internal-use software, (ii) payroll and other related costs for employees who are directly associated with and who devote time to the internal-use software project, and (iii) interest costs incurred, when material, while developing internal-use software. The Company ceases capitalization of such costs no later than the point at which the project is substantially complete and ready for its intended purpose. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, the Company capitalized $1,102,368 and $796,004, respectively.
Relationships with Sponsors and Processors
We have agreements with several processors that provide us, on a non-exclusive basis, with transaction processing and transmittal, transaction authorization and data capture, and access to various reporting tools. In order to provide payment processing services for ACH transactions, we must maintain a relationship with an Originating Depository Financial Institution, or ODFI, in the ACH network because we are not a bank and therefore, we are not eligible to be an ODFI. For the ODFI portion of our ACH business, we have entered into agreements with the North American Banking Company, or NABC, and TransPecos Bank. We are financially liable for all fees, fines, chargebacks, and losses related to our ACH processing merchant customers. We may also require cash deposits and other types of collateral from certain merchants to mitigate any such risk. Similarly, in order to provide payment-processing services for Visa, Mastercard and Discover transactions, we must be sponsored by a financial institution that is a principal member of the respective Visa, Mastercard and Discover card associations. Central Bank of St. Louis and Fifth Third Bank have, respectively, sponsored us under the designations Third Party Processor, or TPP, and Independent Sales Organization, or ISO, with the Visa card association, and under the designations Third Party Servicer, or TPS, and Merchant Service Provider, or MSP, with the Mastercard card association. We also have an agreement with TriSource Solutions, LLC and an agreement with Global Payments, Inc. through which their member banks, Central Bank of St. Louis and Fifth Third Bank, sponsor us for membership in the Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover card associations and settle card transactions for our merchants. These agreements may be terminated by the processor if we materially breach the agreements and we do not cure the breach within 30 days, or if we enter bankruptcy or file for bankruptcy. We also maintain a bank sponsorship agreement with Sunrise Banks, N.A. for our prepaid card programs. We are liable for any card-associated losses for cards that we issue that might incur a negative balance and we are liable for card association fines, fees and chargebacks.
Under our processing agreements with TriSource Solutions and Global Payments, Inc., we are financially liable for all fees, fines, chargebacks and losses related to our card processing merchant customers. If, due to insolvency or bankruptcy of our merchant customers, or for another reason, we are unable to collect from our merchant customers amounts that have been refunded to the cardholders because the cardholders properly initiated a charge-back transaction to reverse the credit card charges, we must bear the credit risk for the full amount of the card holder transaction. We utilize a number of systems and procedures to evaluate and manage merchant risk, such as obtaining approval of prospective merchants from our processor and sponsor bank, setting transaction limits and monitoring account activity. We may also require cash deposits and other types of collateral from certain merchants to mitigate any such risk. We maintain a reserve for losses resulting from card processing and related chargebacks. We estimate our potential loss for chargebacks by performing a historical analysis of our charge-back loss experience with similar merchants and considering other factors that could affect that experience in the future, such as the types of card transactions processed and nature of the merchant relationship with their consumers.
We are currently sponsored by TransPecos Bank in order to access certain regional debit networks. Through this sponsorship, we provide both the issuance of real time credits and debits to a debit card holder via a regional network without using a PIN. Regional networks are not affiliated with major credit card associations and operate independently. Through our sponsorship with TransPecos Bank, we are financially liable for all fees, fines, chargebacks and losses related to our PINless debit card processing for our merchant customers. We may also require cash deposits and other types of collateral from certain merchants to mitigate any such risk. The banking sponsor and each of the regional debit networks have the ability to terminate our access or anyone of our merchant’s access to process payments without notice. If either case occurs, our revenue could be negatively affected. In January 2018, our previous sponsor, Pueblo Bank and Trust, terminated their relationship with our gateway provider and as a result we stopped processing PINless debit transactions for a short period of time. We secured a relationship with Evolve Bank & Trust and resumed processing PINless debit transactions and subsequently secured a sponsoring relationship with TransPecos Bank in 2023.
We maintain an allowance for estimated losses resulting from the inability or failure of our merchant customers to make required payments for fees charged by us. Amounts due from customers may be deemed uncollectible because of merchant disputes, fraud, insolvency or bankruptcy. We determine the allowance based on an account-by-account review, taking into consideration such factors as the age of the outstanding receivable, historical pattern of collections and financial condition of the customer. We closely monitor extensions of credit and if the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make contractual payments, additional allowances may be required.
Sales and Marketing
We sell and market our ACH products and services primarily through non-exclusive resellers that act as an external sales force, with minimal direct investment in sales infrastructure and management, as well as direct contact by our sales personnel. Our direct sales efforts are coordinated by two sales executives and supported by other employees who function in sales capacities. Our primary market focus is on companies generating high volumes of electronic payment transactions. We tailor our sales efforts to reach this market by pre-qualifying prospective sales leads through direct contact or market research. Our sales personnel typically initiate contact with prospective customers that we identify as meeting our targeted customer profile.
We also market and sell our prepaid card program directly to government entities, corporations and to consumers through the Internet. We have recently undertaken a major initiative to package and cross-sell our platform of payment options across our portfolio of merchants. As a part of this major initiative, we will continue to analyze our sales and marketing efforts to optimize productivity, increase sales force effectiveness, broaden our reach through reseller initiatives and advantageous alliances and effectively optimize sales and marketing expenses while meeting our revenue and profit objectives.
We also offer additional services relating to electronic bill presentment, document composition, document decomposition and printing and mailing services serving hundreds of customers representing a wide range of industry verticals, including utilities and financial institutions. This service, which we began with the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of IMS in December 2020, allows us to cross-sell existing service offerings to our customers.
Throughout 2025, we pursued the “Usio One” strategy in order to increase the integration of all of our various product offerings so that we approach the market as a unified force with a portfolio of capabilities that can meet our customers’ various electronic payment and associated needs. This strategy is designed to sell multiple, complementary Usio products to an increasing number of clients who benefit from the synergies and efficiencies that arise from consolidating their relationship. We have already seen the successful cross-selling of existing client relationships with this improved organizational structure, with more well-rounded and knowledgeable staff throughout our organization able to manage clients and products that previously would have required the intervention of a separate team. We continue to build out the onboarding, funding, and management technology that will drive our consolidated platform in order to further accelerate our ability to capture an increased share of our clients' business.
Elements of this strategy include:
| • | unified onboarding process that allows every client boarded to have access to all of our various payment methods; |
| • | consolidated sales and customer support teams that can better cross-sell and integrate clients across all of our services; |
| • | improved reporting and customer management with the development of a new customer management platform that encompasses all of our business lines; and |
| • | enhanced security and fraud protection through the development of new fraud detection tools, and a unified risk and compliance team. |
Customers
Our customers are consumers, merchants, and businesses that use our ACH and/or card-based processing services in order to provide their consumers with the ability to pay for goods and services without having to use cash or a paper check. These merchant customers operate in a variety of predominately retail industries and are under contract with us to exclusively use the services that we provide to them. Through Output Solutions, we engage with customers seeking various print and mail services, alongside online document delivery and storage. Recent areas of customer focus have included system integrators, law firms, churches, charitable organizations, medical and dental clinics, doctor's offices, property management and homeowner associations, hospitality firms and municipalities. Most of our merchant customers have signed long-term contracts, generally with three-year terms, that provide for volume-based transaction fees. Our customers are geographically dispersed throughout the United States.
No customer accounted for more than 10% of revenues in 2025 or 2024.
Competition
The payment processing industry is highly competitive. Many small and large companies compete with us in providing payment processing services and related services to a wide range of merchants. There are a number of large transaction processors, including Fiserv, Inc., Elavon Inc., WorldPay, Global Payments, Inc., Stripe and Block, Inc. (formerly known as Square), that serve a broad market spectrum from large to small merchants and provide banking, automatic teller machine, and other payment-related services and systems in addition to card-based payment processing. There are also a large number of smaller transaction processors that provide various services to small and medium- sized merchants. Many of our competitors have substantially greater capital resources than us and operate as subsidiaries of financial or bank holding companies, which may allow them on a consolidated basis to own and conduct depository and other banking activities that we do not have the regulatory authority to own or conduct. We believe that the principal competitive factors in our market include:
| • |
quality of service; |
| • |
reliability of service; |
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ability to evaluate, undertake and manage risk; |
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ability to offer customized technology solutions; |
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speed in implementing payment processes; |
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price and other financial terms; and |
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multi-channel payment capability. |
We believe that our specific focus on providing integrated payment processing solutions to merchants, in addition to our keen understanding of the needs and risks associated with providing payment processing services electronically, gives us a competitive advantage over other competitors, which have a narrower market perspective, and over competitors of a similar or smaller size that may lack our experience and expertise in the electronic payments industry. We believe this allows us to satisfy the market demands for risk management and service reliability. Furthermore, we believe we present a competitive distinction through our internal technology which provides a single integrated payment warehouse that consolidates, processes, tracks and reports all payments regardless of payment source or channel. This integrated payments approach helps offer superior quality in service, alongside industry leading implementation times, and platform reliability. We also believe our customized technology solutions and high level of service provide a competitive advantage, particularly for smaller businesses that do not have large internal technology capabilities or the ability to comply with payment security regulations, saving our customers time and money, while offering a broad range of diverse payment options.
Due to our proprietary systems and our ability to create and establish corporate-branded card programs in shorter time frames than our competitors, our prepaid card offerings are competitive with those of much larger companies. We also believe that our ten plus years of prepaid industry experience in processing and managing prepaid card programs is a competitive advantage over many of our competitors. We believe our connectivity and the ability to process via the contact-less networks of Apple Pay®, Samsung Pay™ and Google Pay™ are also competitive advantages. We also believe that the Akimbo mobile application technology and advanced card holder websites provide a competitive advantage in securing both consumers and business clients that have a need for a card program for their customer base. Finally, we believe we hold a significant competitive advantage over potential entrants into the prepaid industry as a result of the significant barrier in obtaining bank sponsorships for prepaid card program management and an even higher barrier for performing prepaid card processing.
Trademarks and Domain Names
We own federally registered trademarks on the marks “Usio,” “Payment Data Systems, Inc.,” “Akimbo,” “FiCentive Innovations in Prepaid Card Solutions,” “Don’t change your bank, just your card” and “ZBILL” and their respective designs.
Some of our material websites are www.usio.com, www.payfacinabox.com, www.ficentive.com, www.akimbocard.com, and www.usiooutput.com. The inclusion of these website addresses in this Annual Report does not include or incorporate by reference the information on or accessible through these websites, and the information contained on or accessible through these websites should not be considered as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
We rely on a combination of copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements, and other intellectual property protection methods to protect our services and related products.
Government Regulation
Our industry is highly regulated. Any new, or changes made to, U.S. federal, state and local laws, regulations, card network rules or other industry standards affecting our business may require significant development efforts or have an unfavorable impact on our financial results. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may result in the suspension or revocation of licenses or registrations, the limitation, suspension or termination of services and/or the imposition of civil and criminal penalties, including fines. Certain of our services are also subject to rules set by various payment networks, such as Visa and Mastercard.
The Dodd-Frank Act
The Dodd‑Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the "Dodd-Frank Act") effected significant changes to U.S. financial regulations, including regulations addressing debit card interchange fees and merchant transaction‑routing rights. The Dodd-Frank Act also created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), which regulates consumer financial services, including many services offered by our customers. The CFPB enforces rules regarding consumer disclosures, fees and statements, error‑resolution procedures, limited liability protections and overdraft restrictions applicable to prepaid programs.
CARD Act
As an agent of, and third‑party service provider to, our issuing banks, we are subject to examination by federal banking regulators, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (“CARD Act”) imposes requirements relating to disclosures, fees and expiration dates applicable to gift certificates, store gift cards and general‑use prepaid cards. Our general‑purpose reloadable prepaid cards fall within an exclusion from certain CARD Act requirements if they are not marketed or labeled as gift cards; however, misplacement or improper display of our cards by retailers could cause these cards to lose this exemption and subject us to penalties or business disruption.
Evolving ACH and Electronic Payments Regulation
We provide services that rely on ACH payment processing, and as a result we are subject to the NACHA Operating Rules and related regulatory obligations. In recent years, NACHA has adopted several significant amendments intended to strengthen fraud prevention, increase transaction transparency, and modernize network operations.
Beginning March 20, 2026, large‑volume ACH originators and third‑party service providers (those with 2023 origination volumes of six million or more) must implement enhanced risk‑based fraud‑monitoring programs, with all other non‑consumer originators and third‑party participants becoming subject to these requirements on June 19, 2026.
NACHA also adopted amendments effective April 1, 2025 requiring all ACH Network participants—other than consumers—to implement base‑level payment‑monitoring processes intended to reduce fraud, including business‑email‑compromise‑related risk, and to improve transparency between ODFIs and Receiving Depository Financial Institutions, or RDFIs, in responding to return‑status requests.
Additional ACH Network changes include rule amendments effective March 20, 2026 addressing fraud monitoring and company entry descriptions as part of a broader risk‑management package, as well as future rules related to sanctions‑compliance return codes, international ACH transactions (IAT), and IAT contact‑registration requirements.
Recent updates to return codes such as R17 allow RDFIs to return suspected fraudulent transactions earlier in the process, and changes to the Written Statement of Unauthorized Debit (WSUD) process allow optional earlier filing for pending debits.
Beginning in June 2026, organizations that send ACH payments are expected to comply with NACHA’s new risk‑assessment and bank‑account‑verification standards.
Data Privacy Laws
Our billers, financial institutions, partners and their consumers store personal, business and financial information on our platforms, and we receive, store, handle, transmit, use and otherwise process such data. Accordingly, we are subject to a range of U.S. federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection and information security. State privacy laws—including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), as well as laws adopted in New York, Nevada, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut and Utah—continue to expand consumer data‑access, deletion, correction and opt‑out rights, and impose enhanced operational and cybersecurity requirements. All 50 states maintain data‑breach notification laws.
Regulators continue to examine issues applicable to the broader payments’ ecosystem, including identity‑theft prevention, cybersecurity, consumer disclosures and marketing practices. Partner banks face intensifying oversight responsibilities over fintech partners, requiring us to enhance BSA, AML and sanctions‑screening programs. Some state regulators may interpret certain payment‑related activities as money transmission, even without direct movement of funds.
The CFPB and certain state agencies have issued guidance affecting convenience or “pay‑to‑pay” fees in some industries. The CFPB has also proposed a rule prohibiting non‑sufficient funds fees on real‑time declined transactions and is considering extending supervisory authority to large digital‑wallet and payment‑app providers.
Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Corruption and Sanctions Regulations
In many countries, we are legally or contractually required to comply with anti-money laundering laws and regulations, such as, in the United States, the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act, and similar laws of other countries, which require that customer identifying information be obtained and verified. In some countries, we are directly subject to these requirements; in other countries, we have contractually agreed to assist our sponsor financial institutions with their obligation to comply with anti-money laundering requirements that apply to them. In addition, we and our sponsor financial institutions are subject to the laws and regulations, enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, that prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with certain prohibited persons or entities. Similar requirements apply in other countries. We have developed procedures and controls that are designed to monitor and address legal and regulatory requirements and developments and that allow our customers to protect against having direct business dealings with such prohibited countries, individuals or entities.
We are subject to anti-corruption laws and regulations, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010 and other laws that generally prohibit the making or offering of improper payments to foreign government officials and political figures for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or to gain an unfair business advantage. The FCPA has a broad reach and requires maintenance of appropriate records and adequate internal controls to prevent and detect possible FCPA violations.
Escheat Laws
We are subject to unclaimed or abandoned property state laws in the United States and in certain foreign countries that require us to transfer to certain government authorities the unclaimed property of others that we hold when that property has been unclaimed for a certain period of time. Moreover, we are subject to audit by state and foreign regulatory authorities with regard to our escheatment practices.
Environmental and Workplace Regulations
We are subject to environmental, health and safety laws regulating hazardous materials, emissions and workplace safety. To date, compliance costs have not been material. We employ a diverse workforce and provide mandatory training, including anti‑harassment and anti‑discrimination programs.
Human Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2025, we had 107 full-time employees, and three part-time employees. We are not a party to any collective bargaining agreements. We believe that our relations with our employees are good.
Growth and Development. Our strategy to develop and retain the best talent includes an emphasis on employee training and development. We promote our core values of ownership, innovation, camaraderie, service, authenticity and trust as an organization and offer awards to colleagues who exemplify these qualities. We require a mandatory online training curriculum for our employees that includes annual anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training.
Inclusion and Diversity. Our inclusion and diversity program focuses on our employees, workplace and community. We believe that our business is strengthened by a diverse workforce that reflects the communities in which we operate. We believe all of our employees should be treated with respect and equality, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious beliefs or other characteristics. Inclusion and diversity remain a common thread in all of our human resource practices so that we can attract, develop and retain the best talent for our workforce.
Available Information
Usio was founded under the name Billserv.com, Inc. in July 1998 and incorporated in the State of Nevada. During 2019, we changed our corporate name from Payment Data Systems, Inc. to Usio, Inc. Our principal offices are located at 3611 Paesanos Parkway, Suite 300, San Antonio, TX 78231. Our telephone number is (210) 249-4100.
Our corporate website is located at www.usio.com. We make available on this website, free of charge, copies of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports, as applicable and as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such materials to the SEC. Interested persons can view such materials without charge under the "Investor Relations" section and then by clicking "Financials" on the Company's website, www.usio.com.
The inclusion of website addresses in this Annual Report does not include or incorporate by reference the information on or accessible through these websites, and the information contained on or accessible through these websites should not be considered as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
You may also read and copy any materials we file with or furnish to the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at https://www.sec.gov.
An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risk factors and other information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected, and you may lose some or all of your investment.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS
Loss of key resellers could reduce our revenue growth.
We rely on our reseller sales channel, which purchases and resells our end-to-end services to its own portfolio of merchant customers. This channel is a strong contributor to our revenue growth. If a reseller switches to another transaction processor, shuts down, becomes insolvent, or enters the processing business itself, we may no longer receive new merchant referrals from the reseller, and we risk losing existing merchants that were originally enrolled by the reseller, all of which could negatively affect our revenues and earnings.
Market conditions could negatively impact our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.
The market in which we operate is affected by a number of factors that are largely beyond our control but can nonetheless have a potentially significant, negative impact on us. These factors include, among other things:
| • | slower growth or recession or reduced consumer spending; |
| • | changes in interest rates and credit spreads; |
| • | the availability of credit, including the price, terms, and conditions under which it can be obtained; |
| • | inflation; |
| • | competition; |
| • | the actual and perceived state of the economy and public capital markets generally; |
| • | amendments or repeals of legislation, or changes in regulations or regulatory interpretations thereof, and transitions of government, including uncertainty regarding any of the foregoing; and |
| • | the rise of international conflicts. |
Changes in these factors are difficult to predict, and a change in one factor could affect other factors, which could result in adverse effects to our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.
The broader implications of the macroeconomic environment, including uncertainty around recent international conflicts including the Russia and Ukraine conflict and the military actions in Iran by the U.S. and Israel, supply chain shortages, a recession globally or in markets in which we operate, higher inflation rates, higher interest rates, and other related global economic conditions, remain unknown. In April 2025, developments relating to tariffs intensified concerns over the global macroeconomic environment. Volatility across financial markets rose and the prospect of a U.S. recession increased further. Uncertainty around the path forward and concerns over the potentially escalating effects of a trade war have created risks for the U.S. and global economies. A deterioration in macroeconomic conditions as well as ongoing uncertainty regarding tariffs or trade disputes could continue to increase the risk of lower consumer spending, merchant and consumer bankruptcy, insolvency, business failure, higher credit losses, or other business interruption, which may adversely impact our business. If these conditions continue or worsen, they could adversely impact our future financial and operating results.
If our security applications are breached by cyberattacks or are not adequate to address changing market conditions and customer concerns, we may incur significant losses and be unable to sell our services.
Unauthorized parties have attempted, and we expect that they will continue to attempt, to gain access to our systems or facilities through various means, including, but not limited to, hacking into our systems or facilities or those of our customers, partners, or vendors, and attempting to fraudulently induce users of our systems, including employees and customers, into disclosing user names, passwords, payment information, or other sensitive information used to gain access to such systems or facilities. This information may in turn be used to access our customers’ personal or proprietary information and payment data that are stored on or accessible through our information technology systems and those of third parties with whom we partner. Numerous and evolving cybersecurity threats, including advanced and persisting cyberattacks, cyberextortion, distributed denial-of-service attacks, ransomware, spear phishing and social engineering schemes, the introduction of computer viruses or other malware, and the physical destruction of all or portions of our information technology and infrastructure and those of third parties with whom we partner could compromise the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of the data in our systems. We may experience in the future, breaches of our security measures due to human error, malfeasance, insider threats, system errors or vulnerabilities, or other irregularities.
Any cyberattacks or data security breaches affecting our information technology or infrastructure or of our customers, partners, or vendors could have negative effects. For example, on December 25, 2021, we detected a ransomware attack that accessed and encrypted a small portion of our information technology systems. The unauthorized access included the download of non-payment processing related data files from our externally hosted Office 365 environment, which is separate from our payment processing environment. Throughout the incident, we remained operational. Promptly upon the detection of the event, we launched an investigation, notified law enforcement and our insurance carrier, and engaged legal counsel, computer forensic firms and other incident response professionals. We also implemented a series of containment and remediation measures to address this situation and reinforce the security of our information technology systems. Our systems were not only fully restored and capable of resuming normal operations to the extent they were impaired, but enhanced following our immediate and long term response. Further preventative and proactive security measures were integrated, including incremental network and cloud defenses, implementation of third party cyber defense applications, structured incident response and disaster recovery plans, along with advanced employee cyber security training. We actively pursue any potential actions that will improve our existing systems. This cyber event had no material impact on the business, and no cardholder, or payments related data was compromised. Our direct losses associated with the cyber incident and its response were largely covered by our cybersecurity insurance, except for a deductible. We cannot assure you that a future cyberattack would be resolved in the same manner, and a future attack could have a much more negative impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
Our use of applications designed for premium data security and integrity to process electronic transactions may not be sufficient to address changing market conditions or the security and privacy concerns of existing and potential customers. If our security applications are breached and sensitive data is lost or stolen, we could incur significant costs to not only assess and repair any damage to our systems, but also to reimburse customers for losses that occur from the fraudulent use of the data. We may also be subject to fines and penalties from the credit card associations or regulatory agencies in the event of the loss of confidential account information. Our insurance policies may not be adequate to compensate us for the potential costs and other losses arising from cybersecurity-related disruptions, failures, attacks or breaches. In addition, such insurance may not be available to us in the future on economically reasonable terms, or at all. Further, adverse publicity raising concerns about the safety or privacy of electronic transactions, or widely reported breaches of our or another provider's security, have the potential to undermine consumer confidence in the technology and could have a materially adverse effect on our business.
