PublicSquare, a financial technology company based in West Palm Beach, Florida, intends for this acquisition to expand its product suite into a full-stack fintech platform. The company plans to introduce turnkey, digital-first private-label credit and debit programs for its network of over 80,000 merchants.
Tandym’s technology provides consumer brands with a white-labeled payments and credit suite. This suite enables merchants to embed branded card experiences directly into their checkout processes. Tandym’s model allows for processing fees under 1% by bypassing traditional payment rails, aiming to allow brands to retain margin typically allocated to legacy networks. For customers, the branded wallet and rewards program are designed to foster loyalty and repeat purchases.
The acquisition is expected to offer several benefits to merchants within the PublicSquare network, including the ability to launch fully branded payment and credit card programs with seamless checkout integration and minimal development effort. Merchants could potentially reduce processing fees to below 1%, increase customer Lifetime Value (LTV) by more than 25%, and generate new recurring revenue through interchange participation. Additionally, the integration is anticipated to help merchants lower operational expenses, increase purchase frequency, and build stronger customer loyalty.
For PublicSquare, the acquisition is projected to enhance its fintech revenue mix by adding tools and software for recurring credit products, complementing its existing payments and digital asset business products. It is also expected to expand merchant LTV, strengthen data and network effects through a closed-loop payments environment, and support PublicSquare’s objective of improving gross margins and progressing toward adjusted EBITDA breakeven.
Michael Seifert, CEO of PublicSquare, stated, “This acquisition marks a major milestone in our mission to build a thriving fintech ecosystem. With this technology, we’re helping our merchants target their most valuable and brand-loyal customers, lower their customer acquisition costs, and boost customer retention.” He also highlighted the introduction of private label credit cards to the SMB market, an area he noted has been largely underserved.
Seifert further elaborated that the acquired assets would give PublicSquare proprietary ownership of a scalable merchant credit infrastructure. Tandym’s digital private-label technology is expected to enable network merchants to launch branded card programs that can increase loyalty, expand consumer financing options, and drive higher transaction volumes. He anticipates immediate synergies across PublicSquare’s payments and credit ecosystem, strengthening its ability to monetize merchant and consumer interactions.
The Tandym assets are positioned to become a key branded-payments layer in commerce, integrating with platforms like Shopify, Klaviyo, and Attentive. Tandym’s offerings address trends such as merchant margin compression, rising customer acquisition and loyalty costs, the rise of brand-controlled wallets, and the shift towards embedded financial services. The foundational offerings include a private-label payment platform for issuing digital store cards (credit or debit) under a proprietary brand and an an integrated ecosystem with APIs and SDKs for seamless payment and rewards functionalities.
Key advantages for merchants using Tandym’s technology include reduced processing costs, with potential savings of up to 80% on interchange fees for certain transactions, leading to transaction costs below 1%. Merchants could also see an estimated 25% increase in customer lifetime value by reinvesting savings into rewards programs and generating additional revenue streams from branded card transactions.
The customer experience is designed to be streamlined, with an effortless application process for a digital store card during checkout, requiring no hard credit inquiry. Customers would utilize a unified digital PSQ wallet across all participating PublicSquare merchants, automatically accruing and redeeming rewards directly at checkout.
The transaction involves PublicSquare acquiring specific intellectual property assets from Tandym, Inc. through an asset purchase agreement. The consideration includes Class A Common Stock valued at $5.75 million and up to $1.0 million in cash, subject to the final agreed amount of liabilities. The acquisition is anticipated to close in December 2025. PublicSquare identifies itself as a financial technology company focused on “values-driven innovation,” aiming to provide “cancel-proof” financial solutions.
