Tap2Local Wins FinTech Breakthrough Award

Jack Henry & Associates’ cloud‑native Tap2Local platform has been named “Small Business Payments Solution of the Year” in the 10th FinTech Breakthrough Awards, the independent program that spotlights leading technology providers across the global fintech landscape. The accolade underscores the growing demand for streamlined, hardware‑free payment options among small‑ and medium‑sized businesses (SMBs) and positions Jack Henry’s Banno ecosystem as a serious contender in the embedded‑finance arena.

A prestigious nod from an independent panel

FinTech Breakthrough, which evaluates more than 1,500 fintech products each year, selected Tap2Local from a crowded field of digital‑payments solutions. The award, presented at the program’s annual ceremony, recognizes products that deliver measurable value to end users while demonstrating technical innovation and market traction. For Jack Henry, the win validates a multi‑year effort to embed modern payment capabilities directly into the banking experience of SMB clients.

What Tap2Local actually does

Tap2Local is a software‑only, cloud‑native payment stack that allows banks and credit unions to extend tap‑to‑pay functionality to their business customers without requiring merchants to purchase or install point‑of‑sale hardware. Built in partnership with Moov—a provider of payment‑processing APIs—the solution runs on the Banno Digital Platform, Jack Henry’s branded banking‑as‑a‑service (BaaS) suite.

Key technical attributes include:

Device‑agnostic tap‑to‑pay – iOS and Android smartphones become virtual card readers, supporting both debit and credit card transactions.
Instant enrollment – Business owners can activate the service through a self‑service portal, shortening onboarding from days to minutes.
Continuous reconciliation – transaction data data streams directly into the accounting system of the merchant’s choice, reducing manual entry and reconciliation errors.
Scalable cloud architecture – Leveraging micro‑services and containerization, the platform can handle spikes in transaction volume without performance degradation.

By eliminating the need for traditional card‑reader terminals, Tap2Local cuts capital expenditures for SMBs and simplifies the merchant acquisition process for banks.

Strategic implications for Jack Henry and its banking partners

Greg Adelson, President and CEO of Jack Henry, framed the award as a validation of the company’s broader SMB strategy: “Tap2Local is a key part of our broader SMB strategy to help banks and credit unions win with small businesses, and we’re honored to see it recognized by FinTech Breakthrough,” he said. “By enabling financial institutions to become the central operating hub for business accountholders, Tap2Local helps recapture deposits while freeing business owners to focus on what they love, not payment operations.”

The statement reflects a shift in how community banks view themselves: not merely custodians of deposits but active participants in the day‑to‑day financial workflows of their commercial clients. By embedding payments, accounting, and banking data into a single interface, Jack Henry aims to deepen relationships, increase cross‑sell opportunities, and ultimately defend market share against fintech‑only challengers.

Industry context: Embedded finance and the hardware‑free trend

The award arrives at a moment when embedded finance is moving from a buzzword to a concrete revenue driver. According to a recent McKinsey survey, 62 % of SMBs prefer to manage payments, invoicing, and cash‑flow forecasting within a single digital environment. Traditional POS hardware, while still prevalent in retail, poses a barrier for service‑oriented SMBs that lack the volume to justify the expense.

FinTech Breakthrough’s Managing Director, Steve Johansson, highlighted this trend in his remarks: “Traditional point‑of‑sale systems impose cost, operational complexity, and slow onboarding. These fragmented third‑party tools also often call for external hardware, lengthy paperwork, or delays. Tap2Local’s consolidation of payments, banking, insights, and accounting into one unified experience simplifies business financial management and strengthens the bond between SMBs and their financial institutions.”

Competitive landscape: How does Tap2Local stack up?

While several fintech firms offer virtual POS solutions, most operate as third‑party processors that sit atop a merchant’s existing bank relationship. Tap2Local’s integration with the Banno platform gives banks a direct line to transaction data, enabling real‑time risk monitoring and tighter AML/KYC controls. Moreover, the partnership with Moov provides a flexible API layer that can be customized for regional payment schemes, an advantage for community banks serving niche markets.

Analysts at Forrester note that “white‑label, bank‑hosted payment solutions are the next frontier for community financial institutions seeking to retain relevance in a digitized economy.” Tap2Local’s award, therefore, may serve as a catalyst for other banks to explore similar partnerships or to develop in‑house capabilities.

Regulatory considerations and forward‑looking statements

The press release accompanying the award includes the standard disclaimer that any forward‑looking statements are subject to risks detailed in Jack Henry’s SEC filings, including its most recent Form 10‑K and Form 10‑Q. The company acknowledges that market conditions, regulatory changes, or unforeseen technical challenges could affect the rollout or adoption of Tap2Local. Nonetheless, the firm’s existing compliance infrastructure—built on decades of banking experience—should mitigate many of the typical fintech regulatory hurdles.

Market impact: What this means for SMBs and banks

For SMB owners, the immediate benefit is a reduction in upfront costs and a smoother path to accepting card payments. The ability to reconcile transactions automatically into accounting software can also improve cash‑flow visibility, a critical factor for businesses with thin margins.

For banks and credit unions, Tap2Local offers a new revenue stream through transaction fees, while also creating data‑driven opportunities for cross‑selling loans, treasury services, and payroll solutions. By keeping the payment flow within the institution’s ecosystem, the solution helps banks retain more of the economic value generated by each transaction.

Looking ahead

Jack Henry’s recognition by FinTech Breakthrough signals that the industry is taking the hardware‑free, embedded‑payment model seriously. As more community banks adopt similar solutions, the competitive dynamics between traditional financial institutions and fintech‑only players could shift dramatically. The success of Tap2Local may encourage further collaboration between banks and API‑centric fintech firms, accelerating the pace at which SMBs gain access to modern financial tools.

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