Our efforts to expand our product portfolio and market reach, including through acquisitions, may not succeed and may reduce our revenue growth and we may not achieve or maintain profitability.
Since 2014, we have completed a total of four acquisitions which have allowed us to expand our product offerings. For example, on December 15, 2020 we acquired substantially all of the assets of IMS, a business consisting of electronic bill presentment, document composition, document decomposition and printing and mailing services serving hundreds of customers representing a wide range of industry verticals, including utilities and financial institutions. We also continue to invest in our established business lines and new markets, such as our payment facilitation and prepaid card business. While we have grown the proportion of revenue from these newer products and services and we intend to continue to broaden the scope of products and services we offer, we may not be successful in maintaining or growing our current revenue streams or deriving any significant new revenue streams from these products and services. Failure to successfully broaden the scope of products and services that are attractive may inhibit our growth and harm our business. Furthermore, we expect to continue to expand our markets in the future, and we may have limited or no experience in such newer markets. We cannot assure you that any of our products or services will be widely accepted in any market or that they will continue to grow in revenue. Our offerings may present new and difficult technological, operational, regulatory, risks, and other challenges, and if we experience service disruptions, failures, or other issues, our business may be materially and adversely affected. Our expansion into newer markets may not lead to growth and may require significant management time and attention, and we may not be able to recoup our investments in a timely manner or at all. If any of this were to occur, it could damage our reputation, limit our growth, and materially and adversely affect our business.
Unauthorized disclosure of cardholder data, whether through breach of our computer systems or otherwise, could expose us to liability and protracted and costly litigation.
We collect and store personal identifiable information about our cardholders, including names, addresses, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers and account numbers, and maintain a database of cardholder data relating to specific transactions, including account numbers, in order to process transactions and prevent fraud. As a result, we are required to comply with the privacy provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, various other federal and state privacy statutes and regulations, and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, each of which is subject to change at any time. Compliance with these requirements is often difficult and costly, and our failure, or our resellers' failure, to comply may result in significant fines or civil penalties, regulatory enforcement action, liability to our issuing banks and termination of our agreements with one or more of our issuing banks, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and/or operations. In addition, a significant breach could result in our Company being prohibited from processing transactions for any of the relevant card associations or network organizations, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover or regional debit networks, which would also have a significant material adverse impact on our financial position and/or operations.
Furthermore, if our computer systems are breached by unauthorized users, we may be subject to liability, including claims for unauthorized purchases with misappropriated bank card information, impersonation or similar fraud claims. We could also be subject to liability for claims relating to misuse of personal information, such as unauthorized marketing purposes, or failure to comply with laws governing notification of such breaches. These claims also could result in protracted and costly litigation. In addition, we could be subject to penalties or sanctions from the relevant card associations or network organizations.
If our efforts to protect the security of information about our customers, cardholders and vendors are unsuccessful, we may face additional costly government enforcement actions and private litigation, and our sales and reputation could suffer.
An important component of our business involves the receipt and storage of information about our cardholders and banking information. We have multiple programs and processes in place to detect and respond to data security incidents; however, because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently and may be difficult to detect for long periods of time, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventive measures. In addition, hardware, software, or applications we develop or procure from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture or other problems that could unexpectedly compromise information security. Unauthorized parties may also attempt to gain access to our systems or facilities, or those of third parties with whom we do business, through fraud, trickery, or other forms of deceiving our vendors, contractors, and employees. If we, our customers, or our vendors experience significant data security breaches or fail to detect and appropriately respond to significant data security breaches, we could be exposed to government enforcement actions and private litigation. In addition, our cardholders and customers could lose confidence in our ability to protect their information, which could cause them to discontinue using our services.
If we fail to comply with the applicable requirements of the respective card networks, they could seek to fine us, suspend us or terminate our registrations.
In order to provide our transaction processing services, we are registered with Visa, Mastercard and Discover as service providers and transaction processors for member institutions and with other networks. As such, we are subject to card association and network rules that could subject us to a variety of fines or penalties that may be levied by the card networks for certain acts or omissions. The rules of the card networks are set by their boards, which may be influenced by banks that own their stock and, in the case of Discover by the card’s issuers, and some of those banks and issuers are our competitors with respect to these processing services. The termination of our registrations or our status as a service provider or transaction processor, or any changes in card association or other network rules or standards, including interpretation and implementation of the rules or standards, that increase the cost of doing business or limit our ability to provide transaction processing services to our customers, could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. If a merchant or one of our resellers fails to comply with the applicable requirements of the card associations and networks, it could be subject to a variety of fines or penalties that may be levied by the card associations or networks. If we cannot collect such amounts from the applicable merchant or one of our resellers, we could end up bearing such fines or penalties, resulting in lower earnings for us.
If we do not adapt to rapid technological change, including as a result of AI, our business may fail.
Our success depends on our ability to develop new and enhanced services and related products that meet ever changing customer needs and industry standards. However, the market for our services is characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, emerging competition and frequent new and enhanced software, service and related product introductions. In addition, the software market is subject to rapid and substantial technological change. To remain successful, we must respond to new developments in hardware and semiconductor technology, operating systems, programming technology computer capabilities and the growing use of artificial intelligence, or AI, and machine learning.
Generative AI has become more publicly available and enterprise adoption of generative AI has grown. We use AI and machine learning technologies as supplementary tools in various aspects of our business, including fraud prevention, risk management, and customer service. While our use of AI is minimal at this time, our success will depend in part on our ability to successfully incorporate AI into our products and technologies.
We expect that new technologies applicable to the industries in which we operate, including the development, adoption, and use of generative AI technologies and autonomous AI agents, will continue to emerge and may be superior to, or render obsolete, the technologies we currently use in our products and services. We cannot predict the effects of technological changes on our business, which technological developments or innovations will become widely adopted, and how those technologies may be regulated. Developing and incorporating new technologies into new and existing products and services may require significant investment, take considerable time, and may not ultimately be successful.
In many instances, new and enhanced services, products and technologies are in the emerging stages of development and marketing and are subject to the risks inherent in the development and marketing of new software, services and products. We may not successfully identify new service opportunities and develop and introduce new and enhanced services and related products to market in a timely manner. Even if we do bring such services, products or technologies to market, they may not become commercially successful. Additionally, services, products or technologies developed by others may render our services and related products noncompetitive or obsolete. If we are unable, for technological or other reasons, to develop and introduce new services and products in a timely manner in response to changing market conditions or customer requirements, our business may fail.
Fraud by merchants or others could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.
We have potential liability for fraudulent bankcard, ACH and prepaid card transactions or credits initiated by merchants or others. Examples of merchant fraud include when a merchant knowingly uses a stolen or counterfeit bankcard, card number or bank account to record a false sales transaction, processes an invalid bankcard, or intentionally fails to deliver the merchandise or services sold in an otherwise valid transaction. Criminals are using increasingly sophisticated methods to engage in illegal activities such as counterfeit and fraud. While we have systems and procedures designed to detect and reduce the impact of fraud, we cannot assure the effectiveness of these measures. It is possible that incidents of fraud could increase in the future. Failure to effectively manage risk and prevent fraud would increase our chargebacks liability or cause us to incur other liabilities, including regulatory and association fines, penalties and harm to our reputation. Increases in chargebacks or other liabilities could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.
We have incurred substantial losses in the past and may incur additional losses in the future, and we may need additional financing in the future. We may be unable to obtain additional financing or if we obtain financing it may not be on terms favorable to us. Our inability to obtain additional financing when needed, or financing on terms favorable to us, could result in the loss of your entire investment.
We reported a net loss of $2.5 million and net income of $3.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. Including these results, we have an accumulated deficit of $70.5 million at December 31, 2025. Our future operating results are not certain and we may incur future operating losses.
We may need to raise additional capital to pursue product development initiatives and to penetrate additional markets for the sale of our products in the future. We believe that we have access to capital resources through possible public or private equity offerings, debt financings, corporate collaborations or other means but we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete such a financing on terms acceptable to us or at all. If we are unable to secure additional capital, we may be required to curtail our research and development initiatives and take additional measures to reduce costs in order to conserve our cash in amounts sufficient to sustain operations and meet our obligations. These measures could cause significant delays in our efforts to expand our product offerings and customer base in the United States, which are critical to the realization of our business plan and to future operations.
Based on our current plans, we believe our existing cash and cash equivalents and cash flow from operations will be sufficient to fund our operating expense and capital requirements for at least 12 months, although we may need funds in the future. At December 31, 2025, we had $7.4 million of cash and cash equivalents, and for the year ended December 31, 2025, operating activities provided $1.5 million. If our capital resources are insufficient to meet future capital requirements, we will have to raise additional funds by selling assets, borrowing money from a third party, or by selling debt or equity securities. If we are unable to obtain additional funds on terms favorable to us, we may be required to cease or reduce our operating activities to a level that operations can support. If we must cease or reduce our operating activities, you may lose your entire investment.
Business interruptions or systems failures may impair the availability of our websites, applications, products or services, or otherwise harm our business.
Our systems and operations and those of our service providers and partners have experienced from time to time, and may experience in the future, business interruptions or degradation because of distributed denial-of-service and other cyberattacks, insider threats, hardware and software defects or malfunctions, human error, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, and other natural disasters, public health crises (including pandemics), power losses, disruptions in telecommunications services, fraud, military or political conflicts, terrorist attacks, computer viruses or other malware, or other events. A catastrophic event that results in a disruption or failure of our systems or operations could result in significant losses and require substantial recovery time and significant expenditures to resume or maintain operations, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Additionally, some of our systems, including those of companies we have acquired, are not fully redundant, and our disaster recovery planning may not be sufficient for all possible outcomes or events. As a provider of payment solutions, we are subject to heightened scrutiny by regulators that may require specific business continuity, resiliency and disaster recovery plans, and rigorous testing of such plans, which may be costly and time-consuming to implement, and may divert our resources from other business priorities.
We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, system failures, cyberattacks, unplanned outages, and other events or conditions from time to time that have and may interrupt the availability, or reduce or adversely affect the speed or functionality, of our products and services. These events could result in future losses of revenue. A prolonged interruption in the availability or reduction in the availability, speed, or functionality of our products and services could materially harm our business. Frequent or persistent interruptions in our services could permanently harm our relationship with our customers and partners and our reputation. Moreover, if any system failure or similar event results in damage to our customers or their business partners, they could seek significant compensation or contractual penalties from us for their losses, and those claims, even if unsuccessful, would likely be time-consuming and costly for us to address, and could have other consequences described in this “Risk Factors” section under the caption “If our security applications are breached by cyberattacks or are not adequate to address changing market conditions and customer concerns, we may incur significant losses and be unable to sell our services.”
We have undertaken and continue to undertake certain system upgrades and re-platforming efforts designed to improve the availability, reliability, resiliency, and speed of our platform. These efforts are costly and time-consuming, involve significant technical risk, and may divert our resources from new features and products, and there can be no guarantee that these efforts will be effective. Frequent or persistent site interruptions could lead to regulatory scrutiny, significant fines and penalties, and mandatory and costly changes to our business practices, and ultimately could cause us to lose existing licenses that we need to operate or prevent or delay us from obtaining additional licenses that may be required for our business.
We also rely on facilities, components, applications, and services supplied by third parties, including data center facilities and cloud data storage and processing services. From time to time, we have experienced interruptions in the provision of such facilities and services provided by these third parties. If these third parties experience operational interference or disruptions (including a cybersecurity incident), breach their agreements with us, or fail to perform their obligations and meet our expectations, our operations could be disrupted or otherwise negatively affected, which could result in customer dissatisfaction, regulatory scrutiny, and damage to our reputation and brands, and materially and adversely affect our business. While we maintain insurance policies intended to offset the financial impact we may experience from these risks, our coverage may be insufficient to compensate us for all losses caused by interruptions in our service as a result of systems failures and similar events.
In addition, any failure to successfully implement new information systems and technologies, or improvements or upgrades to existing information systems and technologies in a timely manner could have an adverse impact on our business, internal controls (including internal controls over financial reporting), results of operations, and financial condition.
We rely on our relationship with the Automated Clearing House network, and if the Federal Reserve rules were to change, our business could be adversely affected.
We have contractual relationships with North American Banking Company, or NABC, and TransPecos Bank, which are Originating Depository Financial Institutions, or ODFI, in the ACH network. The ACH network is a nationwide batch-oriented electronic funds transfer system that provides for the interbank clearing of electronic payments for participating financial institutions. An ODFI is a participating financial institution that must abide by the provisions of the ACH Operating Rules and Guidelines. Through our relationship with TransPecos Bank, and NABC, we process payment transactions on behalf of our customers and their consumers by submitting payment instructions in a prescribed ACH format. We pay volume-based fees to TransPecos Bank and NABC for debit and credit transactions processed each month, and pay fees for other transactions such as returns and notices of change to bank accounts. These fees are part of our agreed-upon cost structures with the banks. If the Federal Reserve rules were to introduce restrictions or modify access to the Automated Clearing House, our business could be materially adversely affected. Further, if one or all of TransPecos Bank, or NABC were to cancel our respective contract with the bank, our business could be materially affected. At this time, we believe we could find and enter into additional agreements with other bank sponsors on similar contractual terms, but no assurances can be made.
If we lose key personnel or we are unable to attract, recruit, retain and develop qualified employees, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
In order for us to successfully compete and grow, we must attract, recruit, retain and develop the necessary personnel who can provide the needed expertise and skills across the spectrum of our intellectual capital needs. The market for qualified personnel is highly competitive and we may not be successful in recruiting qualified personnel for needed skill sets or replacing current personnel who leave us. Failure to retain or attract key personnel and skill sets could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our third-party card processing providers or our bank sponsors fail to comply with the applicable requirements of Visa, Mastercard and Discover credit card associations or if our current processors cancel or fail to renew our contracts, we may have to find a new third-party processing provider, which could increase our costs.
Substantially all of the card-based transactions we process involve the use of Visa, Mastercard or Discover credit cards. In order to provide payment-processing services for Visa, Mastercard and Discover transactions, we must be sponsored by a financial institution that is a principal member of the respective Visa, Mastercard and Discover card associations. Both Central Bank of St. Louis and Wells Fargo Bank have sponsored us under the designations Third Party Processor, or TPP, and Independent Sales Organization, or ISO, with the Visa card association, and under the designations Third Party Servicer, or TPS, and Merchant Service Provider, or MSP, with the Mastercard card association. We have agreements with TriSource Solutions, LLC, Card Connect / First Data Merchant Services Corp. and Global Payments Inc. through which their member banks, Central Bank of St. Louis and Wells Fargo Bank, sponsor us for membership in the Visa and Mastercard card associations, and settle card transactions for our merchants. If our third-party processing provider, TriSource Solutions, Card Connect or Global Payments, or our bank sponsors, Central Bank of St. Louis, Wells Fargo Bank, or TransPecos Bank, fail to comply with the applicable requirements of the Visa, Mastercard, and Discover card associations, Visa, Mastercard or Discover could suspend or terminate the registration of our third-party processing provider. Also, our contracts with both of these third parties are subject to cancellation upon limited notice by either party. The cancellation of either contract, termination of their registration or any changes in the Visa, Mastercard or Discover rules that would impair the registration of our third-party processing provider could require us to stop providing such payment processing services if we are unable to enter into a similar agreement with another provider or sponsor at similar costs and upon similar contractual terms. Additionally, changing our bank sponsor could adversely affect our relationship with our merchants if the new sponsor provides inferior service or charges higher costs.
We may not be able to obtain and maintain sufficient insurance coverage.
We insure against a majority of business risks, including liability for cyber incidents, and for director and officer liability ("D&O"). D&O and cyber insurance especially are becoming increasingly challenging to purchase and maintain due to market factors. Premiums and deductibles have been increasing, sometimes dramatically, and some insurers are cutting back on the number of companies they insure, causing the supply of insurance to lag behind demand. As a result of these factors, we may not be able to maintain such insurance on acceptable terms or be able to secure coverage and the coverage of our existing insurance may not be sufficient to offset existing or future claims. A successful claim against us with respect to uninsured liabilities or in excess of insurance coverage could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We have recorded significant deferred tax assets, and we might never realize their full value, which would result in a charge against our earnings.
As of December 31, 2025, we have net deferred tax assets of $4.5 million. Realization of our deferred tax assets is dependent upon our generating sufficient taxable income in future years to realize the tax benefit from those assets. Deferred tax assets are reviewed at least annually for realizability. A charge against our earnings would result if, based on the available evidence, it is more likely than not that some portion of the deferred tax asset will not be realized beyond our existing valuation allowance. This could be caused by, among other things, deterioration in performance, adverse market conditions, adverse changes in applicable laws or regulations, including changes that restrict the activities of or affect the solutions sold by our business and a variety of other factors.
If a deferred tax asset net of our valuation allowance was determined to be not realizable in a future period, a charge to earnings would be recognized as an expense in our results of operations in the period the determination is made. Additionally, if we are unable to utilize our deferred tax assets, our cash flow available to fund operations could be adversely affected.
Depending on future circumstances, it is possible that we might never realize the full value of our deferred tax assets. Any future impairment charges related to a significant portion of our deferred tax assets would have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Our prepaid card revenues from the sale of services to merchants that accept Mastercard cards are dependent upon our continued Mastercard registration and financial institution sponsorship and, in some cases, continued participation in certain payment networks.
In order to provide processing services for our Mastercard prepaid card program, we must be either a member of a payment network or be registered as a prepaid processor of Mastercard. Sunrise Banks, N.A. has sponsored us under the designations Third Party Servicer, or TPS, and Merchant Service Provider, or MSP, with the Mastercard card association. Registration as a prepaid processor is dependent upon our being sponsored by member clearing banks. If our sponsor bank should stop providing sponsorship for us, we would need to find another financial institution to provide those services or we would need to be a member, either of which could prove to be difficult and/or more expensive. If we are unable to find a replacement financial institution to provide sponsorship or become a member of the association, we may no longer be able to provide prepaid processing services to our Mastercard customers, which would negatively impact our revenues and earnings.
If our software fails, and we need to repair or replace it, or we become subject to warranty claims, our costs could increase.
Our software products could contain errors or “bugs” that could adversely affect the performance of services or damage a user’s data. We attempt to limit our potential liability for warranty claims through technical audits and limitation-of-liability provisions in our customer agreements; however, these measures may not be effective in limiting our exposure to warranty claims. We have not experienced a significant increase in software errors or warranty claims. Despite the existence of various security precautions, our computer infrastructure may also be vulnerable to viruses or similar disruptive problems caused by our customers or third parties gaining access to our processing system.
We depend on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of our computer network systems, software, data center and telecommunications networks, as well as the systems and services of third parties. Our systems and operations or those of our third-party providers could be exposed to damage or interruption from, among other things, fire, natural disaster, power loss, telecommunications failure, terrorist acts, war, unauthorized entry, human error, and computer viruses or other defects. Defects in our systems or those of third parties, errors or delays in the processing of payment transactions, telecommunications failures or other difficulties could result in loss of revenue, loss of merchants, loss of merchant and cardholder data, harm to our business or reputation, exposure to fraud losses or other liabilities, negative publicity, additional operating and development costs, and/or diversion of technical and other resources. We perform the majority of our disaster recovery operations ourselves, though we utilize select third parties for some aspects of recovery. To the extent we outsource our disaster recovery, we are at risk of the vendor’s unresponsiveness in the event of breakdowns in our systems.
We will be liable for separation payments in case of change in control, termination without cause, non-renewal of the agreement, death, or disability under the employment agreement with our Chairman, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Hoch, which could have an adverse effect on our cash position and on our financial results.
Pursuant to our employment agreement, as amended, with Louis Hoch, Chairman, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Operating Officer, in the event of change in control, termination by the Company without cause, termination by employee for good reason, or non-renewal of the employment agreement, we will be liable for separation payments, equaling an amount of (a) 2.95 times the respective base salary and bonus payments, plus (b) a pro rata portion of the respective annual bonus based on the number of days elapsed in the year prior, plus (c) 2.0 times the respective base salary for non-competition, and (d) continuing other benefits. We estimate the cash disbursements over time to be $5.9 million for the agreement with Mr. Hoch.
In the case of termination of the agreement due to death of the executive, we will be liable for separation payments equaling an amount of 2.95 times the respective base salary. The deferred compensation does not include amounts paid or accrued to the executive for bonuses or bonus compensation, benefits or equity awards. Unpaid and unearned bonus compensation or bonus deferred compensation is forfeited. No deferred compensation will be due as long as we and/or an insurance company continues to pay the executive’s base salary, minus any monthly base salary already paid to the executive prior to his death pursuant to the executive’s disability, to the executive’s estate for a period of up to 36 months. If these continuing payments cease before 36 months, we will have to pay the executive’s estate the deferred compensation minus any base salary payments within 30 days of the cessation. We estimate the cash disbursements over time to be approximately $3.5 million for the agreement with Mr. Hoch. Further, all stock options issued to the executive and all restricted stock granted to executive shall continue on their established vesting schedule.
In the case of termination of the agreement due to disability without death, we will be liable for separation payments equaling an amount of disability benefits constituting base salary for three years. We estimate the cash disbursement over time to be $3.5 million for the agreement with Mr. Hoch. Unpaid and unearned bonus compensation or bonus deferred compensation is forfeited. Further, all stock options issued to the executive and all restricted stock granted to executive shall continue on their established vesting schedule. No further compensation will be due for compliance with the agreements’ non-compete, non-solicitation and disparagement clauses.
Depending on when such an event might occur, it could have a substantial adverse effect on our operating capital and cash on hand. If our cash position is not sufficient, we may need to raise additional cash which could involve selling equity securities which would dilute our shareholders. In addition, the loss of our Chairman or Chief Executive Officer may adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We depend on Louis A. Hoch, our Chairman, President, Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer, and if he ceased to be active in our management, our business may not be successful.
Our success depends to a significant degree upon the continued contributions of our key management, marketing, service and related product development and operational personnel, including our President and Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer, Louis A. Hoch. We entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Hoch in February 2007 and update his agreement as changes are required. The terms of the agreement prohibit the executive from competing with us for a period of two years from the executive’s date of termination. Our business may not be successful if, for any reason, Mr. Hoch ceases to be active in our management.
