Payments CEOs Joseph Daly of Capri Payments and Eric Kellogg of Adept Payments today announced they have joined forces to form Argyle Payments LLC. Argyle will focus on small and midsize merchants in high-margin specialty markets requiring more attention, care and monitoring to support processing payments in e-commerce, traditional retail and alternative payments. Adept’s entrepreneurial and sales strength combined with Capri’s operational expertise spurred the transaction. Terms were not disclosed.
Specialty markets Argyle will target include financial services, health and wellness, travel, CBD and hemp, information technology and alternative products.
With more than 20 years of operations and risk management experience, Daly has extensive payments industry knowledge. He has served as vice president of enterprise risk for Deustche Bank, executive vice president of strategy and then chief operating officer for Comdata, and as general manager and chief operating officer for Paysafe, before founding Capri. Capri quickly became known in specialty verticals for excellence in operational scalability and governance.
Kellogg is a veteran payments business owner and sales executive. After serving as director of the Americas for TR Fastenings, he shifted into sales with Bankcard USA before founding Adept Payments in 2011. An independent sales organization for merchant services, Adept carved out market share in niche specialty markets, having significant success in both low- and high-margin verticals.
“Capri has great operational strength, particularly in customer service and governance, while Adept is very entrepreneurial and sales oriented,” said Kellogg. “This synergy enables Argyle to have a unique and balanced perspective when servicing agents and merchants. By defining the specific needs of our clients, we tailor the right payment solutions geared towards the success of their business,” added Kellogg. “After building the Adept portfolio steadily over the past decade, Joe and I look forward to exponential growth with Argyle as the premier specialty markets payments solution.”
“Eric and I have worked together for many years and have a great relationship,” said Daly. “Our teams are a good fit, in terms of business, culture, complementary skillsets and target markets. Argyle will have a more diverse portfolio and significantly improved scalability as a result of this venture,” added Daly.
The Argyle team is comprised of leading industry experts, including several employees with decades of payments experience and two ETA 40 Under 40 honorees—Senior Vice President of Business Development Kelby Berg and Director of Underwriting Tom Koski.