How to Start a Payment Processing Business at 16 – Jared Isaacman’s Start Up Story

Jared Isaacman was only 16 when he decided to start his own business. He was so obsessed with the idea that he quit high school and passed the GED exam instead, so he could focus on this entirely. In a few years, he ended up founding a  payment processing company named United Bank Card Inc. The first office of his business was not traditional for many great entrepreneurs garage, but the basement of his home.

Here is how it all happened. After leaving school at 16, Jared went to work for a credit card company, where he spent around 6 months. This was the place, where he got all of his starting experience. There he also met Mario Parisi (one of the managers there), who was his mentor. While working, he could examine the business model and spot a relatively unoccupied niche. The procedure allowing merchants to be able to be paid by credit cards (card-acquiring) was not a desirable business for banks. During that time, they focused on issuing cards and managing them and invested a little in processing transactions. This is where Jared stepped in. Most of the big banks used third parties for card-acquiring, so in 1999, the young entrepreneur set up an office in his basement and founded United Bank Card Inc. In the beginning, he did all the work by himself – technical support, customer care, marketing, and all the other stuff. A few months later, he involved his father and a friend of his to work in the company. This is how Jared created a small, super-efficient, and profitable family business, which was rapidly gaining momentum.

ATM Terminal

Today United Bank Card Inc. is named Harbortouch. The company is a big and reliable payment processor, responsible for around $13 billion in payments every year. The merchant accounts under management are around 100 000. Harbortouch also offers POS (point of sale) products and services. One of the most successful products is their free POS – the customer can obtain a free POS device by paying only a monthly fee for software support.

“It has been a very successful strategy,” Jared says. “In our 14 years in business, we have never launched a program that changed the face and direction of the company more significantly than our free POS initiative.”

This is not the only success of the young entrepreneur. Jared started another company – Draken International. It’s an aviation business that offers simulated problems during flights for training aviators. the biggest client of the company is the US Department of Defense.

More about Jared Isaacman

In 2014, at just 31 years of age, Isaacman purchased a ticket from Virgin Galactic and became the youngest person ever to sign up for space travel. While waiting for his mission launch in 2021, Jared plans to support everyone’s dreams of achieving their own space exploration goals with three additional tickets on board his mission. To honor this momentous occasion, Isaacman created the “Inspiration4” mission which encourages people to donate money towards four causes chosen by him; St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; Make-A-Wish Foundation; The Day 1 Families Fund; and The Challenger Center For Space Science Education.

Throughout his career as an entrepreneur and philanthropist, Jared has led multiple successful endeavors without compromising on ethical practices or social responsibility. His businesses have been the recipients of numerous awards including Forbes Magazine naming it “One Of The Most Promising Companies In 2014” as well as Barron’s Magazine listing him among its “30 Under 30” innovators in 2016. His commitment to inspiring others through space resource innovation has been well documented in multiple outlets such as Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People In 2018” list where he was featured prominently alongside notable names like Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama.

In addition to running businesses and working towards making dreams come true for others through philanthropy, Jared Isaacman is a licensed commercial pilot who has flown multiple trips around the world. With an incredibly busy international schedule that includes taking part in aviation shows such as Switzerland’s Basel Air Show where he won the audience award for “Most Impressive Aerial Performance” in 2017 along with numerous speaking engagements ranging from universities with Harvard Business School being one of his frequent spots; It is obvious that Jared loves what he does while inspiring many others along the way with his impressive accomplishments both on Earth and off it!

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