Risks associated with reduced levels of consumer spending could adversely affect our revenues and earnings.
Significant portions of our revenue and earnings are derived from fees from processing consumer ACH, prepaid, credit, and debit card transactions. We are exposed to general economic conditions that affect consumer confidence, consumer spending, consumer discretionary income or changes in consumer purchasing habits. A general reduction in consumer spending in the United States or in any other country where we do business could adversely affect our revenues and earnings.
We are subject to risks and write-offs resulting from fraudulent activities and losses from overdrawn cardholder accounts that could adversely impact our financial performance and results of operations.
Our prepaid cards expose us to threats involving the misuse of such cards, collusion, fraud, identity theft and systemic attacks on our systems. Although a large portion of fraudulent activity is addressed through the charge-back systems and procedures maintained by the card association networks, we are often responsible for other losses due to merchant and cardholder fraud. No system or procedures established to detect and reduce the impact of fraud are entirely effective. We recorded fraud losses of $126,559 and $311,306, respectively, in 2025 and 2024. We experienced a decline in fraudulent accounts in 2025 due to the increasing number of traditional magnetic stripe cards being replaced with cards featuring Europay, MasterCard and Visa chip technology that offer improved security. Although we actively devote efforts to effectively manage risk and prevent fraud, we could nevertheless experience future increases in fraud losses over our historical experience.
Our prepaid cardholders can in some circumstances incur charges in excess of the funds available in their accounts and are liable for the resulting overdrawn account balance. Although we generally decline authorization attempts for amounts that exceed the available balance in a prepaid cardholders account, the application of the card association networks’ rules and regulations, the timing of the settlement of transactions and the assessment of subscription, maintenance or other fees can, among other things, result in overdrawn card accounts.
Although we maintain reserves for fraud and other losses, our exposure to these types of risks may exceed our reserve levels for a variety of reasons, including our failure to predict the actual recovery rate, failure to effectively manage risk and failure to prevent fraud. Accordingly, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected to the extent that we incur losses resulting from overdrawn cardholder accounts and fraudulent activity that exceed our designated reserves or if we determine that it is necessary to increase our reserves substantially in order to address any increased recovery risk.
Our business strategy includes identifying businesses and assets to acquire, and if we cannot integrate acquisitions into our Company successfully, we may have limited growth.
Our success partially depends upon our ability to identify and acquire undervalued businesses and merchant portfolios within our industry. Although we believe that there are companies and portfolios available for potential acquisition that might offer attractive business opportunities, we may not be able to make any acquisitions, and if we do make acquisitions, they may not be profitable. As a result, our business may not grow and regain profitability.
Acquisitions may involve significant cash expenditures, debt issuances, equity issuances, operating losses and expenses. Acquisitions involve numerous other risks, including:
| • | diversion of management time and attention from daily operations; |
| • | difficulties integrating acquired businesses, technologies and personnel into our business; |
| • | difficulties in obtaining and verifying the financial statements and other business information of acquired businesses; |
| • | inability to obtain required regulatory approvals; |
| • | potential loss of key employees, key contractual relationships or key customers of acquired companies or of ours; |
| • | assumption of the liabilities and exposure to unforeseen liabilities of acquired companies; and |
| • | dilution of interests of holders of our common stock through the issuance of equity securities or equity-linked securities. |
If we do not manage our credit risks related to our merchant accounts, we may incur significant losses.
We rely on the Federal Reserve’s Automated Clearing House system for electronic fund transfers and the Visa, Mastercard and Discover associations for settlement of payments by credit or debit card on behalf of our merchant customers. In our use of these established payment clearance systems, we generally bear the credit risks arising from returned transactions caused by insufficient funds, stop payment orders, closed accounts, frozen accounts, unauthorized use, disputes, customer chargebacks, theft or fraud. Consequently, we assume the credit risk of merchant disputes, fraud, insolvency or bankruptcy in the event we attempt to recover funds related to such transactions from our customers. We have not experienced a significant increase in the rate of returned transactions or incurred any losses with respect to such transactions. We utilize a number of systems and procedures to manage and limit credit risks, but if these actions are not successful in managing such risks, we may incur significant losses.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR INDUSTRY
The electronic commerce market is evolving and if it does not continue to grow, we may not be able to sell sufficient services to make our business viable.
The electronic commerce market is a service industry that continues to grow significantly. If the electronic commerce market fails to grow or grows slower than anticipated, or if we are unable to adapt to meet changing customer requirements or technological changes in this emerging market, or if our services and related products do not maintain a proportionate degree of acceptance in this growing market, our business may not grow and could even fail. Additionally, the security and privacy concerns of existing and potential customers may inhibit the growth of the electronic commerce market in general, and our customer base and revenues, in particular. Similar to the emergence of the credit card and automatic teller machine industries, we and other organizations serving the electronic commerce market must educate users that electronic transactions use encryption technology and other electronic security measures that make electronic transactions more secure than paper-based transactions.
If we cannot compete successfully in our industry, we could lose market share and our costs could increase.
Portions of the electronic commerce market are becoming increasingly competitive. We expect to face growing competition in all areas of the electronic payment processing market. New companies could emerge and compete for merchants of all sizes. We expect competition to increase from both established and emerging companies and that such increased competition could lower our market share and increase our costs. Moreover, our current and potential competitors, many of whom have greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources than us, may respond more quickly than us to new or emerging technologies or could expand to compete directly against us in any or all of our target markets. Accordingly, it is possible that current or potential competitors could rapidly acquire market share. We may not be able to compete against current or future competitors successfully. Additionally, competitive pressures may increase our costs, which could lower our earnings, if any.
Payments and other financial services-related regulations and oversight are material to our business and any failure by us to comply could materially harm our business.
The local, state and federal laws, rules, regulations, licensing schemes and industry standards that govern our business, both directly and through our relationships with banks, card networks and other financial services partners, include, or may in the future include, those relating to payments services, such as payment processing and settlement services, anti-money laundering, combating terrorist financing, escheatment, international sanctions regimes and compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or PCI-DSS, a set of requirements designed to ensure that all companies that process, store or transmit payment card information maintain a secure environment to protect cardholder data. We do not directly collect or store payment card information; instead, we rely on a third-party payment processor to do so. These laws, rules, regulations, licensing schemes and standards are enforced by multiple authorities and governing bodies in the United States, including the Department of the Treasury, self-regulatory organizations and numerous state and local agencies. Currently, we do not possess any permits or licenses from financial regulators. We believe the licensing requirements of federal and state agencies that regulate or monitor banks or other types of providers of electronic commerce services do not apply to us. While our business itself is not currently subject to financial services-related regulation, and we have received confirmation from multiple state regulators that we are not required to obtain money transmitter licenses in those states, the banks, payment networks and card networks that we partner with operate in a highly regulated landscape and there is a risk that those regulations could become directly applicable to us, such as the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and the Bank Secrecy Act. Nevertheless, there is a risk that a state regulator may misinterpret our services and find we are offering unlicensed money transmission. In addition, as our business and products continue to develop and expand, we may become subject to additional laws, rules, regulations, licensing schemes and standards. We may not always be able to accurately predict the scope or applicability of certain laws, rules, regulations, licensing schemes or standards to our business, particularly as we expand into new areas of operations, which could have a significant negative effect on our existing business and our ability to pursue future plans.
In the future, as a result of the regulations that are or may become applicable to our business, we could be subject to investigations and resulting liability, including governmental fines, restrictions on our business or other sanctions, and we could be forced to cease conducting certain aspects of our business with residents of certain jurisdictions, be forced to change our business practices in certain jurisdictions or be required to obtain additional licenses, certifications or regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully implement changes to our business practices or obtain or maintain any such licenses, certifications or regulatory approvals, and, even if we were able to do so, there could be substantial costs and potential product changes involved in obtaining, maintaining and renewing such licenses, certifications and approvals, which could have a material and adverse effect on our business. In addition, we could be subject to fines or other enforcement action if we are found to violate disclosure, reporting, anti-money laundering, capitalization, corporate governance or other requirements of such licenses, certifications or approvals. These factors could impose substantial additional costs, involve considerable delay to the development or provision of our products or services, require significant and costly operational changes or prevent us from providing our products or services in any given market.
As an agent of, and third-party service provider to, our issuing banks, we are subject to indirect regulation and direct audit and examination by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or FRB, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The Dodd-Frank Act effected and required significant changes to United States financial regulations, including regulations addressing fees charged or received by issuers for processing debit transactions and the transaction routing options available to merchants. The Dodd-Frank Act also established the CFPB to regulate consumer financial services, including many services offered by our customers. The CFPB is responsible for enforcing and writing rules regarding consumer access to disclosures, fees and statements, error resolution, limited liability and overdrafts when using prepaid cards.
We believe that we are not required to be licensed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board, or other federal or state agencies that regulate or monitor banks, financial institutions, or other providers of electronic commerce services. It is possible that a federal or state agency will attempt to expand their regulation of providers of electronic commerce services, which could require us to develop a licensing strategy to do business in the regulator's jurisdiction. We are also subject to various laws and regulations relating to commercial transactions, such as the Uniform Commercial Code, and may be subject to the electronic funds transfer rules embodied in Regulation E. Because of growth in the electronic commerce market, Congress has held hearings on whether to regulate providers of services and transactions in the electronic commerce market. It is possible that Congress or individual states could enact laws regulating the electronic commerce market. If enacted, such laws, rules and regulations could be imposed on our business and industry and could increase our costs or limit our business opportunities.
We are subject to U.S. laws, regulations, rules, standards, policies, contractual obligations and other legal obligations, particularly those related to privacy, data protection and information security, and our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could harm our business.
We store personal and business information, financial information and other sensitive information on our platform. In addition, we receive, store, handle, transmit, use and otherwise process personal and business information and other data from and about actual and prospective billers and financial institutions, as well as our employees and service providers. As a result, we are subject to a variety of laws, rules and regulations relating to privacy, data protection and information security, including regulation by various governmental authorities, such as the FTC, and various state, local and foreign agencies. Our data handling and processing activities are also subject to contractual obligations and industry standard requirements. The legislative and regulatory landscapes for privacy, data protection and information security continue to evolve in jurisdictions worldwide, with an increasing focus on privacy and data protection issues with the potential to affect our business. Failure to comply with any of these laws or regulations could result in litigation, enforcement actions, damages, fines, penalties or adverse publicity and reputational damage, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
The U.S. federal and various state and foreign governments have also adopted or proposed limitations on the collection, distribution, use and storage of data relating to individuals and businesses, including the use of contact information and other data for marketing, advertising and other communications with individuals and businesses. In the United States, various laws and regulations apply to the security, collection, processing, storage, use, disclosure and other processing of certain types of data, including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, and state and local laws relating to privacy and data security. Additionally, the FTC and many state attorneys general have interpreted and are continuing to interpret federal and state consumer protection laws to impose standards for the online collection, use, dissemination, processing and security of data.
In addition, many states in which we operate have laws that protect the privacy and security of sensitive and personal data and are considering or enacting new laws. Certain U.S. state laws may be more stringent or broader in scope, or offer greater individual rights, with respect to sensitive and personal information than international, federal, or other state laws, and such laws may differ from each other, which may complicate compliance efforts. For example, California's CCPA, as amended by the CPRA, broadly defines personal information, gives California residents expanded privacy rights and protections, including the right to access and delete certain personal information, as well as the right to opt-out of certain sales of personal information, and provides for civil penalties for violations and a private right of action for data breaches. This private right of action may increase the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. California also has a dedicated state agency, the California Privacy Protection Agency, or CPPA, that is vested with authority to implement and enforce the CCPA. We have taken steps to comply with applicable portions of the CCPA, but we cannot assure you that such steps completely eliminate the risk of liability under the CCPA. The interpretation and enforcement of the CCPA, as well as other rules promulgated by the CPPA, is in nascent stages, and further regulatory guidance may require us to modify our data collection or processing practices and policies and to incur substantial costs and expenses in an effort to comply and increase our potential exposure to regulatory enforcement and sanctions and litigation.
Certain other state laws besides California's CCPA impose similar privacy obligations, in addition to data breach notification laws in all 50 states. For example, the CCPA has prompted the enactment of several new state laws or amendments of existing state laws, such as in New York, Nevada, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut and Utah. Although CCPA broadly includes business-to-business as well as employee personal information, whereas the other states laws are mostly limited to individual consumers in their household context, these laws mark the beginning of a general trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in other U.S. states and have prompted a number of proposals for new federal and state-level privacy legislation. This legislation, if passed or amended, as well as interpretation and implementation of such legislation by state attorneys general or by federal or state regulatory authorities, may add additional complexity, variation in requirements, restrictions and potential legal risk, require additional investment of resources in compliance programs, impact strategies and the availability of previously useful data and could result in increased compliance costs or changes in business practices and policies.
We are subject to the CARD Act which could subject us to civil and criminal liabilities.
The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009, or CARD Act, imposes requirements relating to disclosures, fees and expiration dates that are generally applicable to gift certificates, store gift cards and general-use prepaid cards. We believe that our general purpose re-loadable prepaid cards, and the maintenance fees charged on our general purpose re-loadable cards, are exempt from the requirements under this rule, as they fall within an express exclusion for cards which are re-loadable and not marketed or labeled as a gift card or gift certificate. However, this exclusion is not available if the issuer, the retailer selling the card to a consumer or the program manager, promotes, even if occasionally, the use of the card as a gift card or gift certificate. As a result, we provide retailers with instructions and policies regarding the display and promotion of our general purpose re-loadable cards. However, it is possible that despite our instructions and policies to the contrary, a retailer engaged in offering our general purpose re-loadable cards to consumers could take an action with respect to one or more of the cards that would cause each similar card to be viewed as being marketed or labeled as a gift card, such as by placing our general purpose re-loadable cards on a display which prominently features the availability of gift cards and does not separate or otherwise distinguish our general purpose re-loadable cards from the gift cards. In such event, it is possible that such general purpose re-loadable cards would lose their eligibility for such exemption to the CARD Act and its requirements, and therefore we could be deemed to be in violation of the CARD Act and the rule, which could result in the imposition of fines, the suspension of our ability to offer our general purpose re-loadable cards, civil liability, criminal liability, and the inability of our issuing banks to apply certain fees to our general purpose re-loadable cards, each of which would likely have a material adverse impact on our revenues.
We resumed issuing gift cards in 2014. Any gift cards we issue will be governed by the CARD Act and other various regulations. Any violations with our gift card issuance could result in the imposition of fines, the suspension of our ability to offer our gift cards, civil liability, criminal liability, and the inability of our issuing banks to apply certain fees to our gift cards, each of which would likely have a material adverse impact on our revenues.
Our business is subject to U.S. federal anti-money laundering, or AML, laws and regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act, or BSA. AML laws among other things, require certain financial services providers to develop and implement risk-based anti-money laundering programs, report large cash transactions and suspicious activity and maintain transaction records.
We are also subject to certain economic and trade sanctions programs that are administered by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, that prohibit or restrict transactions to or from or dealings with specified countries, their governments and, in certain circumstances, their nationals, narcotics traffickers, and terrorists or terrorist organizations.
Similar anti-money laundering, counter terrorist financing and proceeds of crime laws apply to movements of currency and payments through electronic transactions and to dealings with persons specified on lists maintained by organizations similar to OFAC in several other countries and which may impose specific data retention obligations or prohibitions on intermediaries in the payment process.
Provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, the BSA and other federal law require substantial regulation of financial institutions designed to prevent use of financial services for purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing. Increasing regulatory scrutiny of our industry with respect to money laundering and terrorist financing matters could result in more aggressive enforcement of such laws or more onerous regulation, which could have a material adverse impact on our business. In addition, abuse of our prepaid card programs for purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, notwithstanding our efforts to prevent such abuse through our regulatory compliance and risk management programs, could cause reputational risk or other harm that would have a material adverse impact on our business.
Banking-related provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act have been implemented as additions to the banking rules regarding monetary instrument sales record keeping requirements and tracking of cash movements. In our capacity as an agent for Sunrise Banks, N.A., the issuing bank for our prepaid card programs and in our capacity as an agent for NABC and TransPecos Bank, the sponsoring banks for our ACH services, we are required to comply with these rules. We are also required to implement a Customer Identification Program and establish an Anti-Money Laundering program and to report any suspected money laundering to the appropriate agencies. Our compliance with such regulations increases our responsibilities and costs associated with the administration of our debit card programs.
In 2011, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, issued its final rule regarding the applicability of the Bank Secrecy Act’s anti-money laundering provisions to prepaid products and other matters related to the regulation of money services businesses. This rule created additional obligations for entities, including our resellers, engaged in the provision and sale of certain prepaid products, including our prepaid debit cards, such as the obligation for sellers of prepaid debit cards to obtain identification information from the purchaser at the point-of-sale. Compliance with these obligations could result in increased compliance costs for us, our issuing banks and our resellers.
We are subject to regulations relating to prepaid card programs which could further increase our compliance costs.
Prepaid card programs managed by us are subject to various federal and state laws and regulations, which may include laws and regulations related to consumer and data protection, licensing, consumer disclosures, escheat, anti-money laundering, banking, trade practices and competition and wage and employment. As regulations evolve, or change, we may be required to obtain state licenses to expand our distribution network for prepaid cards. Furthermore, the CARD Act and Regulation E impose requirements on general-use prepaid cards, store gift cards and electronic gift certificates. Prepaid services may also be subject to the rules and regulations of Visa, Mastercard and other payment networks with which we and the card issuers do business. The programs in place to process these products generally may be modified by the payment networks at their discretion and such modifications could also impact us, financial institutions, merchants and others.
For example, the CFPB issued a final rule in 2016, the Prepaid Account Rule, to regulate certain prepaid accounts. The Prepaid Account Rule mandates, among other things, extensive pre-purchase and post-purchase disclosures, expanded electronic billing statements, adherence to certain overdraft regulations for prepaid accounts that permit negative balances, and public posting of account agreements and submission to the CFPB which will then publish them on its website. The Prepaid Account Rule took effect on April 1, 2019, subject to certain exceptions. On January 25, 2018, the CFPB announced certain changes to the Prepaid Account Rule, including allowing the error resolution and liability limitations protections to apply prospectively, after a consumer’s identity has been verified, and providing more flexibility to credit cards linked to digital wallets. Compliance with existing and new obligations as result of further expanding consumer protections regulations like the Prepaid Account Rule, could result in increased compliance costs for us, and our issuing banks and resellers.
The use of AI could make us subject to evolving regulatory risks
We use AI and machine learning technologies in various aspects of our business, including fraud prevention, risk management, and customer service. While our use of AI and machine learning is minimal at this time, its use can present risks. The legal and regulatory landscape surrounding AI technologies is rapidly evolving and uncertain, including in the areas of consumer protection, intellectual property, cybersecurity, and privacy and data protection. In addition, there is uncertainty around the validity and enforceability of intellectual property rights related to the use, development, and deployment of AI-generated outputs. Compliance with new and emerging laws, regulations or industry standards relating to AI in the U.S., such as the SEC, FTC, and U.S. state regulations, may impose significant operational costs and may limit our ability to develop, deploy or use existing or future AI technologies. As a result, our ability to adapt our existing products and services or develop future and new products and services using AI may be limited or restricted, which could adversely impact our business.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR COMMON STOCK
Our stock price is volatile, and you may not be able to sell your shares at a price higher than what you paid.
The market for our common stock is highly volatile. In 2025 our stock price fluctuated between $1.24 and $2.92. The trading price of our common stock could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to, among other things, quarterly variations in operating and financial results, announcements of technological innovations or new products by our competitors or us, changes in prices of our products and services or our competitors' products and services, changes in product mix, or changes in our revenue and revenue growth rates.
If security or industry analysts publish reports that are interpreted negatively by the investment community, publish negative research reports about our business, cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports or us, our share price could decline.
The trading for our common stock depends, to some extent, on the research and reports that security or industry analyst publish about us, our business, our market, and our competitors. We do not have any control over these analysts, or the information contained in their reports. If one or more analysts publish reports that are interpreted negatively by the investment community or have a negative tone about our business, financial or operating performance or industry, our share price could decline. In addition, if a majority of our analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price to decline.
Additional stock issuances could result in significant dilution to our stockholders.
We may issue additional equity securities to raise capital, make acquisitions or for a variety of other purposes. Any such stock issuances will result in dilution to existing holders of our stock. We rely on equity-based compensation as an important tool in recruiting and retaining employees. The amount of dilution due to future equity-based compensation issued to our employees and other additional issuances could be substantial.
Pursuant to our 2025 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2025 Plan”), our management is authorized to grant stock options to our employees, directors and consultants. There are 5,250,000 shares of common stock reserved for issuance under the 2025 Plan. Additionally, the number of shares of our common stock reserved for issuance under our 2025 Plan automatically increases on January 1 of each year, beginning on January 1, 2026, and continuing through and including January 1, 2035, by 5% of the total number of shares of our capital stock outstanding on December 31 of the preceding calendar year (determined on an as-converted to voting common stock basis, without regard to any limitations on the conversion of the non-voting common stock), or a lesser number of shares determined by our board of directors, or Board.
In addition, pursuant to our 2023 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”), we have reserved 2,500,000 shares of common stock. The number of shares of our common stock reserved for issuance automatically increases on January 1 of each calendar year, beginning on January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2033, by the lesser of (i) 1% of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding on the last day of the fiscal year before the date of the automatic increase (determined on an as-converted to voting common stock basis); and (ii) such number of shares of common stock that would cause the aggregate number of shares of common stock then reserved for issuance under the ESPP to not exceed 2,500,000 shares. As of December 31, 2025, 128,537 shares of our common stock had been purchased pursuant to the ESPP.
Unless our Board elects not to increase the number of shares available for future grant pursuant to our 2025 Plan and ESPP each year, our stockholders may experience additional dilution, which could cause our stock price to fall.
We may issue additional equity securities, or engage in other transactions that could dilute our book value or affect the priority of our common stock, which may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Our articles of incorporation allow our Board to issue up to 200,000,000 shares of common stock. Our Board may determine from time to time that we need to raise additional capital by issuing common stock or other equity securities. Except as otherwise described in this Annual Report, we are not restricted from issuing additional securities, including securities that are convertible into or exchangeable for, or that represent the right to receive, shares of our common stock. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, or nature of any future offerings, or the prices at which such offerings may be affected. Additional equity offerings may dilute the holdings of our existing stockholders or reduce the market price of our common stock, or both. Holders of our common stock are not entitled to pre-emptive rights or other protections against dilution. New investors also may have rights, preferences and privileges that are senior to, and that adversely affect, the then-current holders of our common stock. Additionally, if we raise additional capital by making offerings of debt or shares of preferred stock, upon our liquidation, holders of our debt securities and shares of preferred stock, and lenders with respect to other borrowings, may receive distributions of our available assets before the holders of our common stock.
We may issue shares of preferred stock with greater rights than our common stock.
Subject to the rules of The Nasdaq Stock Market, our articles of incorporation authorize our Board to issue one or more series of preferred stock and set the terms of the preferred stock without seeking any further approval from holders of our common Stock. Any preferred stock that is issued may rank ahead of our common stock in terms of dividends, priority and liquidation premiums and may have greater voting rights than our common stock.
We have not paid any cash dividends in the past and have no plans to pay cash dividends in the future, which could cause our common stock to have a lower value than that of similar companies which do pay cash dividends.
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not anticipate any cash dividends being paid to holders of our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our Board.
While our dividend policy will be based on the operating results and capital needs of the business, it is anticipated that any earnings will be retained to finance our future expansion. As we have no plans to pay cash dividends in the future, our common stock could be less desirable to other investors and as a result, the value of our common stock may decline, or fail to reach the valuations of other similarly situated companies that pay cash dividends.
Shares eligible for future sale may depress our stock price.
As of March 16, 2026, we had 27,746,208 shares of common stock outstanding of which approximately 5,240,200 shares were held by affiliates. All of the shares of common stock held by affiliates are restricted or control securities under Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Sales of shares of common stock under Rule 144 or another exemption under the Securities Act or pursuant to a registration statement could have a material adverse effect on the price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise additional capital through the sale of equity securities. Furthermore, all common stock beneficially owned by persons who are not our affiliates and have beneficially owned such shares for at least one year may be sold at any time by these existing stockholders in accordance with Rule 144 of the Securities Act. However, there can be no assurance that any of these existing stockholders will sell any or all of their common stock and there may be a lack of supply of, or demand for, our common stock on The Nasdaq Stock Market. In the case of a lack of supply of our common stock offered in the market, the trading price of our common Stock may rise to an unsustainable level, particularly in instances where institutional investors may be discouraged from purchasing our common stock because they are unable to purchase a block of our common stock in the open market due to a potential unwillingness of our existing stockholders to sell the amount of Common Stock at the price offered by such investors and the greater influence individual investors have in setting the trading price. In the case of a lack of market demand for our common stock, the trading price of our common stock could decline significantly and rapidly after our listing.
Our directors and officers have substantial control over us.
Our directors and executive officers, together with their affiliates and related persons, beneficially owned, in the aggregate, approximately 19% of our outstanding common stock as of March 16, 2026. These stockholders have the ability to substantially control our operations and direct our policies including the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, such as the election of directors and any acquisition or merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets.
We have adopted certain measures that may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of our Company.
Our Board members are classified into three classes of directors serving staggered three-year terms. Such classification of our Board expands the time required to change the composition of the majority of directors and may discourage a proxy contest or other takeover bid for our Company. These provisions in our bylaws could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us without the approval of our Board. In addition, the Nevada corporate statute contains certain provisions that could make an acquisition by a third party more difficult.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.
Not Applicable.
We recognize the importance of assessing, identifying, and managing material risks associated with cybersecurity threats, as such term is defined in Item 106(a) of Regulation S-K. These risks include, among other things: operational risks, intellectual property theft, fraud, extortion, harm to employees or customers and violation of data privacy or security laws.
Identifying and assessing cybersecurity risk is integrated into our overall risk management systems and processes. Cybersecurity risks related to our business, technical operations, privacy and compliance issues are identified and addressed through a multi-faceted approach including -party assessments, internal IT Audit, IT security, governance, risk and compliance reviews. To defend, detect and respond to cybersecurity incidents, we, among other things: conduct proactive privacy and cybersecurity reviews of systems and applications, audit applicable data policies, perform penetration testing using external -party tools and techniques to test security controls, conduct employee training, monitor emerging laws and regulations related to data protection and information security (including our consumer products) and implement appropriate changes.
Security events and data incidents are evaluated, ranked by severity and prioritized for response and remediation. Incidents are evaluated to determine materiality as well as operational and business impact, and reviewed for privacy impact.
We also conduct tabletop exercises to simulate responses to cybersecurity incidents. Our team of cybersecurity professionals then collaborate with technical and business stakeholders across our business units to further analyze the risk to the Company, and form detection, mitigation and remediation strategies.
As part of the above processes, we regularly engage external auditors and consultants to assess our internal cybersecurity programs and compliance with applicable practices and standards. Since 2024, our Information Security Management System has been certified to conform to SOC 2 Type 2 and PCI, and are working to conform to ISO 27001.
Our risk management program also assesses third-party risks, and we perform third-party risk management to identify and mitigate risks from third parties such as vendors, suppliers, and other business partners associated with our use of third-party service providers. Cybersecurity risks are evaluated when determining the selection and oversight of applicable third-party service providers and potential fourth-party risks when handling and/or processing our employee, business or customer data. In addition to new vendor onboarding, we perform risk management during third-party cybersecurity compromise incidents to identify and mitigate risks to us from third-party incidents.
The Company leases approximately 10,535 square feet of office space for its San Antonio, Texas executive offices and operations. On September 18, 2025 we renewed our lease, to run concurrently with our additional leased space in the same building. The lease expires on December 31, 2030. Rental expense, excluding rental expense for the additional space referenced below, under the operating lease was $174,380 and $165,817 for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Pursuant to a lease amendment that commenced on April 1, 2021, we began leasing an additional 2,734 square feet of space at our San Antonio, Texas office building. The incremental annual rent for this additional space during the lease term ranges from $57,000 to $60,000. Rental expense for this additional space for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 was $51,249 and $49,653, respectively.
Pursuant to a second lease amendment that commenced on April 1, 2022, we began leasing an additional 6,628 square feet of space at our San Antonio, Texas office building. The incremental annual rent for this additional space during the lease term ranges from $144,000 to $156,000. Rental expense for this additional space for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 was $114,995 and $109,355, respectively.
The Company assumed a lease in San Antonio, Texas as a part of the Information Management Solutions, LLC acquisition for its Output Solutions employees and warehouse operations. The lease had a remaining life of 45 months and expired on September 30, 2024. On September 16, 2024 the Company entered into a lease amendment commencing on October 1, 2024, extending the term of the existing lease for a period of 60 months, expiring on September 30, 2029. The space leased is 22,400 square feet. Annual rents during the lease term range from $174,000 to $225,000. Rental expense for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 was $177,993 and $135,489, respectively.
On January 1, 2021, we entered into a lease in Austin, Texas commencing on January 1, 2021 for our Austin technology organization. On January 31, 2024, the Company entered into a lease amendment commencing on February 1, 2024, extending the term of the existing lease for a period of 24 months and expiring on January 31, 2027. The space leased is 1,890 square feet. Rental expense for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 was $78,700 and $83,610, respectively.
The Company has various copier equipment with a lease that has not expired. Rental expense was $5,497 and $5,508 for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
The weighted average remaining lease term for all of our leases is 3.95 years. The weighted average discount rate is 4.61%.
The Company recognized total operating lease expense of approximately $728,000 and $660,000 for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. In 2025, the operating lease expense of $728,000 consisted of $597,000 of fixed operating expense and $131,000 of interest expense.
We believe that our existing and new properties will be adequate to meet our needs through December 31, 2025.
BEN KAUDER, NINA PIOLETTI, & TRIPLE PAY PLAY, INC.
In 2017, Usio acquired Singular Payments, Inc. (“Singular”), another payment processing company with offices in Nashville, Tennessee and St. Augustine, Florida.
Ben Kauder and Nina Pioletti were executives of Singular and, after the acquisition, Usio hired them as executive-level employees. Usio hired Kauder to serve as Senior Vice President of Integrated Payments, and Pioletti was hired to serve as Director of Sales. As a condition of employment, Kauder and Pioletti agreed to be bound by certain Usio policies, including as related to preserving the confidentiality of Usio’s proprietary information. As Usio executives, Kauder and Pioletti were afforded access to and contributed to the development of Usio’s trade secrets and other proprietary information not generally known by the public at large, including but not limited to, financial information, marketing plans, cost and operational/strategic plans, and sales presentations.
In May 2021, Kauder resigned from Usio followed by Pioletti in July 2022. Thereafter, Kauder and Pioletti formed Triple Pay Play, another payment processing company which directly competes with Usio. Upon information and belief, Kauder and Pioletti were working to form Triple Pay Play while employed by Usio, during Usio business hours, and while using Usio resources and Usio property.
On or about June 21, 2023, Usio filed suit against Kauder, Pioletti and Triple Pay Play for breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair business competition.
On July 6, 2023, Kauder, Pioletti and Triple Pay Play filed a Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction. The motion was granted. Subsequently, in February 2024, Usio refiled its case in Tennessee, where Kauder, Pioletti, and Triple Pay Play reside.
On May 3, 2024, Kauder, Pioletti and Triple Pay Play filed a Motion to Dismiss Usio’s Complaint, and this motion was heard August 5, 2024. On March 14, 2025 the motion was denied.
On July 11, 2025, Usio attended a deposition with Kauder and Triple Pay Play in Nashville, Tennessee.
On September 29, 2025, Kauder, Pioletti and Triple Pay Play agreed to Usio’s settlement and filed a Joint Notice of Voluntary Nonsuit with Prejudice in The Chancery Court of Maury County Tennessee on October 10, 2025. The settlement was in the amount of $115,000, which was recorded on our statement of operations as a reduction of SG&A expense for the year ended December 31, 2025.
KDHM, LLC
On September 1, 2021, KDHM, LLC ("KDHM"), an entity owned by the former owners of IMS, sued PDS Acquisition Corp, now known as Usio Output Solutions, Inc., in the 73rd District Court of Bexar County, Texas, claiming a breach of the asset purchase agreement executed by the parties on December 14, 2020. The lawsuit alleges that due to a mistake, accident, or inadvertence, certain customer deposits in the amount of $317,000 were improperly transferred to us.
We believe that plaintiff's claims contradict the express terms of the asset purchase agreement, and we intend to continue to vigorously defend this matter. As a result of this post-sale dispute, we subsequently discovered that KDHM and its principals made certain misrepresentations and breached the terms of the asset purchase agreement.
On September 28, 2021, we filed an answer generally denying the plaintiff’s allegations. On October 5, 2021, we filed a counterclaim and third-party petition. Therein, we allege that neither KDHM nor its principals disclosed that KDHM was not accounting for the customer deposits in accordance with GAAP. KDHM and third-party defendants, its principals Henry Minten and Thomas Dowe, affirmatively represented and warranted in section 3.1(e) of the asset purchase agreement that “[t]he Annual Financial Statements and the Interim Financial Statements have been prepared from the books and records of Seller in accordance with GAAP applied on a consistent basis.”
We subsequently discovered that KDHM by and through its principals failed to disclose that $305,000 in additional customer deposits existed and that these deposits were not conveyed to us as required by the asset purchase agreement. We believe that KDHM, Minten and Dowe provided us with fraudulent and misleading financial statements that did not disclose these additional customer deposits. KDHM and the defendants do not dispute that these additional customer deposits existed and that they were purchased by Usio. However, despite a written representation that these funds would be returned, KDHM and its principals have held these funds hostage. Section 2.1(b)(x) of the asset purchase agreement provides that the purchased assets include “All of Seller’s deposits from its customers, including without limitation, those customer deposits listed on Schedule 2.1(b)(xi) of the Disclosure Schedules.” Finally, we discovered that KDHM did not provide us with all customer lists, which are identified as purchased assets under the agreement.
On August 18, 2023, the judge granted a summary motion entitling KDHM to deposits for customer accounts that were printed and mailed prior to the acquisition, and Output Solutions was entitled to deposits for accounts that were not yet printed and printed but not yet mailed prior to the acquisition. Usio has requested a reconsideration of the motion, as it does not consider that deposits are only owed to KDHM if they were earned and offset against accounts receivable.
On March 4, 2024, the court held a hearing on KDHM’s Supplemental Rule 166(G) Motion and the court granted the motion in favor of KDHM. However, Usio believes the court erred in granting the motion and filed a motion for reconsideration on March 19, 2024.
On March 28, 2024, the court heard Usio’s Motion for Reconsideration of Order Granting Plaintiff’s Supplemental Rule 166(g). On May 2, 2024, the court denied Usio’s motion. On July 12, 2024, we filed an appeal on the lower court's decision. As part of the July 12, 2024 appeal, Usio was required to obtain a bond in the amount of $474,229. See Note 5 of the notes to our consolidated financial statements in this report for more information.
On April 2, 2025, the Fourth Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s judgment and rendered judgement that KDHM should take nothing against Usio on its “money had and received claim.” With respect to the remaining claims, the court remanded back to the lower court. On April 11, 2025, KDHM filed a Motion for Reconsideration with the appellate court, which was denied on May 5, 2025.
On August 8, 2025, KDHM filed in the Supreme Court of Texas a Petition for Review from the Fourth Court of Appeals at San Antonio, Texas, which was denied on January 30, 2026.
On February 6, 2026, KDHM agreed to Usio’s settlement. The settlement was in the amount of $120,000, which will be recorded on our statement of operations as a reduction of SG&A expense in 2026.
The Company has an unsecured revolving line of credit with a maximum borrowing capacity of $475,000. The facility was established on May 29, 2024, and matures on June 5, 2026. As of December 31, 2025, no amounts had been drawn under this line of credit since its origination. This line of credit was obtained to support the bond requirement in the KDHM lawsuit appeal but remains fully available. The Company also has an irrevocable letter of credit in the amount of $474,229, issued on June 3, 2024, with a maturity date of June 3, 2026. This letter of credit was obtained as part of the bonding requirement for the KDHM lawsuit appeal and has not been drawn upon since its issuance. As a result of the KDHM lawsuit settlement, the Company will not renew the line of credit or letter of credit upon their maturity. There are no ongoing costs associated with the maintenance of either of these credit facilities.
These credit facilities were arranged to comply with legal requirements related to the Company’s appeal and provide additional liquidity resources if needed. Management continues to monitor its financial position and believes that existing cash balances, along with these credit facilities, are sufficient to meet operational needs and legal obligations.
OTHER PROCEEDINGS
Aside from these proceedings, the Company may be involved in legal matters arising in the ordinary course of business from time to time. While we believe that such matters are currently not material, there can be no assurance that matters arising in the ordinary course of business for which we are or could become involved in litigation will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.
Not applicable.
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.
Market Information
On June 15, 2021, our common stock was uplisted and is now listed on the Nasdaq Global Market® Exchange under the ticker symbol "USIO". Prior to that change our common stock had been listed on the Nasdaq Capital Markets Exchange under the ticker symbol “PYDS” since August 11, 2015, and "USIO" since June 26, 2019.
Holders
On March 16, 2025, 27,746,208 shares of our common stock were issued and outstanding. As of March 16, 2026, there were 3,055 stockholders of record of our common stock.
Dividends
We have never declared or paid cash or stock dividends, and we have no plans to pay any such dividends in the foreseeable future. Instead, we intend to reinvest our earnings, if any.
Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
The information required to be disclosed by Item 201(d) of Regulation S-K, “Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans,” is incorporated herein by reference. Refer to Item 12 of Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
On November 2, 2016, we announced that our Board authorized the repurchase of up to $1 million of our common stock from time to time on the open market, in block transactions, or in privately negotiated transactions. On January 9, 2018, the Board added an additional $2 million to the buyback plan. The program began on November 16, 2016 and ended on September 29, 2019. At September 29, 2019 when the program ended, $1,419,701 was available under the repurchase plan. The program was used for purchases of shares of common stock from employees and directors, and for open-market purchases through a broker. On November 7, 2019, the Board approved the renewal of the share buyback program. The Board approved a limit of $1,420,000, which was rolled over from the prior buyback program with a three-year duration. On May 13, 2022, and again on March 24, 2025, the Board authorized a renewal of the buy-back program, with a limit up to $4 million of the Company's common stock with a three year duration or the date the Board, at its sole discretion, terminates or suspends the program. The program continues to be used for the purchase of shares of common stock from employees and directors, and for open-market purchases through a broker. The following table shows our fourth quarter of 2025 stock purchases under the buyback plan as of December 31, 2025:
| Period |
(a) Total number of shares (or units) purchased |
(b) Average price paid per share (or unit) |
(c) Total number of shares (or units) purchased as part of publicly announced plans or programs |
(d) Maximum number (or approximate dollar value) of shares (or units) that may yet be purchased under the plans or programs |
||||||||||||
| October 1, 2025 to October 31, 2025 |
102,135 | $ | 1.47 | 102,135 | $ | 3,957,677 | ||||||||||
| November 1, 2025 to November 30, 2025 |
46,132 | $ | 1.41 | 46,132 | 3,892,630 | |||||||||||
| December 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025 |
57,882 | $ | 1.48 | 57,882 | 3,806,943 | |||||||||||
| Total |
206,149 | |||||||||||||||
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS DISCLAIMER
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. If used in this report, the words "will," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "intend," and other words or phrases of similar import are intended to identify forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements for many reasons, including the risks described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and other reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, they relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this report to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as required by law.
This discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in this report.
Overview
Usio, Inc. was founded under the name Billserv.com, Inc. in July 1998 and incorporated in the State of Nevada. On June 26, 2019, we changed our corporate name from Payment Data Systems, Inc. to Usio, Inc. Our principal offices are located at 3611 Paesanos Parkway, Suite 300, San Antonio, TX 78231. Our telephone number is (210) 249-4100.
In addition, we offer customizable prepaid cards which companies use for expense management, incentives, refunds, claims and disbursements, as well as unique forms of compensation such as per diem payments, government disbursements, and similar payments. We also offer prepaid cards to consumers for use as a tool to stay on budget, manage allowances and share money with family and friends. Our UsioCard platform supports Apple Pay®, Samsung Pay™ and Google Pay™. Our PINless debit product allows merchants to debit and credit accounts in real-time. In our over 25-year history, we have created a loyal customer base that relies on us for our convenient, secure, innovative and adaptive services and technology, and we have built long-standing and valuable relationships with premier banking institutions such as Fifth-Third Bank, Sunrise Bank, and Wells Fargo Bank.
We also offer payment facilitation, or PayFac, services through a leveraged, one to many, distribution model. Following the completion of the Singular Payments acquisition, we launched our payment facilitation, PayFac, platform called "PayFac-in-a-Box" in late 2018 targeting partnership opportunities with app and software developers in bill-centric verticals, such as legal, healthcare, property management, utilities and insurance. The PayFac-in-a-Box platform 'integration layer' offers a simple integration experience for technology companies who are looking to monetize payments within an existing base of downstream clients. The added value of offering our integration partners access to credit card, debit card, ACH and prepaid card issuance capabilities through a single vendor partner relationship in face-to-face, mobile and virtual payment acceptance environments provides a true single channel commerce experience through an application programming interface, API.
We also offer additional services relating to electronic bill presentment, document composition, document decomposition and printing and mailing services serving hundreds of customers representing a wide range of industry verticals, including utilities and financial institutions through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Usio Output Solutions, Inc., or Output Solutions. This product offering provides an outsourced solution for document design, print and electronic delivery to potential customers and entities looking to reduce postage costs and increase efficiencies.
We continue to actively work on expanding and supplementing our product offerings in order to retain key customers, as well as extend our market reach. Through our diverse payment channels, we believe we offer a comprehensive payment ecosystem that can satisfy the variety of needs any client may have. As a result, not only do we have a portfolio of products that we believe is attractive to the broader payment market and can drive new customer growth, but our embedded technology also improves relationships with existing clients by increasing engagement and customer loyalty.
Strategy
We believe that our success in 2026 and beyond will continue to depend in large part on our ability to (a) scale recurring revenues and deepen partner relationships, (b) expand our product offerings, (c) pursue disciplined, accretive opportunities, (d) enhance shareholder value via operational execution and capital allocation, and (e) assimilate current and future acquisitions of companies and customer portfolios. We will continue to invest in our sales force and technology platforms to drive revenue growth. In particular, we are focused on growing our ACH merchants, adding new software integrators, and growing our electronic bill presentment, document composition, document decomposition, printing and mailing services business while providing incremental services to existing merchants. In addition to our near-term growth opportunities, we are focused on leveraging and optimizing the infrastructure of our business to enable expansion of our payment processing and mail and printing capabilities without significantly increasing our operating costs. We continue to seek ways to grow revenue, and net new client implementations and onboards occur regularly due to our ability to address the needs of our market.
Growing Revenues. Revenue growth remains a consistent focus for the Company, as we strive to achieve expanded scale, and establish a strong reputation within the financial technologies space. This growth assists us in maintaining our diversified offerings and remaining relevant in the payments ecosystem by developing payment platforms that address the current needs of our marketplace. In 2025, our revenues increased 3% to $85.4 million, as compared to $82.9 million in 2024, due primarily to strong growth in our ACH and complementary services line of business, though offset in large part by declines in our prepaid card services line of business and interest revenues. The strong growth in our ACH and complementary services line of business was due to organic growth from existing customers and net new client implementations and onboarding. The decrease in our prepaid card services revenues was due to declines from one of our key prepaid card programs, as its business was impacted by the loss of a key customer that made significant contributions to Usio revenues in 2024. Lower interest revenues were driven by interest rates and interest bearing deposits declining versus the prior year.
Expand our product offerings. We maintain a committed focus on the ever changing technological landscape within the payments ecosystem. We believe that regularly attending payments focused conferences, webinars, and training sessions, alongside our consistent communication with customers and clients, enables us to be informed of the most current, and future, applications and evolutions of financial technologies. We believe that this allows us to implement new feature functionality to existing products and introduce new payment methods. This has led to our evolution from being an EBPP provider at the Company's founding, to the diverse payment provider we are today, with offerings such as ACH processing, PINless debit, RTP, prepaid card issuance, and credit card processing. In the digital marketplace, it is especially crucial to match the need for diversified payment options in an increasingly ecommerce driven world.
Pursue disciplined, accretive opportunities. Acquisitions have been a key element in our growth-focused strategy, both by adding net new customers and by enhancing our suite of payment technologies. This is evident through our acquisitions of Akimbo Financial, Inc., Singular Payments, and IMS, which allowed us to introduce new offerings such as prepaid card issuance, PayFac, and electronic bill presentment, all of which represent significant portions of our current revenues. The Company continually evaluates the markets for opportunities to acquire or partner with accretive opportunities that align with our core competencies. In 2025, we acquired the assets of PostCredit, which we believe once again represents an opportunity to enhance our existing products and to introduce us as a new competitor in the expense management market vertical. We cannot assure you that we will be able to complete any acquisitions in the future.
Enhancing shareholder value via operational execution and capital allocation. By appropriately managing our expenses (which are discussed under "- Results of Operations - Selling, General and Administrative Expenses" below), we believe we can achieve better economies of scale, and drive revenue growth. We believe that carefully evaluating our existing selling, general and administrative, or SG&A, expenses, and balancing them against the need for client implementation and support, together with our technology staff driving product innovation, will guide our operational strategies while maintaining a focus on efficiencies and profitability. SG&A expenses were up in the year, at $18.4 million as compared to $16.7 million in the prior year. The increase in SG&A expense was primarily due to increases in salary alongside increases in network infrastructure, travel expenditures, professional fees, and other various general expenses. For more information, see "-Results of Operations - Selling, General and Administrative Expenses" below.
Assimilating Current and Future Acquisitions. The assimilation of our previous acquisitions has been critical in both the retention of purchased assets and their growth, through cross-selling and implementation into our broader infrastructure, which allows for increased diversity of offerings and support. Successfully assimilating acquisitions remains a crucial priority for the success of the Company. The recent acquisition of PostCredit represents an especially critical component of this strategy, and may require significant time investment and capital expenditure to fully implement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully assimilate new and future acquisitions.
Summary of Results
In 2025, we processed $8.4 billion for all payment types, which was up 19% from the prior year volume of $7.1 billion total dollars processed due to strong growth in our ACH and complimentary services business unit and PINless debit product line, via organic growth and net new customer acquisitions. In addition, success in our PayFac platform drove growth, and exceeded the attrition in our legacy credit card processing portfolios by focusing on our distributed sales force and Independent Software Vendor, or ISV, market. We believe this strategy will continue to drive superior results over time. Total transactions processed were up 30% in 2025 to 60.8 million.
ACH or electronic check transactions processed for 2025 increased by 29.3% compared to 2024. Returned check transactions increased by 31.2% in 2025 compared to 2024.
Credit card dollars processed in 2025 increased by 12.7% compared to 2024 and credit card transactions processed for 2025 increased by 66.3% compared to 2024.
All of these metrics for dollars and transactions processed represent all-time records for the Company.
Prepaid card load volume decreased by 40.6% and transaction volume decreased by 26.5%. These declines were driven primarily by the loss of a downstream customer from one of our key clients in 2025, which had contributed significant load and transaction processing volume in the prior year period. While there has been success in new client onboarding, replacement of this customer has been delayed as many of our more meaningful new programs have anticipated start dates in mid to late 2026.
Material Trends and Uncertainties
On August 16, 2022, former President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, which implemented a 1% excise tax on certain corporate stock repurchases, when repurchases of stock on an established securities market exceed $1 million in a tax year. On May 13, 2022, and again on March 24, 2025, the Board authorized a renewal of the buy-back program, with a limit up to $4 million of the Company's common stock with a three year duration. In the year ended December 31, 2025, the Company had repurchased approximately $1.1 million of stock as part of its buyback program for which the Company may be required to pay approximately $11,000 in excise tax. Should the Company opt to continue the repurchase of its securities on the open market, and the IRA remain in effect, we may qualify for this tax in 2026, and future years.
The broader implications of the macroeconomic environment, including uncertainty around recent international conflicts including the Russia and Ukraine conflict and the military actions in Iran by the U.S. and Israel, supply chain shortages, a recession globally or in markets in which we operate, higher inflation rates, higher interest rates, and other related global economic conditions, remain unknown. In April 2025, developments relating to tariffs intensified concerns over the global macroeconomic environment. Volatility across financial markets rose and the prospect of a U.S. recession increased further. Uncertainty around the path forward and concerns over the potentially escalating effects of a trade war have created risks for the U.S. and global economies. A deterioration in macroeconomic conditions as well as ongoing uncertainty regarding tariffs or trade disputes could continue to increase the risk of lower consumer spending, merchant and consumer bankruptcy, insolvency, business failure, higher credit losses, or other business interruption, which may adversely impact our business. If these conditions continue or worsen, they could adversely impact our future financial and operating results.
As the Federal Reserve has worked to fight economic inflation, the federal funds rate experienced rapid growth from the beginning of 2022 into the third quarter of 2023, and remained flat until September 2024 when the federal funds rate was lowered. This resulted in the Company's receiving more favorable interest rates on its current cash balances, amounting to $1.9 million in interest earnings in 2025. Of this interest, $1.5 million was recognized as revenue in the respective business lines for which the cash balances are held, and $0.4 million as interest income. In 2024, the Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate four times by a cumulative 1%, and by 0.25% twice in 2025 during September and October 2025, which has resulted in lower interest earnings on our interest-bearing cash accounts. Should the Federal Reserve continue lowering the federal funds rate in the future, this incremental source of income would decline. We continue to work closely with our bank partners, to ensure we effectively manage our cash balances, and monitor the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decisions.
Changes in these factors are difficult to predict, and a change in one factor could affect other factors, which could result in adverse effects to our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
General
Our management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to the reported amounts of revenues and expenses, credit losses, investments, intangible assets, income taxes, contingencies and litigation. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results could differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We consider these accounting policies to be critical because the nature of the estimates or assumptions is material due to the levels of subjectivity and judgment necessary to account for highly uncertain matters or the susceptibility of such matters to change or because the impact of the estimates and assumptions on financial condition or operating performance is material.
For a summary of critical accounting policies, please refer to the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 1. Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies.
Reserve for Processing Losses
If, due to insolvency or bankruptcy of one of the Company’s merchant customers, or for any other reason, the Company is not able to collect amounts from its card processing, credit card, ACH or merchant prepaid customers that have been properly "charged back" by the customer or if a prepaid cardholder incurs a negative balance, the Company must bear the credit risk for the full amount of the transaction. The Company may require cash deposits and other types of collateral from certain merchants to minimize any such risk. In addition, the Company utilizes a number of systems and procedures to manage merchant risk. ACH, prepaid and credit card merchant processing loss reserves are primarily determined by performing a historical analysis of our loss experience and considering other factors that could affect that experience in the future, such as the types of transactions processed and nature of the merchant relationship with its consumers and the Company with its prepaid card holders. This reserve amount is subject to the risk that actual losses may be greater than our estimates. The Company did not incur any significant processing losses in 2025, but has experienced substantial losses in the past. For example, in the first quarter of 2023, we incurred $833,485 in merchant processing losses as a result of fraudulent activity and identify fraud from multiple merchants, of which $755,494 was deducted from our reserve for processing losses. Estimates for processing losses vary based on the volume of transactions processed and could increase or decrease accordingly. The Company evaluates its risk for such transactions and estimates its potential processing losses based primarily on historical experience and other relevant factors. At December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company’s reserve for processing losses was $784,937 and $897,116, respectively, included as an accrued expense on the consolidated balance sheets.
Accounts Receivable/Allowance for Estimated Credit Losses
Accounts receivable are reported as outstanding principal net of an allowance for expected credit losses of $404,132 and $324,000 at December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
The Company maintains an allowance for credit losses for estimated losses resulting from the inability or failure of its customers to make required payments. The Company determines the allowance based on an account-by-account review, taking into consideration such factors as the age of the outstanding balance, historical pattern of collections and financial condition of the customer. Past losses incurred by the Company due to credit losses have been within its expectations. If the financial condition of its customers deteriorates, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make contractual payments, additional allowances might be required. Estimates for credit losses are variable based on the volume of transactions processed and could increase or decrease accordingly. The Company normally does not charge interest on accounts receivable.
Accounting for Income Taxes
Our annual tax rate is based on our income, statutory tax rates, and tax planning opportunities available to us. Tax laws are complex and subject to different interpretations by the taxpayer and respective government taxing authority. Significant judgement is required in determining our tax expense and in evaluating our tax positions, including evaluating uncertainties. We review our tax positions yearly and adjust the balances as new information becomes available.
Deferred tax assets represent amounts available to reduce income taxes payable on taxable income in future years. Such assets arise because of temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, as well as from net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. We evaluate the recoverability of these future tax deductions and credits by assessing the adequacy of future expected taxable income from all sources, including reversal of taxable temporary differences, forecasted operating earnings, and available tax planning strategies. These rely heavily on estimates that are based on a number of factors, including historical data, and business forecasts. To the extent deferred tax assets are not expected to be realized, we record a valuation allowance.
We recognize and measure uncertain tax positions in accordance with GAAP, pursuant to which we only recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities.
As with all businesses, the Company’s tax returns are subject to periodic examination. The Company’s federal returns for the past four years remain open to examination. The Company is subject to the Texas franchise tax and Tennessee franchise tax. Management is not aware of any tax positions that would have a significant impact on its financial position.
Revenue Recognition
Revenue consists primarily of fees generated through the electronic processing of payment transactions and related services. Revenue is recognized during the period in which the transactions are processed or when the related services are performed. The Company complies with ASC 606-10 and reports revenues at gross as a principal versus net as an agent. Although some of the Company's processing agreements vary with respect to specific credit risks, the Company has determined for each agreement it is acting in the principal role. Merchants may be charged for these processing services at a bundled rate based on a percentage of the dollar amount of each transaction and, in some instances, additional fees are charged for each transaction. Certain merchant customers are charged a flat fee per transaction, while others may also be charged miscellaneous fees, including fees for chargebacks or returns, monthly minimums, and other miscellaneous services. Revenues derived from electronic processing of credit, debit, and prepaid card transactions that are authorized and captured through third-party networks are reported gross of amounts paid to sponsor banks as well as interchange and assessments paid to credit card associations. Certain card distributors remit payment of fees earned 45 days after the end of the processing period. Prepaid card distributors have payment terms of 30 days following the end of the month. Sales taxes billed are reported directly as a liability to the taxing authority and are not included in revenue. Output Solutions, provides bill preparation, presentment and mailing services. Revenue from Output Solutions is recognized when the related services are performed for printing and delivered to USPS for postage. We also earn revenues from interest and fees earned on certain assets underlying customer balances. Interest earned on assets directly related to our core business line operations are recorded in the revenue source underlying the associated customer balances. Customer balances held on which the Company earns interest revenues include balances from our Automated Clearing House, or ACH, and complementary services, prepaid card services, and Output Solutions business lines.
Key Business Metrics - Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes the following non-GAAP financial measures as defined in Regulation G adopted by the SEC: EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA margins. The Company reports its financial results in compliance with GAAP, but believes that also discussing non-GAAP financial measures provides investors with financial measures the Company uses in the management of its business.
| • |
The Company defines EBITDA as operating income (loss), before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of intangibles. |
| • |
The Company defines adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA, as defined above, plus non-cash stock based compensation costs and certain non-recurring items, such as costs related to acquisitions. |
| • |
The Company defines adjusted EBITDA margins as adjusted EBITDA, as defined above, divided by total revenues. |
Management believes that EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA margins are helpful to investors in evaluating the Company's operating performance because non-cash costs and other items that management believes are not indicative of its results of operations are excluded.
We reported adjusted EBITDA loss of ($0.2) million for the quarter ended December 31, 2025, as compared to an adjusted EBITDA of $0.5 million for the same period in the prior year. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA in the 2025 quarter was attributable to increases in SG&A and reduced gross profit as a result of declines in interest revenue.
We reported adjusted EBITDA of $1.3 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2025, as compared to an adjusted EBITDA of $2.9 million for the same period in the prior year. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA in 2025 was attributable to increases in SG&A.
The following table is a reconciliation of Net Loss to EBITDA for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2025 and 2024.
| Twelve Months Ended |
||||||||
| December 31, 2025 |
December 31, 2024 |
|||||||
| Reconciliation from Operating Income/(Loss) to Adjusted EBITDA: |
||||||||
| Operating income (loss) |
$ | (2,359,605 | ) | $ | (1,470,345 | ) | ||
| Depreciation and amortization |
1,946,224 | 2,263,302 | ||||||
| EBITDA |
(413,381 | ) | 792,957 | |||||
| Non-cash stock-based compensation expense, net |
1,743,893 | 2,093,406 | ||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA |
$ | 1,330,512 | $ | 2,886,363 | ||||
| Calculation of Adjusted EBITDA margins: |
||||||||
| Revenues |
$ | 85,393,626 | $ | 82,931,840 | ||||
| Adjusted EBITDA |
1,330,512 | 2,886,363 | ||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA margins |
1.6 | % | 3.5 | % | ||||
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA margins should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. They are not measurements of our financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to revenue, or net income, as applicable, or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP and may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other businesses. EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted EBITDA margins have limitations as analytical tools and you should not consider these Non-GAAP measures in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our operating results as reported under GAAP.
Results of Operations
Revenues
Our revenues are principally derived from providing integrated electronic payment services to merchants and businesses, including credit and debit card-based processing services and transaction processing via the ACH network and the program management and processing of prepaid debit cards, and we also offer additional output solution services relating to electronic bill presentment, document composition, document decomposition and printing and mailing services serving hundreds of customers representing a wide range of industry verticals, including utilities and financial institutions. We also earn revenues from interest and fees earned on certain assets underlying customer balances. Interest earned on assets directly related to our core business line operations are recorded in the revenue source underlying the associated customer balances. Customer balances held on which the Company earns interest revenues include balances from our ACH and complementary services, prepaid card services, and Output Solutions business lines.
| Year Ended December 31, |
||||||||||||||||
| 2025 |
2024 |
$ Change |
% Change |
|||||||||||||
| ACH and complementary service revenue |
$ | 22,199,050 | $ | 16,678,324 | $ | 5,520,726 | 33 | % | ||||||||
| Credit card revenue |
30,012,875 | 29,267,546 | 745,329 | 3 | % | |||||||||||
| Prepaid card services revenue |
11,004,704 | 14,080,650 | (3,075,946 | ) | (22 | )% | ||||||||||
| Output Solutions revenue |
20,645,353 | 20,618,996 | 26,357 | 0 | % | |||||||||||
| Interest - ACH and complementary services |
745,252 | 789,717 | (44,465 | ) | (6 | )% | ||||||||||
| Interest - Prepaid card services |
615,442 | 1,345,679 | (730,237 | ) | (54 | )% | ||||||||||
| Interest - Output Solutions |
170,950 | 150,928 | 20,022 | 13 | % | |||||||||||
| Total Revenues |
$ | 85,393,626 | $ | 82,931,840 | $ | 2,461,786 | 3 | % | ||||||||
Total revenues for 2025 increased by 3% to $85.4 million from $82.9 million in 2024. This increase came primarily from our ACH and complementary services business line, which increased by 33%, due to successful sales efforts to grow our organic customer base, alongside net new client implementations. Growth in our credit card line of business was also up 3% as a result of our Payfac credit card segment outpacing both attrition in our legacy base, and the loss of a key customer in the first quarter of 2025, who contributed meaningful revenue throughout 2024. Total revenue growth, however, was reduced due to prepaid card services revenue declining 22% as a result of the loss of a downstream customer from one of our key clients due to it being acquired at the start of 2025. This downstream customer contributed significant revenues in 2024 that were not present in 2025. While there have been successful efforts to onboard new clients with the capability of replacing this revenue and continuing growth in our prepaid business line, much of the material new business is not anticipated to begin until the second half of 2026. Interest revenues were also down 33% on the year across all sectors as a result of lower interest rates and reduced cash balances held throughout 2025. Revenues from Output Solutions were flat, reflecting challenges in growing at a rate that exceeds attrition in an increasingly competitive market landscape for print and mail services. The acquisition of a new folder and inserter piece of equipment in late 2023, alongside the purchase of a new printer at the end of 2025, which is expected to be operational in early 2026, are expected to help increase capacity and the speed at which we can complete jobs. We anticipate this helping ensure we can sustain existing operations, enhance our competitiveness, and increase our capability of generating new business, while also lowering our costs to process print and mail services at scale. Results have already been realized, as the quantity of mail we printed and delivered in the first two months of 2026 was higher than in any other two-month period in the history of the Company.
Cost of Services
Cost of services includes the cost of personnel dedicated to the creation and maintenance of connections to third-party payment processors and the fees paid to such third-party providers for electronic payment processing services. Through our contractual relationships with our payment processors and sponsoring banks, we process ACH and debit, credit or prepaid card transactions on behalf of our customers and their consumers. We pay volume-based fees for debit, credit, ACH and prepaid transactions initiated through these processors or sponsoring banks, and pay fees for other transactions such as returns, notices of change to bank accounts and file transmission. Cost of services expense was $65.7 million and $63.3 million for 2025 and 2024, respectively. Cost of services expenses increased by $2.4 million, or 4%, in 2025 as compared to 2024 primarily due to increased revenues. Increases in our cost of services outpaced revenue growth due to the shift in revenue-generating business lines. This was primarily related to declines in higher margin prepaid card services revenues and increases in lower margin revenues from complementary services in our ACH and complementary service business line, such as PINless debit.
Gross Profit
Gross profit is the net profit after deducting the cost of services. Gross profit was $19.7 million and $19.6 million for 2025 and 2024, respectively. Gross profit increased nominally by $0.1 million, or 0.4%, in 2025 as compared to 2024. Gross profit margins were down slightly from 23.7% in 2024 to 23.1% in 2025, reflective of both a decline in our 100% margin interest revenues, alongside a shift in our business mix, as higher margin prepaid revenues made up a smaller portion of overall revenues.
Stock-based Compensation
Stock-based compensation expense decreased to $1.7 million in 2025 from $2.1 million in 2024. Our stock-based compensation expenses for 2025 and 2024 represented the amortization of deferred compensation expenses related to incentive stock grants to employees, officers and directors. The decrease in stock-based compensation was primarily attributable to various three year RSUs and 10 year grants fully vesting during 2025. This vesting offset the increase in stock-based compensation expense related to our June 21, 2024 and August 21, 2025 stock grants. Please refer to Notes 9 and 11 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report for incremental information regarding these stock grants.
Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
Selling, general and administrative expenses, or SG&A, increased to $18.4 million in 2025 from $16.7 million in 2024. The increase of $1.6 million, or 10%, represented continued investments in staffing and employee retention through various hires and salary increases, alongside increased expenditures related to the Company's security and IT infrastructure to strengthen the Company's defense from cybersecurity risks. Further investments were made to increase our customer success, implementations of merchant onboarding processes, and partner and client integrations strategy to sustain existing operations and future growth.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expense consist of the reduction in value of our tangible and intangible assets over their useful life. These assets include property, plant, and equipment, along with intangible assets acquired through acquisition, or developed as internal use software.
Depreciation and amortization expense decreased to $1.9 million in 2025 as compared to $2.3 million in 2024. The decrease of $0.3 million, or 14%, was primarily attributable to the completed depreciation of fixed and intangible assets related to internal use software.
Other Income, net
Interest income decreased to $0.4 million in 2025 from $0.5 million in 2024 due to both lower interest rates, and interest-bearing cash balances. Other income, net was $0.4 million for 2025, as compared to income of $2.1 million for 2024 due to the employee retention tax credit recorded under the CARES Act, and extended by the ARPA, received in 2024, and recorded as other income in our consolidated statement of operations.
Income Taxes
State income tax expense was $458,599 in 2025 and $449,227 in 2024. The state income tax expense represents amounts incurred under the Texas franchise tax.
Income tax reported was an expense of $0.5 million in 2025 and a benefit of $2.6 million in 2024, with the difference due to the decrease in our valuation allowance of approximately $3.6 million, and an increase in our deferred tax asset to approximately $4.5 million, resulting in a federal income tax benefit to the Company of $3.1 million in 2024. Please refer to Note 11 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report for incremental information regarding this deferred tax asset.
Net Income (Loss)
Income (loss) before income taxes was a loss of $2.0 million in 2025 and income of $0.7 million in 2024, with the decline from 2024 to 2025 due primarily to increased SG&A expenses in 2025 versus 2024 alongside the presence of $1.7 million recorded in 2024 as part of the one time employee retention tax credit issued under the CARES which was not present in 2025, to offset the higher operating loss.
We reported a net loss of $2.5 million and net income of $3.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. The decrease in net income (loss) was due to the 2024 federal income tax benefit of $3.0 million, combined with the receipt of the employee retention tax credit in 2024, which did not occur in 2025. Please refer to Note 11 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this annual report for additional information regarding this deferred tax asset.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our primary sources of liquidity are available cash and cash equivalents, cash flows provided by operations and, if an appropriate opportunity presents itself, the sale of debt or equity securities, although we may not be able to complete any financing on terms acceptable to us, if at all. At December 31, 2025, we had $7.4 million of cash and cash equivalents, as compared to $8.1 million of cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2024. The decrease was primarily a result of the increased SG&A and lower interest revenues/income. For the year ended December 31, 2025, net cash provided by operating activities was $1.5 million, and for the year ended December 31, 2024, cash provided by operations was $2.9 million with the decrease due primarily to the absence of the employee retention tax credit that was received in 2024, combined with increased SG&A expense. We expect available cash and cash equivalents and internally generated funds to be sufficient to support working capital needs, capital expenditures (including acquisitions), and our debt service obligations. We believe we have sufficient liquidity to operate for at least the next 12 months from the date of filing this report. Cash from operating activities is dependent on our net income (loss), less depreciation, amortization, credit losses, deferred federal income tax, non-cash stock-based compensation, the amortization of warrant costs, and net of the changes in our operating assets and liabilities. These assets and liabilities include our accounts receivable, prepaid expenses, operating lease right-of-use assets, inventory, other assets, accounts payable and accrued expenses, operating lease liabilities, merchant reserves, customer deposits, and deferred revenues. To the extent we require other sources of capital, we may seek a commercial line of credit or sell debt or equity securities, although we may not be able to complete any financing on terms acceptable to us, if at all.
We reported working capital of $9.4 million and $10.2 million at December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. This decrease was a result of declines in cash and cash equivalents, alongside lower accounts receivable.
We have in the past, and may in the future, utilize equipment loans in order to finance the cost of particular pieces of equipment. On March 20, 2021, we entered into a debt arrangement to finance $165,996 for the purchase of an Output Solutions sorter. The loan was for a period of 36 months with a maturity date of March 20, 2024. The repayment schedule was for 36 months at $4,902 per month. Annual payments were $58,821. The financing was at an annual interest rate of 3.95%. This equipment loan was paid off in its entirety in 2024 with total payments of $14,536 during 2024.
On October 1, 2023, the Company entered into a debt arrangement to finance $811,819 for the purchase of an Output Solutions folder and inserter. The loan is for a period of 66 months with a maturity date of April 5, 2029 and an annual interest rate of 6.75%. Monthly principal and interest payments are required in the amount of $16,017. Total interest and principal payments on this folder and inserter equipment loan were $191,812 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2025 and $146,074 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024.
On September 19, 2025, the Company entered into a debt arrangement to finance $1,017,954 for the purchase of an Output Solutions printer. The loan is for a period of 66 months with a maturity date of March 19, 2031 and an annual interest rate of 6.75%. Monthly principal and interest payments are required in the amount of $20,088, with monthly interest only payments in the amount of $5,758 required for the first six months of the loan term beginning in October 2025. As of December 31, 2025, only $791,742 in proceeds have been drawn from the loan and presented on the Company's balance sheet with the remaining commitment of $226,212 still available. Total payments on the printer loan in 2025 were $6,574.
As of December 31, 2025, the Company maintains an undrawn line of credit and an outstanding letter of credit, both of which were established in connection with a bond required for the Company's appeal of the court’s decision in the KDHM lawsuit, which was settled in February 2026.
The Company has an unsecured revolving line of credit with a maximum borrowing capacity of $475,000. The facility was established on May 29, 2024, and matures on June 5, 2026. As of December 31, 2025, no amounts had been drawn under this line of credit since its origination. This line of credit was secured to support the bond requirement in the KDHM lawsuit appeal, but remains fully available.
The Company has an irrevocable letter of credit in the amount of $474,229, issued on June 3, 2024, with a maturity date of June 3, 2026. This letter of credit was obtained as part of the bonding requirement for the KDHM lawsuit appeal and has not been drawn upon since its issuance.
As a result of the KDHM lawsuit settlement, the Company will not renew the line of credit or letter of credit upon their maturity. There are no ongoing costs associated with the maintenance of either of these credit facilities.
These credit facilities were arranged to comply with legal requirements related to the Company’s appeal and to provide additional liquidity resources if needed. Management continues to monitor its financial position and believes that existing cash balances, along with these credit facilities, are sufficient to meet operational needs and legal obligations.
From time to time, we have sold shares of our common stock in order to provide us liquidity. For example, on November 19, 2021, Voyager Digital purchased 142,857 unregistered shares of common stock at an offering price of $7.00 per share in a private offering. The gross proceeds to us from the private offering were $1,000,000. We have also sold securities in public offerings from time to time. For example, in September 2020, we sold 4,705,883 shares of our common stock and received net proceeds of approximately $8 million. We cannot assure you that in the future we will be able to sell shares of our equity securities on terms acceptable to us or at all.
Cash Flows
Net cash provided by operating activities totaled $1.5 million for 2025 as compared to net cash provided by operating activities of $2.9 million in 2024. The decrease in cash provided by operating activities was due primarily to the absence of the employee retention tax credit that was received in 2024, combined with increased SG&A expense.
Net cash used by investing activities was $1.5 million for 2025 and $0.9 million in 2024. The increase in investing activities was due to increased expenditures related to capitalized labor for internal use software.
Net cash provided by financing activities for 2025 was $28.7 million compared to net cash used by financing activities of $5.1 million for 2024. The increase in cash provided by financing activities was primarily attributable to changes in the balance of our assets held for customers related to their payment processing, proceeds from the equipment loan related to our new printer, and a decrease of treasury stock repurchases in 2025 by approximately $0.3 million over 2024.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We have no off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future material effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.
As a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K, we are electing scaled disclosure reporting obligations and therefore are not required to provide the information requested by this Item.
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
Usio, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheet of Usio, Inc. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2025, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows, for the year ended December 31, 2025, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2025 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2025, in conformity accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
The consolidated financial statements of the Company as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024 were audited by Pannell Kerr Forster of Texas, P.C., who joined WithumSmith+Brown, P.C., on June 1, 2025, and rendered their opinion on such statements on March 26, 2025.
Basis of Opinion
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of the critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Deferred Tax Assets – Valuation Allowance
Description of the Matter
The Company recognizes deferred tax assets to the extent that it is expected that these assets are more likely than not to be realized. The Company evaluates the realizability of the deferred tax assets, and to the extent that the Company estimates that it is more likely than not that a benefit will not be realized, the carrying amount of the deferred tax assets is reduced with a valuation allowance. We identified the valuation of deferred tax assets as a critical audit matter because of the significant judgments made by management in projecting future taxable income.
How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit
Our audit procedures related to projected future taxable income and the determination of whether it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will be realized included the evaluation of the reasonableness of management’s projected future taxable income. We compared the forecast of future taxable income estimates to historical earnings and evaluated the inputs, assumptions and trends used by management for developing a forecast of future taxable income.
Other Matter
The consolidated financial statements of the Company, including the accompanying consolidated balance sheet, as of December 31, 2024, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders' equity, and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2024 and the related notes were audited by Pannell Kerr Forster of Texas, P.C., who joined WithumSmith+Brown, P.C., on June 1, 2025, and rendered their opinion on such statements on March 26, 2025.
/s/
March 18, 2026
PCAOB ID
We have served as the Company's auditor since 2024.
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
Usio, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheet of Usio, Inc. and Subsidiaries (collectively referred to as the “Company”) as of December 31, 2024, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows, for the year ended December 31, 2024, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the "consolidated financial statements"). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2024 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2024 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis of Opinion
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's consolidated financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As a part of our audit, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective or complex judgments. The communication of the critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Deferred Tax Assets – Valuation Allowance
Description of the Matter
The Company recognizes deferred tax assets to the extent that it is expected that these assets are more likely than not to be realized. The Company evaluates the realizability of the deferred tax assets, and to the extent that the Company estimates that it is more likely than not that a benefit will not be realized, the carrying amount of the deferred tax assets is reduced with a valuation allowance. We identified the valuation of deferred tax assets as a critical audit matter because of the significant judgments made by management in projecting future taxable income.
How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit
Our audit procedures related to projected future taxable income and the determination of whether it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will be realized included the evaluation of the reasonableness of management’s projected future taxable income. We compared the forecast of future taxable income estimates to historical earnings and evaluated the inputs, assumptions and trends used by management for developing a forecast of future taxable income.
/s/ Pannell Kerr Forster of Texas, P.C.
Houston, Texas United States
March 26, 2025
PCAOB ID 342
We served as the Company's auditor in 2024.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
| December 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | |||||||
| ASSETS | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | $ | ||||||
| Settlement processing assets | ||||||||
| Prepaid card load assets | ||||||||
| Customer deposits | ||||||||
| Accounts receivable, net | ||||||||
| Accounts receivable, tax credit | ||||||||
| Inventory | ||||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other | ||||||||
| Merchant reserves | ||||||||
| Total current assets | ||||||||
| Property and equipment, net | ||||||||
| Other assets: | ||||||||
| Intangibles, net | ||||||||
| Deferred tax asset, net | ||||||||
| Operating lease right-of-use assets | ||||||||
| Other assets | ||||||||
| Total other assets | ||||||||
| Total Assets | $ | $ | ||||||
| LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY | ||||||||
| Current Liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | $ | ||||||
| Accrued expenses | ||||||||
| Operating lease liabilities, current portion | ||||||||
| Equipment loan, current portion | ||||||||
| Settlement processing obligations | ||||||||
| Prepaid card load obligations | ||||||||
| Customer deposits | ||||||||
| Merchant reserve obligations | ||||||||
| Total current liabilities | ||||||||
| Non-current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Equipment loan, non-current portion | ||||||||
| Operating lease liabilities, non-current portion | ||||||||
| Total liabilities | ||||||||
| Commitments and contingencies (Note 15) | ||||||||
| Stockholders' Equity: | ||||||||
| Preferred stock, $ par value, shares authorized; -- shares issued and outstanding in 2025 and 2024 | ||||||||
| Common stock, $ par value, shares authorized; and issued and and outstanding in 2025 and 2024, respectively | ||||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | ||||||||
| Treasury stock, at cost; and shares in 2025 and 2024, respectively | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Deferred compensation | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Accumulated deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Total stockholders' equity | ||||||||
| Total Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity | $ | $ | ||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
| For the Year Ended | ||||||||
| December 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | |||||||
| Revenues | $ | $ | ||||||
| Cost of services | ||||||||
| Gross profit | ||||||||
| Selling, general and administrative: | ||||||||
| Stock-based compensation | ||||||||
| Other expenses | ||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | ||||||||
| Total operating expenses | ||||||||
| Operating loss | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Other income: | ||||||||
| Interest income | ||||||||
| Other income | ||||||||
| Interest expense | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Other income, net | ||||||||
| Income (loss) before income taxes | ( | ) | ||||||
| Federal income tax expense (benefit) | ( | ) | ||||||
| State income tax expense | ||||||||
| Income taxes | ( | ) | ||||||
| Net Income (loss) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||
| Earnings (loss) Per Share | ||||||||
| Basic income (loss) per common share: | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||
| Diluted income (loss) per common share: | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||
| Weighted average common shares outstanding (see Note 13) | ||||||||
| Basic | ||||||||
| Diluted | ||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
| Additional | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Stock | Paid - In | Treasury | Deferred | Accumulated | Stockholders' | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Capital | Stock | Compensation | Deficit | Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at December 31, 2023 | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock under equity incentive plan | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reversal of deferred compensation amortization that did not vest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deferred compensation amortization | (15,000 | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-cash return of treasury stock | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchase of treasury stock, at cost | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at December 31, 2024 | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||||||||||||||
| Adjustment to par value of common stock | — | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock under equity incentive plan | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock under employee stock purchase plan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock for software acquisition | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deferred compensation amortization | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchase of treasury stock, at cost | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | — | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at December 31, 2025 | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
| For the Year Ended | ||||||||
| December 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | |||||||
| Operating Activities | ||||||||
| Net income (loss) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||
| Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities: | ||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | ||||||||
| Loss on disposal of equipment | ||||||||
| Deferred federal income tax expense (benefit) | ( | ) | ||||||
| Employee stock-based compensation | ||||||||
| Allowance for expected credit losses | ||||||||
| Reserve for processing losses | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts receivable | ( | ) | ||||||
| Accounts receivable, tax credit | ( | ) | ||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Operating lease right-of-use assets | ( | ) | ||||||
| Other assets | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Inventory | ( | ) | ||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Operating lease liabilities | ( | ) | ||||||
| Merchant reserves | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Customer deposits | ||||||||
| Net cash provided by operating activities | ||||||||
| Investing Activities | ||||||||
| Purchases of property and equipment | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Capitalized labor for internal use software | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Sale of equipment | ||||||||
| Net cash used by investing activities | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Financing Activities | ||||||||
| Payments on equipment loan | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Proceeds from equipment loan | ||||||||
| Proceeds from issuance of common stock | ||||||||
| Purchases of treasury stock | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Assets held for customers | ( | ) | ||||||
| Net cash provided (used) by financing activities | ( | ) | ||||||
| Change in cash, cash equivalents, customer deposits and merchant reserves | ( | ) | ||||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, customer deposits and merchant reserves, beginning of year | ||||||||
| Cash, Cash Equivalents, Settlement Processing Assets, Prepaid Card Load Assets, Customer Deposits and Merchant Reserves, End of Year | $ | $ | ||||||
| Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information | ||||||||
| Cash paid during the period for: | ||||||||
| Interest | $ | $ | ||||||
| Income taxes | ||||||||
| Non-cash operating activities: | ||||||||
| Right of use assets obtained in exchange for operating lease liabilities | $ | $ | ||||||
| Non-cash investing and financing activities: | ||||||||
| Issuance of deferred stock compensation | $ | $ | ||||||
| Issuance of common stock for PostCredit acquisition | ||||||||
The reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents to cash, cash equivalents, customer deposits and merchant reserves is as follows for each period presented:
| December 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | |||||||
| Beginning cash, cash equivalents, settlement processing assets, prepaid card load assets, customer deposits and merchant reserves: | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | $ | ||||||
| Settlement processing assets | ||||||||
| Prepaid card load assets | ||||||||
| Customer deposits | ||||||||
| Merchant reserves | ||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | ||||||
| Ending cash, cash equivalents, settlement processing assets, prepaid card load assets, customer deposits and merchant reserves: | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | $ | ||||||
| Settlement processing assets | ||||||||
| Prepaid card load assets | ||||||||
| Customer deposits | ||||||||
| Merchant reserves | ||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | ||||||
| The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements. |
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
December 31, 2025 and 2024
Note 1. Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Organization: Usio, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, FiCentive, Inc., a Nevada corporation, and Zbill, Inc., a Nevada corporation (collectively, "Usio" or the "Company" or "we," "us" or "our"), provides integrated electronic payment services, including credit and debit card-based processing services and transaction processing via the Automated Clearing House, or ACH, network to billers and retailers. The Company also has an additional wholly-owned subsidiary, Usio Output Solutions, Inc., which is the entity for Output Solutions' operations. In addition, the Company operates various product websites, such as www.usio.com, www.singularpayments.com, www.payfacinabox.com, www.ficentive.com, www.akimbocard.com, and www.usiooutput.com.
Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation: The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All significant inter-company accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Use of Estimates: The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Revenue Recognition: Revenue consists primarily of fees generated through the electronic processing of payment transactions and related services. Revenue is recognized during the period in which the transactions are processed or when the related services are performed. The Company complies with Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 606-10 and reports revenues at gross as a principal versus net as an agent. Although some of the Company's processing agreements vary with respect to specific credit risks, the Company has determined for each agreement it is acting in the principal role. Merchants may be charged for these processing services at a bundled rate based on a percentage of the dollar amount of each transaction and, in some instances, additional fees are charged for each transaction. Certain merchant customers are charged a flat fee per transaction, while others may also be charged miscellaneous fees, including fees for chargebacks or returns, monthly minimums, and other miscellaneous services. Revenues derived from electronic processing of credit, debit, and prepaid card transactions that are authorized and captured through third-party networks are reported gross of amounts paid to sponsor banks as well as interchange and assessments paid to credit card associations. Certain card distributors remit payment of fees earned 45 days after the end of the processing period. Prepaid card distributors have payment terms of 30 days following the end of the month. Sales taxes billed are reported directly as a liability to the taxing authority and are not included in revenue. Usio Output Solutions, Inc. provides bill preparation, presentment and mailing services. Revenue from Output Solutions is recognized when the related services are performed for printing and delivered to USPS for postage. We also earn revenues from interest and fees earned on certain assets underlying customer balances. Interest earned on assets directly related to our core business line operations are recorded in the revenue source underlying the associated customer balances. Customer balances held on which the Company earns interest revenues include balances from our ACH and complementary services, prepaid card services, and Output Solutions business lines.
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | $ Change | % Change | |||||||||||||
| ACH and complementary service revenue | $ | $ | $ | % | ||||||||||||
| Credit card revenue | % | |||||||||||||||
| Prepaid card services revenue | ( | ) | ( | )% | ||||||||||||
| Output Solutions revenue | % | |||||||||||||||
| Interest - ACH and complementary services | ( | ) | ( | )% | ||||||||||||
| Interest - Prepaid card services | ( | ) | ( | )% | ||||||||||||
| Interest - Output Solutions | % | |||||||||||||||
| Total Revenues | $ | $ | $ | % | ||||||||||||
Cash and Cash Equivalents: Cash and cash equivalents includes cash and other money market instruments. The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of 90 days or less to be cash equivalents.
Settlement Processing Assets and Obligations: Settlement processing assets and obligations represent intermediary balances arising in our settlement process for merchants. The Company earns interest on these underlying processing assets, which is recognized as revenue in the ACH and complementary services business line.
Prepaid Card Load Assets: The Company maintains pre-funding accounts for its customers to facilitate prepaid card loads as initiated by our customer. These prepaid card load assets are carried on the Company's balance sheet with a corresponding liability. The Company earns interest on these prepaid card load assets and obligations, which is recognized as revenue in the prepaid card services business line.
Customer Deposits: The Company holds customer deposits primarily for postage expenses to ensure the Company is not out of pocket for amounts billed daily by the United States Postal Service. These customer deposits are carried on the Company's balance sheet with a corresponding liability. The Company earns interest on these customer deposits, which is recognized as revenue in the Output Solutions business line.
Merchant Reserves: The Company has merchant reserve requirements associated with ACH transactions. The merchant reserve assets are carried on the Company's balance sheet with a corresponding liability. Merchant Reserves are set for each merchant. Funds are collected from each merchant and held as collateral to minimize contingent liabilities associated with any losses that may occur under the merchant agreement. While this cash is not restricted in its use, the Company believes that designating this cash to collateralize Merchant Reserves strengthens its fiduciary standing with the Company's member sponsors and is in accordance with the guidelines set by the card networks. The Company earns interest on these merchant reserves, which is recognized as revenue in our ACH and complementary services business line.
Accounts Receivable/Allowance for Estimated Credit Losses: Accounts receivable are reported as outstanding principal net of an allowance for expected credit losses of $
The Company maintains an allowance for credit losses for estimated losses resulting from the inability or failure of its customers to make required payments. The Company determines the allowance based on an account-by-account review, taking into consideration such factors as the age of the outstanding balance, historical pattern of collections and financial condition of the customer. Past losses incurred by the Company due to credit losses have been within its expectations. If the financial condition of its customers deteriorates, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make contractual payments, additional allowances might be required. Estimates for credit losses are variable based on the volume of transactions processed and could increase or decrease accordingly. The Company normally does not charge interest on accounts receivable.
Inventory: Inventory is stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. At December 31, 2025 and 2024, inventory consisted primarily of printing and paper supplies used for Output Solutions.
Property and Equipment: Property and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation and amortization are computed on a straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the related assets, ranging from to years. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the lesser of the estimated useful lives or remaining lease period. Expenditures for maintenance and repairs are charged to expense as incurred.
Accounting for Internal Use Software: The Company capitalizes the costs associated with software developed and / or software obtained for internal use. The software is capitalized when both the preliminary project stage is complete, and the software being developed is placed-in service. Capitalized costs include only (i) external direct costs of materials and services consumed in developing or obtaining internal-use software, (ii) payroll and other related costs for employees who are directly associated with and who devote time to the internal-use software project, and (iii) interest costs incurred, when material, while developing internal-use software. The Company ceases capitalization of such costs no later than the point at which the project is substantially complete and ready for its intended purpose. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company capitalized $
Concentration of Credit Risk: Financial instruments that potentially expose the Company to credit risk consist of cash and cash equivalents, and accounts receivable. The Company is exposed to credit risk on its cash and cash equivalents in the event of default by the financial institutions to the extent account balances exceed the amount insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC"), which is $250,000. Accounts receivables potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk. The Company’s customer base operates in a variety of industries and is geographically dispersed. The Company closely monitors extensions of credit. Estimated credit losses have been recorded in the consolidated financial statements. Recent credit losses have been within management's expectations. customer accounted for more than 10% of revenues in 2025 or 2024.
Fair Value Measurements: The Company utilizes valuation techniques that maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs to the extent possible. The Company determines fair value based on assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability in the principal or most advantageous market. When considering market participant assumptions in fair value measurements, the following fair value hierarchy distinguishes between observable and unobservable inputs, which are categorized in one of the following levels:
• Level 1 inputs - unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities accessible to the reporting entity at the measurement date;
• Level 2 inputs - other than quoted prices included in Level 1 inputs that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability; and
• Level 3 inputs - unobservable inputs for the asset or liability used to measure fair value to the extent that observable inputs are not available, thereby allowing for situations in which there is little, if any, market activity for the asset or liability at the measurement date.
Cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and short-term borrowings are reflected in the accompanying consolidated financial statements at cost, which approximates fair value because of the short-term maturity of these instruments.
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and Intangible Assets: The Company reviews periodically, on at least an annual basis, the carrying value of its long-lived assets and intangible assets and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. To the extent the fair value of a long-lived asset, determined based upon the estimated future cash inflows attributable to the asset, less estimated future cash outflows, is less than the carrying amount, an impairment loss is recognized.
Reserve for Processing Losses: If, due to insolvency or bankruptcy of one of the Company’s merchant customers, or for any other reason, the Company is not able to collect amounts from its card processing, credit card, ACH or merchant prepaid customers that have been properly "charged back" by the customer or if a prepaid cardholder incurs a negative balance, the Company must bear the credit risk for the full amount of the transaction. The Company may require cash deposits and other types of collateral from certain merchants to minimize any such risk. In addition, the Company utilizes a number of systems and procedures to manage merchant risk. ACH, prepaid and credit card merchant processing loss reserves are primarily determined by performing a historical analysis of our loss experience and considering other factors that could affect that experience in the future, such as the types of transactions processed and nature of the merchant relationship with its consumers and the Company with its prepaid card holders. This reserve amount is subject to the risk that actual losses may be greater than our estimates. The Company did not incur any significant processing losses in 2025, but has experienced substantial losses in the past. For example, in the first quarter of 2023, we incurred $
Advertising Costs: Advertising is expensed as incurred. The Company incurred approximately $
Accounting for Income Taxes: Our annual tax rate is based on our income, statutory tax rates, and tax planning opportunities available to us. Tax laws are complex and subject to different interpretations by the taxpayer and respective government taxing authority. Significant judgement is required in determining our tax expense and in evaluating our tax positions, including evaluating uncertainties. We review our tax positions yearly and adjust the balances as new information becomes available.
Deferred tax assets represent amounts available to reduce income taxes payable on taxable income in future years. Such assets arise because of temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, as well as from net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. We evaluate the recoverability of these future tax deductions and credits by assessing the adequacy of future expected taxable income from all sources, including reversal of taxable temporary differences, forecasted operating earnings, and available tax planning strategies. These rely heavily on estimates that are based on a number of factors, including historical data, and business forecasts. To the extent deferred tax assets are not expected to be realized, we record a valuation allowance.
We recognize and measure uncertain tax positions in accordance with GAAP, pursuant to which we only recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities.
As with all businesses, the Company’s tax returns are subject to periodic examination. The Company’s federal returns for the past four years remain open to examination. The Company is subject to the Texas franchise tax and Tennessee franchise tax. Management is not aware of any tax positions that would have a significant impact on its financial position.
Stock-Based Compensation: The Company recognizes as compensation expense all share-based payment awards made to employees and directors, including grants of restricted stock, stock options and warrants, based on estimated fair values. For restricted stock grants, fair value is generally determined based on the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant. For options and warrants, fair value is determined using the Black Scholes Option pricing model, taking into consideration various assumptions such as stock price volatility, risk free interest rate, term of the instant annual dividend yield, market price of the stock, and exercise price.
401(k) Plan: The Company has a defined contribution plan, or 401(k) Plan, pursuant to Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. All eligible full and part-time employees of the Company who meet certain age requirements may participate in the 401(k) Plan. Participants may contribute between
Earnings (Loss) Per Share: The Company’s basic net income (loss) per common share is based on the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the period. Diluted net income (loss) per common share is calculated using the treasury stock method and is based on the weighted average number of shares of common stock and all potentially dilutive shares of common stock outstanding during the year, which includes common stock options and warrants. When a net loss per share of common stock exists, all potentially dilutive shares of common stock outstanding are anti-dilutive and are therefore excluded from the calculation of diluted weighted average shares outstanding. See “Note 13 – Net Income (Loss) per Share” for further discussion.
Recently Adopted and Recently Issued But Not Yet Adopted Accounting Pronouncements: Accounting standards that have been issued or proposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB"), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") or other standard setting bodies that do not require adoption until a future date are not expected to have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements upon adoption.
In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, which requires entities to provide additional information in the rate reconciliation and additional disaggregated disclosures about income taxes paid. This guidance requires public entities to disclose in their rate reconciliation table additional categories of information about federal, state, and foreign income taxes and to provide more details about the reconciling items in some categories if the items meet a quantitative threshold. The ASU is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted ASU 2023-09 effective January 1, 2025 and included additional disclosures in Note 11. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.
In October 2023, FASB issued ASU 2023-06, Disclosure Improvements: Codification Amendments in Response to the SEC’s Disclosure Update and Simplification Initiative. This ASU amends the ASC to incorporate certain disclosure requirements from SEC Release No. 33-10532, Disclosure Update and Simplification that was issued in 2018. The effective date for each amendment will be the date on which the SEC’s removal of that related disclosure from Regulation S-X or Regulation S-K becomes effective, with early adoption prohibited. For entities subject to the SEC’s existing disclosure requirements and for entities required to file or furnish financial statements with or to the SEC in preparation for the sale of or for purposes of issuing securities that are not subject to contractual restrictions on transfer, the effective date for each amendment will be the date on which the SEC’s removal of that related disclosure from Regulation S-X or Regulation S-K becomes effective, with early adoption prohibited. For all other entities, the amendments will be effective two years later. The Company is evaluating the effect that ASU 2023-06 will have on its financial statements and related disclosures.
In January 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-01, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Clarifying the Effective Date. ASU 2025-01 clarifies the effective date for ASU 2024-03 (Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures), ensuring public business entities adopt it initially in annual reporting periods (not interim) for non-calendar year-end entities. ASU 2024-03 requires disclosure on an annual and interim basis, in the notes to the financial statements, of disaggregated information about specific categories underlying certain income statement expense line items. The effective dates of ASU 2025-01 align with ASU 2024-03: annual periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2027. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this new accounting guidance on its financial statements and related disclosures, but does not expect adoption of this new standard to be material.
In May 2025, the FASB issued ASU No. 2025-03, Business Combinations (Topic 805) and Consolidation (Topic 810): Determining the Accounting Acquirer in the Acquisition of a Variable Interest Entity (“ASU 2025-03”). ASU 2025-03 changes how companies determine the accounting acquirer in certain business combinations involving variable interest entities. The new guidance requires considering the factors used for other acquisition transactions to assess which party is the accounting acquirer. ASU 2025-03 is effective for the Company’s annual reporting periods beginning on January 1, 2027. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this new accounting guidance on its financial statements and related disclosures, but does not expect adoption of this new standard to be material.
In May 2025, the FASB issued ASU No. 2025-04, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718) and Revenue from Contracts With Customers (Topic 606): Clarifications to Share-Based Consideration Payable to a Customer (“ASU 2025-04”). ASU 202504 revises the definition of a performance condition, eliminates the forfeiture policy election for service conditions, and clarifies that the variable consideration constraint in ASC Topic 606 does not apply to share-based consideration payable to customers. The new guidance requires entities to consistently account for share-based awards granted to customers by clarifying the treatment of vesting conditions and ensuring alignment with ASC Topic 606 and ASC Topic 718: Compensation—Stock Compensation. ASU 2025-04 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2026, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this new accounting guidance on its financial statements and related disclosures, but does not expect adoption of this new standard to be material.
In December 2025, the FASB issued ASU No. 2025-10, Government Grants (Topic 832): Accounting for Government Grants Received by Business Entities. ASU 2025-10 establishes the accounting for a government grant received by a business entity, including guidance for (1) a grant related to an asset and (2) a grant related to income. The ASU is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2028, and interim reporting periods within those annual reporting periods, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this new accounting guidance on its financial statements and related disclosures, but does not expect adoption of this new standard to be material.
Note 2. Property and Equipment
Property and equipment consisted of the following at December 31:
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||||
| Software | $ | $ | ||||||
| Equipment | ||||||||
| Furniture and fixtures | ||||||||
| Leasehold improvements | ||||||||
| Total property and equipment | ||||||||
| Less: accumulated depreciation | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Net property and equipment | $ | $ | ||||||
Note 3. Intangibles
Information Management Solutions, LLC Acquisition (2020)
On December 15, 2020, we acquired substantially all of assets of Information Management Solutions, LLC. The intangibles acquired in such acquisition consist of customer list assets of $
Note 4. Valuation Accounts
Valuation and allowance accounts included the following at the dates referenced below:
| Net Charged | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance | to | Balance End | ||||||||||||||||||
| Beginning of | Costs and | of | ||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Expenses | Transfers | Net Write-Off | Year | ||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowance for expected credit losses | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||
| Reserve for processing losses | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowance for expected credit losses | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | |||||||||||||
| Reserve for processing losses | ||||||||||||||||||||
Accounts receivables, net and contract liabilities consist of the following as of:
| December 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | January 1, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Trade | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Related party | ||||||||||||
| Accounts receivable, net | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Contract liabilities | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
Note 5. Loans
Equipment Loans
On March 20, 2021, we entered into a debt arrangement to finance $
On October 1, 2023, the Company entered into a debt arrangement to finance $
On September 19, 2025, the Company entered into a debt arrangement to finance $
As of December 31, 2025, the Company maintains an undrawn line of credit and an outstanding letter of credit, both of which were established in connection with a bond required for the Company's appeal of the court’s decision in the KDHM lawsuit.
Line of Credit
The Company has an unsecured revolving line of credit with a maximum borrowing capacity of $
Letter of Credit
The Company has an irrevocable letter of credit in the amount of $
These credit facilities were arranged to comply with legal requirements related to the Company’s appeal and provide additional liquidity resources if needed. Management continues to monitor its financial position and believes that existing cash balances, along with these credit facilities, are sufficient to meet operational needs and legal obligations.
As a result of the KDHM lawsuit settlement, the Company will not renew the line of credit or letter of credit upon their maturity. There are no ongoing costs associated with the maintenance of either of these credit facilities.
Future payments on current debt arrangements are as follows at December 31, 2025:
| Year ended December 31, | ||||||||
| Amount Due | Remaining Balance | |||||||
| 2026 | $ | $ | ||||||
| 2027 | ||||||||
| 2028 | ||||||||
| 2029 | ||||||||
| 2030 | ||||||||
| Total payments | $ | |||||||
| Note 6. Accrued Expenses |
| Accrued expenses consisted of the following balances at December 31: |
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||||
| Accrued commissions | $ | $ | ||||||
| Reserve for processing losses | ||||||||
| Other accrued expenses | ||||||||
| Accrued taxes | ||||||||
| Accrued salaries | ||||||||
| Total accrued expenses | $ | $ | ||||||
Note 7. Operating Leases
The Company leases approximately
Pursuant to a lease amendment that commenced on April 1, 2021, we began leasing an additional
Pursuant to a second lease amendment that commenced on April 1, 2022, we began leasing an additional
The Company assumed a lease in San Antonio, Texas as a part of the Information Management Solutions, LLC acquisition for its Output Solutions employees and warehouse operations. The lease had a remaining life of
On January 1, 2021, we entered into a lease in Austin, Texas commencing on January 1, 2021 for our Austin technology organization. On January 31, 2024, the Company entered into a lease amendment commencing on February 1, 2024, extending the term of the existing lease for a period of
The Company has various copier equipment with a lease that has not expired. Rental expense was $
The weighted average remaining lease term for all of our leases is
The Company recognized total operating lease expense of approximately $
We believe that our existing and new properties will be adequate to meet our needs through December 31, 2025.
The maturities of lease liabilities are as follows at December 31, 2025:
| Year ended December 31, | ||||
| 2026 | $ | |||
| 2027 | ||||
| 2028 | ||||
| 2029 | ||||
| 2030 | ||||
| Thereafter | ||||
| Total minimum lease payments | ||||
| Less: imputed interest | ( | ) | ||
| Total lease liabilities | ||||
| Less: current portion | ( | ) | ||
| Long-term portion | $ |
Note 8. Related Party Transactions
Louis Hoch
During the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company purchased $
Note 9. Stock-Based Compensation
In the year ended December 31, 2025, we withheld
On August 21, 2025, the Company granted
On August 21, 2025, the Company granted
On June 21, 2024, the Company granted
On June 21, 2024, the Company granted
Note 10. Segment Reporting
Usio's reportable operating are "Output Solutions" and "Merchant Services" and these segments have been selected based on management’s resource allocation and performance assessment in making decisions regarding the Company. Our chief operating decision maker ("CODM") is the Company’s chief executive officer. The CODM has ultimate authority and responsibility over resource allocation decisions and performance assessment.
Segment gross profit is the measure of segment profit and loss reviewed by the CODM and is used by the CODM to evaluate segment performance and make decisions about funding our operations and allocating resources.
The following is a description of the segments.
Output Solutions
This segment, which was created in connection with the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of IMS, offers electronic bill presentment, document composition, document decomposition and printing and mailing services serving hundreds of customers representing a wide range of industry verticals, including utilities and financial institutions. Output Solutions, provides an outsourced solution for document design, print, and electronic delivery to potential customers and entities looking to reduce postage costs and increase efficiencies.
Merchant Services
This segment offers integrated electronic payment processing services to merchants and businesses, including credit and debit card-based processing services and electronic funds transfer via the ACH network. Additionally, as part of our Prepaid card-based processing services, we develop and manage a variety of Mastercard-branded prepaid card program types, including consumer reloadable, consumer gift, incentive, promotional, general and government disbursement and corporate expense cards.
The following tables set forth certain financial information with respect to Usio’s reportable segments for the twelve months ended December 31, 2025 and 2024:
| For the Year Ended December 31, 2025 | Output Solutions | Merchant Services | Total | |||||||||
| Revenues | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Cost of services | ||||||||||||
| Processing expense | ||||||||||||
| Services expense | ||||||||||||
| Postage expense | ||||||||||||
| Cost of services | ||||||||||||
| Gross profit | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Capital expenditures | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Identifiable assets1 | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| For the Year Ended December 31, 2024 | Output Solutions | Merchant Services | Total | |||||||||
| Revenues | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Cost of services | ||||||||||||
| Processing expense | ||||||||||||
| Services expense | ||||||||||||
| Postage expense | ||||||||||||
| Cost of services | ||||||||||||
| Gross profit | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Capital expenditures | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Identifiable assets1 | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||
Note to tables:
| (1) | Identifiable assets is calculated by summing the balances of accounts receivable, net; inventory; property and equipment, net; operating lease right-of-use lease assets; and intangibles, net. |
The following table reconciles segment profit reported above to the loss from operations reported in the consolidated statements of operations for the twelve months ended December 31, 2025 and 2024:
| Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||||
| Segment gross profit | $ | $ | ||||||
| Stock-based compensation | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Depreciation and amortization | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Operating (loss) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
Note 11. Income Taxes
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recorded based on the difference between financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities and are measured by the enacted tax rates and laws that are expected to be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse. Deferred tax assets are computed with the presumption that they will be realizable in future periods when taxable income is generated. Predicting the ability to realize these assets in future periods requires judgment by management. GAAP prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. Income tax benefits that meet the “more likely than not” recognition threshold are recognized.
The Company has recognized a deferred tax asset of approximately $
Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax asset are as follows at December 31:
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||||
| Deferred tax assets: | ||||||||
| Net operating loss carryforwards | $ | $ | ||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | ||||||||
| Non-cash compensation | ||||||||
| Processing losses | ||||||||
| Other | ||||||||
| Total | ||||||||
| Valuation allowance | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Deferred tax asset, net | $ | $ | ||||||
At December 31, 2025, the Company had available net operating loss carryforwards ("NOLs") of approximately $
Pursuant to Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code ("IRC"), federal and state tax laws impose significant restrictions on the utilization of net operating loss and other tax carryforwards in the event of a change in ownership of the Company. The Company does not expect IRC Sections 382 and 383 to significantly impact the utilization of its NOLs and other tax carryforwards. If we were to experience an "ownership change," as determined under Section 382 of the IRC, our ability to offset taxable income arising after the ownership change with NOLs arising prior to the ownership change would be limited, possibly substantially. An ownership change would establish an annual limitation on the amount of our pre-change NOLs we could utilize to offset our taxable income in any future taxable year to an amount generally equal to the value of our stock immediately prior to the ownership change multiplied by the long-term tax-exempt rate. In general, an ownership change will occur if there is a cumulative increase in our ownership of more than 50 percentage points by one or more "5% shareholders" (as defined in the IRC) at any time during a rolling three-year period.
The schedule below outlines when the Company's NOLs for 2017 and prior years were generated and the year they may expire.
| Tax Year End Generated | NOL | Expiration | ||||||
| 2006 | $ | 2026 | ||||||
| 2007 | 2027 | |||||||
| 2008 | 2028 | |||||||
| 2009 | 2029 | |||||||
| 2010 | 2030 | |||||||
| 2013 | 2033 | |||||||
| 2016 | 2036 | |||||||
| 2017 | 2037 | |||||||
| Total | $ | |||||||
As of December 31, 2025, the Company had NOLs totaling approximately $
| Tax Year End Generated | NOL | ||||
| 2018 | $ | ||||
| 2019 | |||||
| 2020 | |||||
| 2022 | |||||
| 2025 | |||||
| Total | $ | ||||
| Total NOLs | $ | ||||
The tax provision for federal and state income tax is as follows for the years ended December 31:
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||||
| Current provision: | ||||||||
| Federal | $ | $ | ||||||
| State | ||||||||
| Deferred provision: | ||||||||
| Federal expense (benefit) | ( | ) | ||||||
| Expense (benefit) for income taxes | $ | $ | ( | ) | ||||
The reconciliation of federal income tax expense (benefit) computed at the U.S. federal statutory tax rates to total income tax expense (benefit) is as follows for the years ended December 31:
| For the Year Ended | ||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||||||||||||
| Amount | Rate | Amount | Rate | |||||||||||||
| Income tax (benefit) at 21% | $ | ( | ) | % | $ | % | ||||||||||
| Change in valuation allowance | ( | )% | ( | ) | ( | )% | ||||||||||
| Permanent and other differences | ( | )% | % | |||||||||||||
| State taxes | ( | )% | % | |||||||||||||
| Income tax expense (benefit) | $ | ( | )% | $ | ( | ) | ( | )% | ||||||||
Note 12. Stock Options, Incentive Plans, Stock Awards, and Employee Benefit Plan
Stock Option Plans: The Company’s 2025 Equity Incentive Plan provides for the grant of incentive stock options as defined in Section 422 of the IRC and the grant of Stock Options, Restricted Stock, Restricted Stock Units, Performance Awards, or other Awards to employees, non-employee directors, and consultants. The Board of Directors has authorized
Treasury Stock: The Company withheld
Stock Awards: The Company has granted restricted stock awards to its employees at different periods from 2005 through 2025. The majority of the shares granted to those employees vest
During 2025, a portion of the restricted stock awards were granted, but not issued and are not listed as outstanding in the financial statements for 2025.
Stock-based compensation expense related to stock and restricted stock awards was $
A summary of stock awards outstanding and 2025 activities are as follows:
| Weighted Average | ||||||||||||
| Weighted Average | Contractual | |||||||||||
| Stock Awards | Shares | Grant Price | Remaining Life | |||||||||
| Outstanding, December 31, 2024 | $ | |||||||||||
| Granted | ||||||||||||
| Vested | ( | ) | ||||||||||
| Forfeited | ||||||||||||
| Outstanding, December 31, 2025 | $ | |||||||||||
| Expected to Vest after December 31, 2025 | $ | |||||||||||
As of December 31, 2025, there was $
The aggregate intrinsic value represents the difference between the weighted average exercise price and the closing price of a share of the Company’s common stock on December 31, 2025, or $
Employee Stock Purchase Plan:
The Company's board of directors adopted the 2023 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”) and the Company's stockholders approved the ESPP in July 2023. The ESPP was adopted under the requirements of Section 423 of the IRC to allow eligible employees to purchase the Company’s common stock at regular intervals. Participating employees may purchase common stock through voluntary payroll deductions at the end of each participation period at a purchase price equal to
The ESPP initially authorized the issuance of
Stock Warrants:
On December 15, 2020, the Company issued warrants to purchase
Note 13. Net Income (Loss) per Share
Basic net income (loss) per share (EPS) was computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period in addition to stock awards that have not yet vested, as they are fully participating shares for the calculation of earnings per share. Diluted EPS differs from basic EPS due to the assumed conversion of potentially dilutive options and warrants that were outstanding during the period using the treasury stock method. The following is a reconciliation of the numerators and the denominators of the basic and diluted per share computations for net income (loss).
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||||
| Numerator: | ||||||||
| Numerator for basic and diluted earnings per share, net income (loss) available to common shareholders | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||
| Denominator: | ||||||||
| Denominator for basic net income (loss) per share, weighted average shares outstanding | ||||||||
| Effect of dilutive securities-stock options and warrants | ||||||||
| Denominator for diluted net income (loss) per share, adjusted weighted average shares and assumed conversion | ||||||||
| Basic net income (loss) per common share | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||
| Diluted net income (loss) per common share and common share equivalents | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||
The warrants to purchase shares of common stock that were outstanding at December 31, 2025 and 2024 that were not included in the computation of diluted net income (loss) per share because the effect would have been anti-dilutive, are as follows:
| Year Ended | ||||||||
| December 31, | ||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||||
| Anti-dilutive warrants | ||||||||
Note 14. Concentration of Credit Risk and Significant Customers
The Company has no significant off-balance sheet or concentrations of credit risk such as foreign exchange contracts, option contracts or other foreign hedging arrangements. The Company currently maintains the majority of its cash and cash equivalent balance with one financial institution.
Note 15. Commitments and Contingencies
BEN KAUDER, NINA PIOLETTI, & TRIPLE PAY PLAY, INC.
In 2017, Usio acquired Singular Payments, Inc. (“Singular”), another payment processing company with offices in Nashville, Tennessee and St. Augustine, Florida.
Ben Kauder and Nina Pioletti were executives of Singular and, after the acquisition, Usio hired them as executive-level employees. Usio hired Kauder to serve as Senior Vice President of Integrated Payments, and Pioletti was hired to serve as Director of Sales. As a condition of employment, Kauder and Pioletti agreed to be bound by certain Usio policies, including as related to preserving the confidentiality of Usio’s proprietary information. As Usio executives, Kauder and Pioletti were afforded access to and contributed to the development of Usio’s trade secrets and other proprietary information not generally known by the public at large, including but not limited to, financial information, marketing plans, cost and operational/strategic plans, and sales presentations.
In May 2021, Kauder resigned from Usio followed by Pioletti in July 2022. Thereafter, Kauder and Pioletti formed Triple Pay Play, another payment processing company which directly competes with Usio. Upon information and belief, Kauder and Pioletti were working to form Triple Pay Play while employed by Usio, during Usio business hours, and while using Usio resources and Usio property.
On or about June 21, 2023, Usio filed suit against Kauder, Pioletti and Triple Pay Play for breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair business competition.
On July 6, 2023, Kauder, Pioletti and Triple Pay Play filed a Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction. The motion was granted. Subsequently, in February 2024, Usio refiled its case in Tennessee, where Kauder, Pioletti, and Triple Pay Play reside.
On May 3, 2024, Kauder, Pioletti and Triple Pay Play filed a Motion to Dismiss Usio’s Complaint, and this motion was heard August 5, 2024. On March 14, 2025 the motion was denied.
On July 11, 2025, Usio attended a deposition with Kauder and Triple Pay Play in Nashville, Tennessee.
On September 29, 2025, Kauder, Pioletti and Triple Pay Play agreed to Usio’s settlement and filed a Joint Notice of Voluntary Nonsuit with Prejudice in The Chancery Court of Maury County Tennessee on October 10, 2025. The settlement was in the amount of $
KDHM, LLC
On September 1, 2021, KDHM, LLC ("KDHM"), an entity owned by the former owners of IMS, sued PDS Acquisition Corp, now known as Usio Output Solutions, Inc., in the 73rd District Court of Bexar County, Texas, claiming a breach of the asset purchase agreement executed by the parties on December 14, 2020. The lawsuit alleges that due to a mistake, accident, or inadvertence, certain customer deposits in the amount of $
We believe that plaintiff's claims contradict the express terms of the asset purchase agreement, and we intend to continue to vigorously defend this matter. As a result of this post-sale dispute, we subsequently discovered that KDHM and its principals made certain misrepresentations and breached the terms of the asset purchase agreement.
On September 28, 2021, we filed an answer generally denying the plaintiff’s allegations. On October 5, 2021, we filed a counterclaim and third-party petition. Therein, we allege that neither KDHM nor its principals disclosed that KDHM was not accounting for the customer deposits in accordance with GAAP. KDHM and third-party defendants, its principals Henry Minten and Thomas Dowe, affirmatively represented and warranted in section 3.1(e) of the asset purchase agreement that “[t]he Annual Financial Statements and the Interim Financial Statements have been prepared from the books and records of Seller in accordance with GAAP applied on a consistent basis.”
We subsequently discovered that KDHM by and through its principals failed to disclose that $
On August 18, 2023, the judge granted a summary motion entitling KDHM to deposits for customer accounts that were printed and mailed prior to the acquisition, and Output Solutions was entitled to deposits for accounts that were not yet printed and printed but not yet mailed prior to the acquisition. Usio has requested a reconsideration of the motion, as it does not consider that deposits are only owed to KDHM if they were earned and offset against accounts receivable.
On March 4, 2024, the court held a hearing on KDHM’s Supplemental Rule 166(G) Motion and the court granted the motion in favor of KDHM. However, Usio believes the court erred in granting the motion and filed a motion for reconsideration on March 19, 2024.
On March 28, 2024, the court heard Usio’s Motion for Reconsideration of Order Granting Plaintiff’s Supplemental Rule 166(g). On May 2, 2024, the court denied Usio’s motion. On July 12, 2024, we filed an appeal on the lower court's decision. As part of the July 12, 2024 appeal, Usio was required to obtain a bond in the amount of $
On April 2, 2025, the Fourth Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s judgment and rendered judgement that KDHM should take nothing against Usio on its “money had and received claim.” With respect to the remaining claims, the court remanded back to the lower court. On April 11, 2025, KDHM filed a Motion for Reconsideration with the appellate court, which was denied on May 5, 2025.
On August 8, 2025, KDHM filed in the Supreme Court of Texas a Petition for Review from the Fourth Court of Appeals at San Antonio, Texas, which was denied on January 30, 2026.
On February 6, 2026, KDHM agreed to Usio’s settlement. The settlement was in the amount of $
The Company has an unsecured revolving line of credit with a maximum borrowing capacity of $
These credit facilities were arranged to comply with legal requirements related to the Company’s appeal and provide additional liquidity resources if needed. Management continues to monitor its financial position and believes that existing cash balances, along with these credit facilities, are sufficient to meet operational needs and legal obligations.
OTHER PROCEEDINGS
Aside from these proceedings, the Company may be involved in legal matters arising in the ordinary course of business from time to time. While we believe that such matters are currently not material, there can be no assurance that matters arising in the ordinary course of business for which we are or could become involved in litigation will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.
On June 1, 2025, WithumSmith+Brown, P.C., an independent registered public accounting firm (“Withum”), acquired certain assets of Pannell Kerr Forster of Texas, P.C. (“PKF”), the independent registered public accounting firm for Usio, Inc. (the “Company”) (the “Transaction”). As a result of this Transaction, on June 1, 2025, PKF resigned as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm. Concurrent with such resignation, the Company, with the approval of its Audit Committee, consented to the engagement of Withum as the Company’s new independent registered public accounting firm, effective June 1, 2025.
Prior to the Transaction, the Company did not consult with Withum regarding the application of accounting principles to any specific completed or contemplated transaction or regarding the type of audit opinion that might be rendered by Withum on the Company’s consolidated financial statements, and Withum did not provide any written or oral advice that was an important factor considered by the Company in reaching a decision as to any accounting, auditing or financial reporting issue.
PKF’s Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (the “Audit Report”) on the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024 did not contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion and was not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles.
During the year ended December 31, 2024, and during the interim period from the end of the most recently completed fiscal year through June 1, 2025, the date of resignation, there were no “disagreements” (as such term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the related instructions to Item 304) with PKF on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure or auditing scope or procedures, which disagreements, if not resolved to the satisfaction of PKF would have caused it to make reference to such disagreement in its reports. During the year ended December 31, 2024, and the subsequent interim period through June 1, 2025, there have been no “reportable events” (as such term is defined in Item 304 (a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K).
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management evaluated, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Accounting Officer, the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Based on that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Accounting Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2025 are effective to ensure that information we are required to disclose in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act (i) is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms, and (ii) is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Accounting Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required reasonable assurance that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management. Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable assurance that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management. Our disclosure controls and procedures include components of our internal control over financial reporting. Management's assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting is expressed at the level of reasonable assurance that the control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that the control system's objectives will be met.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for our Company. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Our management conducted an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting as of December 31, 2025 based on criteria established in “Internal Control—Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Based on this assessment, our management concluded that, as of December 31, 2025, our internal control over financial reporting was effective.
Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Accounting Officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal control over financial reporting will prevent all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all controls issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been detected
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2025 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
On November 26, 2024,
On
The Plan was intended to comply with the affirmative defense of Rule 10b5-1(c) of the Exchange Act and the Company’s insider trading policy. Rule 10b5-1 allows corporate insiders to establish prearranged written stock trading plans.
A Rule 10b5-1 plan must be entered into in good faith at a time when the insider is aware of material, non-public information. Subsequent receipt by the insider of material, non-public information will not prevent prearranged transactions under Rule 10b5-1 from being executed. Using a Rule 10b5-1 Plan, individuals can prudently and gradually diversify their investment portfolios over an extended period of time.
ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS.
Not applicable.
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.
The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to the definitive proxy statement for our 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be filed with the SEC within 120 days after the end of our fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, or the Proxy Statement.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Ethics that applies to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller, and persons performing similar functions. Our code of ethics was filed as Exhibit 14.1 to our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2015 on August 14, 2015. We will provide a copy of our code of ethics to any person without charge, upon request. Requests should be addressed to: Usio, Inc., Attn: Investor Relations Department, 3611 Paesanos Parkway, Suite 300, San Antonio, Texas 78231.
Procedure for Nominating Directors
We have not made any material changes to the procedures by which security holders may recommend nominees to our Board of Directors, as disclosed in the definitive proxy statement for our 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders filed with the SEC on April 30, 2025.
We consider recommendations for director candidates from our directors, officers, employees, stockholders, customers and vendors. Stockholders wishing to nominate individuals to serve as directors may submit such nominations, along with a nominee's qualifications, to our Board of Directors at Usio, Inc., 3611 Paesanos Parkway, Suite 300, San Antonio, Texas, 78231, and the Board of Directors will consider such nominee. The Board of Directors selects the director candidates slated for election. We have a designated Nominations and Corporate Governance Committee, which reviews and makes recommendations to the Board of Directors with respect to proposed director candidates.
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.
The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to the Proxy Statement.
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS.
The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to the 2026 Proxy Statement.
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE.
The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to the 2026 Proxy Statement.
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES.
The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to the 2026 Proxy Statement.
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.
(a)(1) Consolidated Financial Statements.
The following documents are filed in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K:
Report of current Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - WithumSmith+Brown, P.C.
Report of former Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - Pannell Kerr Forster of Texas, P.C.
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2025 and 2024
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
(a)(2) Financial Statement Schedules.
All financial statement schedules have been omitted as they are not required, not applicable, or the required information is otherwise included.
| (a)(3) Exhibits |
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Description |
| 3.1 |
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| 3.2 |
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| 3.3 |
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| 3.4 |
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| 3.5 | Amended and Restated By-laws (included as exhibit 3.1 to the Form 8-K filed December 1, 2023, and incorporated herein by reference). |
| 4.1 | Description of Securities (filed herewith). |
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| 10.1* |
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| 10.2* |
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| 10.3* |
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| 10.4 |
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| 10.5* |
| 10.6* |
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| 10.7* |
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| 10.8* |
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| 10.9* |
| 21.1 |
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| 23.1 | Consent of WithumSmith+Brown, P.C. (filed herewith). |
| 23.2 | Consent of Pannell Kerr Forster of Texas, P.C. (filed herewith). |
| 31.1 |
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| 31.2 |
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| 32.1 |
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| 97.1 | Clawback Policy (included as exhibit 97.1 to the Form 10-K filed on March 26, 2025, and incorporated herein by reference). |
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| 101.INS |
Inline XBRL Instance Document (filed herewith). |
| 101.SCH |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document (filed herewith). |
| 101.CAL |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document (filed herewith). |
| 101.DEF |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document (filed herewith). |
| 101.LAB |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document (filed herewith). |
| 101.PRE |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Presentation Linkbase Document (filed herewith). |
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101) |
| + | The schedules to the exhibit have been omitted from this filing pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K. The Company will furnish copies of any such schedules to the SEC upon request. |
| * | Management Compensatory Plan or Arrangement |
Copies of the above exhibits not contained herein are available to any stockholder, upon written request to: Chief Accounting Officer, Usio, Inc., 3611 Paesanos Parkway, Suite 300, San Antonio, TX 78231.
None.
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
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Usio, Inc. |
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| Date: March 18, 2026 |
By: |
/s/ Louis A. Hoch |
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Louis A. Hoch Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Operating Officer (Principal Executive Officer) |
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| Date: March 18, 2026 | By: | /s/ Michael White | |
| Michael White Chief Accounting Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
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Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
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| Date: March 18, 2026 | By: | /s/ Michael White | |
| Michael White | |||
| Chief Accounting Officer | |||
| (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | |||
| Date: March 18, 2026 | By: | /s/ Louis A. Hoch | |
| Louis A. Hoch Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Operating Officer (Principal Executive Officer) |
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| Date: March 18, 2026 | By: | /s/ Blaise Bender | |
| Blaise Bender | |||
| Director | |||
| Date: March 18, 2026 | By: | /s/ Ernesto Beyer | |
| Ernesto Beyer | |||
| Director | |||
| Date: March 18, 2026 | By: | /s/ Bradley Rollins | |
| Bradley Rollins | |||
| Director | |||
| Date: March 18, 2026 | By: | /s/ Elizabeth Michelle Miller | |
| Elizabeth Michelle Miller | |||
| Director | |||
Exhibit 4.1
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES
Our amended and restated articles of incorporation, as amended, authorize us to issue 200,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share. As of March 16, 2026, we had 27,576,439 shares of common stock and no shares of preferred stock outstanding.
Common Stock
The following description of our common stock may not be complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, Nevada law and the actual terms and provisions contained in our amended and restated articles of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws, each as amended from time to time.
Voting Rights: Each outstanding share of our common stock is entitled to one vote per share of record on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders and to vote together as a single class for the election of directors and in respect of other corporate matters. At a meeting of stockholders at which a quorum is present, for all matters other than the election of directors, an affirmative vote of the majority of shares entitled to vote on a matter and that are represented either in person or by proxy at a meeting of stockholders decides all questions, unless the matter is one upon which a different vote is required by express provision of law or our amended and restated articles incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws. Directors will be elected by a plurality of the votes of the shares present at a meeting. Holders of shares of common stock do not have cumulative voting rights with respect to the election of directors or any other matter.
Dividends: Holders of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends or other distributions when, as and if declared by our board of directors. The right of our board of directors to declare dividends, however, is subject to any rights of the holders of other classes of our capital stock, any indebtedness outstanding from time to time and the availability of sufficient funds, as determined under Nevada law, to pay dividends.
Preemptive Rights: The holders of our common stock do not have preemptive rights to purchase or subscribe for any of our capital stock or other securities
Redemption: Shares of our common stock are not subject to redemption by operation of a sinking fund or otherwise.
Liquidation Rights: In the event of any liquidation, dissolution, or winding up of our company, subject to the rights, if any, of the holders of other classes of our capital stock, the holders of shares of our common stock are entitled to receive any of our assets available for distribution to our stockholders ratably in proportion to the number of shares held by them.
Listing: Our common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “USIO.”
Transfer Agent and Registrar: The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, 6201 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219, telephone (718) 921-8200.
Preferred Stock
Under our amended and restated articles of incorporation, as amended, we have the authority to issue 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, which are issuable in series on terms to be determined by our board of directors. Accordingly, our board of directors is authorized, without action by the stockholders, to issue preferred stock from time to time with such dividend, liquidation, conversion, voting, redemption, sinking fund and other rights and restrictions as it may determine. All shares of any one series of our preferred stock will be identical, except that shares of any one series issued at different times may differ as to the dates from which dividends may be cumulative. The Board may determine:
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the distinctive designation of each series and the number of shares that will constitute the series; |
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the voting rights, if any, of shares of the series and the terms and conditions of the voting rights; |
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the dividend rate on the shares of the series, the dates on which dividends are payable, any restriction, limitation or condition upon the payment of dividends, whether dividends will be cumulative, and the dates from and after which dividends shall accumulate; |
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the prices at which, and the terms and conditions on which, the shares of the series may be redeemed, if the shares are redeemable; |
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the terms and conditions of a sinking or purchase fund for the purchase or redemption of shares of the series, if such a fund is provided; |
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any preferential amount payable upon shares of the series in the event of the liquidation, dissolution or winding up of, or upon the distribution of any of our assets; and |
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the prices or rates of conversion or exchange at which, and the terms and conditions on which, the shares of the series may be converted or exchanged into other securities, if the shares are convertible or exchangeable. |
If our board of directors decides to issue any shares of preferred stock, it may discourage or make more difficult a merger, tender offer, business combination or proxy contest, assumption of control by a holder of a large block of our securities, or the removal of incumbent management, even if these events were favorable to the interests of stockholders. Our board of directors, without stockholder approval, may issue preferred stock with voting and conversion rights and dividend and liquidation preferences that may adversely affect the holders of our other equity or debt securities.
Certain Provisions of Nevada Law And Our Charter And Bylaws
The following paragraphs summarize certain provisions of Nevada law and our restated articles of incorporation, as amended, and our amended and restated bylaws. The summary does not purport to be complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to Nevada law and to our amended and restated articles of incorporation, as amended, and our amended and restated bylaws, copies of which are on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as exhibits to reports previously filed by us.
General
Certain provisions of our amended and restated articles of incorporation, as amended, and our amended and restated bylaws and Nevada law could make our acquisition by a third party, a change in our incumbent management, or a similar change in control more difficult, including:
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An acquisition of us by means of a tender or exchange offer; |
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An acquisition of us by means of a proxy contest or otherwise; or |
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The removal of a majority or all of our incumbent officers and directors. |
These provisions, which are summarized below, are likely to discourage certain types of coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with our board of directors. We believe that these provisions help to protect our potential ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure us, and that this benefit outweighs the potential disadvantages of discouraging such a proposal because our ability to negotiate with the proponent could result in an improvement of the terms of the proposal. The existence of these provisions which are described below could limit the price that investors might otherwise pay in the future for our securities.
Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws
Authorized But Unissued Capital Stock. We have shares of common stock and preferred stock available for future issuance without stockholder approval, subject to any limitations imposed by the listing standards of any securities exchange on which our stock may be listed. We may utilize these additional shares for a variety of corporate purposes, including for future public offerings to raise additional capital or facilitate corporate acquisitions or for payment as a dividend on our capital stock. The existence of unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock may enable our board of directors to issue shares to persons friendly to current management or to issue preferred stock with terms that could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or could discourage a third party from seeking to acquire, a controlling interest in our company by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest, or otherwise. In addition, if we issue preferred stock, the issuance could adversely affect the voting power of holders of common stock and the likelihood that such holders will receive dividend payments and payments upon liquidation.
Blank Check Preferred Stock. Our board of directors, without stockholder approval, has the authority under our amended and restated articles of incorporation, as amended, to issue preferred stock with rights superior to the rights of the holders of common stock. As a result, preferred stock could be issued quickly and easily, could impair the rights of holders of common stock, and could be issued with terms calculated to delay or prevent a change in control or make removal of management more difficult.
Classified Board. Our amended and restated bylaws provide that our board of directors is divided into three classes. Each class has as nearly equal in number as possible. At each annual meeting of stockholders, directors elected to succeed those directors whose terms expire shall be elected for a term of office to expire at the third succeeding annual meeting of stockholders after their election.
Election of Directors. Our amended and restated bylaws provide that a majority of directors then in office may fill any vacancy occurring on our board of directors. These provisions may discourage a third party from voting to remove incumbent directors and simultaneously gaining control of our board of directors by filling the vacancies created by that removal with its own nominees.
Removal of Directors. A director may be removed from office only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the combined voting power of the then issued and outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote in the election of directors, voting together as a single class.
Anti-takeover Effects of Nevada Law
Business Combinations with Interested Stockholders
The “business combination with interested stockholders” provisions of Sections 78.411 to 78.444, inclusive, of the Nevada Revised Statutes, or NRS, generally prohibit a Nevada corporation with at least 200 stockholders of record from engaging in various “combination” transactions with any interested stockholder for a period of two years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless the combination is approved by our board of directors prior to the date the interested stockholder obtained such status or the combination is approved by our board of directors and at such time or thereafter is approved at a meeting of the stockholders by the affirmative vote of stockholders representing at least 60% of the outstanding voting power held by disinterested stockholders, and extends beyond the expiration of the two-year period, unless:
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the combination was approved by our board of directors prior to the person becoming an interested stockholder or the transaction by which the person first became an interested stockholder was approved by our board of directors before the person became an interested stockholder or the combination is later approved by a majority of the voting power held by disinterested stockholders; or |
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if the consideration to be paid by the interested stockholder is at least equal to the highest of: (a) the highest price per share paid by the interested stockholder within the two years immediately preceding the date of the announcement of the combination or in the transaction in which it became an interested stockholder, whichever is higher; (b) the market value per share of common stock on the date of announcement of the combination and the date the interested stockholder acquired the shares, whichever is higher; or (c) for holders of preferred stock, the highest liquidation value of the preferred stock, if it is higher. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, NRS 78.411 to 78.444, inclusive, do not apply to any combination of a resident domestic corporation with an interested stockholder after the expiration of four years after the person first became an interested stockholder.
A “combination” is generally defined to include mergers or consolidations or any sale, lease exchange, mortgage, pledge, transfer, or other disposition, in one transaction or a series of transactions, with an “interested stockholder” having: (a) an aggregate market value equal to more than 5% of the aggregate market value of the assets of the corporation, (b) an aggregate market value equal to more than 5% of the aggregate market value of all outstanding voting shares of the corporation, (c) more than 10% of the earning power or net income of the corporation, and (d) certain other transactions with an interested stockholder or an affiliate or associate of an interested stockholder.
In general, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns (or within two years, did own) 10% or more of a corporation’s voting stock. The statute could prohibit or delay mergers or other takeover or change in control attempts and, accordingly, may discourage attempts to acquire our company even though such a transaction may offer our stockholders the opportunity to sell their stock at a price above the prevailing market price.
A Nevada corporation may “opt out” of these provisions either with an express provision in its original articles of incorporation or in an amendment to its articles of incorporation or bylaws approved by its stockholders. However, we have not opted out, and do not currently intend to opt out of, these provisions. The statute could prohibit or delay mergers or other takeover or change in control attempts and, accordingly, may discourage attempts to acquire us.
Control Share Acquisitions
The “control share” provisions of Sections 78.378 to 78.3793, inclusive, of the NRS apply to “issuing corporations” that are Nevada corporations with at least 200 stockholders of record, including at least 100 stockholders of record who are Nevada residents, and that conduct business directly or indirectly in Nevada. The control share statute prohibits an acquirer, under certain circumstances, from voting its shares of a target corporation’s stock after crossing certain ownership threshold percentages, unless the acquirer obtains approval of the target corporation’s disinterested stockholders. The statute specifies three thresholds: one-fifth or more but less than one-third, one-third but less than a majority, and a majority or more, of the outstanding voting power. Generally, once an acquirer crosses one of the above thresholds, those shares in an offer or acquisition and acquired within 90 days thereof become “control shares” and such control shares are deprived of the right to vote until disinterested stockholders restore the right. These provisions also provide that if control shares are accorded full voting rights and the acquiring person has acquired a majority or more of all voting power, all other stockholders who do not vote in favor of authorizing voting rights to the control shares are entitled to demand payment for the fair value of their shares in accordance with statutory procedures established for dissenters’ rights.
A corporation may elect to not be governed by, or “opt out” of, the control share provisions by making an election in its articles of incorporation or bylaws, provided that the opt-out election must be in place on the 10th day following the date an acquiring person has acquired a controlling interest, that is, crossing any of the three thresholds described above. We have not opted out of the control share statutes, and will be subject to these statutes if we are an “issuing corporation” as defined in such statutes.
The effect of the Nevada control share statutes is that the acquiring person, and those acting in association with the acquiring person, will obtain only such voting rights in the control shares as are conferred by a resolution of the stockholders at an annual or special meeting. The Nevada control share law, if applicable, could have the effect of discouraging takeovers of our company.
EXHIBIT 21.1
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Usio, Inc. |
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Subsidiaries of the Registrant |
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Subsidiary Legal Name |
Jurisdiction of Incorporation |
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FiCentive, Inc. |
Nevada |
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ZBILL, Inc. |
Nevada |
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Usio Output Solutions, Inc. |
Nevada |
Exhibit 23.1
CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
We consent to the incorporation by reference in the registration statements (No. 333-122312, No. 333-125510, No. 333-206521, No. 333-221184, No. 333-231645, No. 333-266036, No. 333-273406, No. 333-288229, No. 333-288230, and 333-82530) on Form S-8 and (No. 333-287528) on Form S-3 of our report dated March 18, 2026, with respect to the consolidated financial statements of Usio, Inc. as of and for the year ended December 31, 2025 included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.
/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, P.C.
WithumSmith+Brown, P.C.
Houston, Texas
March 18, 2026
Exhibit 23.2
CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
We consent to the incorporation by reference in the registration statements (No. 333-122312, No. 333-125510, No. 333-206521, No. 333-221184, No. 333-231645, No. 333-266036, No. 333-273406, No. 333-288229, No. 333-288230, and 333-82530) on Form S-8 and (No. 333-287528) on Form S-3 of our report dated March 18, 2026, with respect to the consolidated financial statements of Usio, Inc. as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024 included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.
/s/ Pannell Kerr Forster of Texas, P.C.
Pannell Kerr Forster of Texas, P.C.
Houston, Texas
March 18, 2026
EXHIBIT 31.1
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
(18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350)
I, Louis A. Hoch, certify that:
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I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Usio, Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2025; |
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Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; |
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Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; |
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As the registrant’s certifying officer, I am responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have: |
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Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under my supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to me by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; |
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Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under my supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; |
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Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report my conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and |
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Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and |
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As the registrant’s certifying officer, I have disclosed, based on my most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): |
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All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and |
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Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting. |
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Date: March 18, 2026 |
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By: |
/s/ Louis A. Hoch |
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Louis A. Hoch |
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Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) |
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EXHIBIT 31.2
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
(18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350)
I, Michael White, certify that:
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I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Usio, Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2025; |
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Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; |
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Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; |
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As the registrant’s certifying officer, I am responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have: |
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Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under my supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to me by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; |
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Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under my supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; |
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Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report my conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and |
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Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and |
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As the registrant’s certifying officer, I have disclosed, based on my most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): |
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All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and |
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Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting. |
Date: March 18, 2026
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By: |
/s/ Michael White |
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Michael White |
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Chief Accounting Officer |
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(Principal Accounting Officer) |
EXHIBIT 32.1
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
(18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350)
Pursuant to section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (subsections (a) and (b) of section 1350, chapter 63 of title 18, United States Code), the undersigned officers of Usio, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Company”), do hereby certify, to such officer’s knowledge, that:
The Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 (the “Form 10-K”) of the Company fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the information contained in the Form 10-K fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.
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Date: March 18, 2026 |
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By: |
/s/ Louis A. Hoch |
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Louis A. Hoch Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) |
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| Date: March 18, 2026 | By: | /s/ Michael White | |
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Michael White Chief Accounting Officer (Principal Accounting Officer) |
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