Usio Issues Fiscal 2025 Guidance of 14-16% in Expected Revenue Growth as Core Full Year 2024 Electronic Payments Dollars Processed Volume Jumps 33% and Transactions Processed Grow 26%

Rhea-AI Summary

Usio (Nasdaq: USIO) has provided its fiscal 2025 guidance, projecting revenue growth of 14-16% compared to 2024. The company reported significant growth in 2024, with total dollars processed reaching $7.1 billion (up 33%) and total transactions hitting 46.8 million (up 26%). Key highlights include:

- Card Processing achieved record-breaking performance with $1.5 billion in dollars processed
- Prepaid card loads exceeded $500 million, setting a new record
- Electronic document delivery more than doubled from 2023
- The company expects 5-7% of revenue in Adjusted EBITDA for 2025

However, Usio announced the loss of a major ERP ISV customer due to their company's sale, though the financial impact is minimal as they contributed less than $100K in revenue and $7K in gross income in 2024.

Positive

• Total dollars processed increased 33% to $7.1 billion in 2024
• Total transactions grew 26% to 46.8 million in 2024
• Card Processing reached record $1.5 billion in processed dollars
• Prepaid card loads hit record $500 million
• Electronic document delivery volume doubled year-over-year
• Projected 14-16% revenue growth for 2025
• Expected 5-7% Adjusted EBITDA margin for 2025

Negative

• Loss of major ERP ISV customer due to company sale
• Output Solutions mail pieces processed declined 4% year-over-year
• Prepaid card load volume decreased 2% in Q4 vs Q4 2023

Insights

Financial Analyst

Usio's fiscal 2024 results and 2025 guidance demonstrate remarkable business resilience and execution capability. A standout achievement is the company's ability to fully replace $12 million in revenue from the expired NYC Covid vaccination card program while maintaining strong growth trajectories across core segments.

The processing metrics reveal compelling operational momentum:

• Card Processing reached a record $1.5 billion in processed volume
• Prepaid segment hit $500 million in load volume
• Electronic document delivery volume surged by 115%

The recent loss of the ERP ISV relationship, while disappointing, has minimal financial impact ($100,000 revenue, $7,000 gross income in 2024). This transparency about the relationship's marginal contribution helps maintain credibility in the company's growth narrative.

The projected 14-16% revenue growth for 2025, coupled with 5-7% adjusted EBITDA margins, indicates improving operational leverage. The company's strong balance sheet with minimal debt and positive cash flows provides financial flexibility for continued investment in growth initiatives, particularly in expanding electronic document delivery capabilities which showed exponential growth in 2024.

Payment Systems Specialist

The processing metrics reveal a compelling digital transformation story across Usio's payment ecosystem. The standout performance in PayFac and card processing demonstrates successful market penetration, with credit card transactions showing 34% year-over-year growth in Q4 2024.

Notable operational highlights include:

• Six consecutive quarters of $100+ million in prepaid card loads, indicating strong recurring revenue momentum
• ACH processing showing sustained growth with 44% year-over-year increase in dollars processed
• Electronic document processing volume more than doubled, reaching 80.2 million documents

The shift towards electronic document processing, evidenced by the 115% year-over-year growth, represents a strategic evolution that should drive improved margins and operational efficiency. This digital transformation reduces physical processing costs while expanding service capabilities, positioning Usio for sustained growth in the evolving fintech landscape.

SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Usio, Inc. (Nasdaq: USIO), a cloud-based, integrated FinTech electronic payment solutions provider, today issued guidance for full year 2025. Usio estimates that revenues should increase by 14 – 16% from full year 2024 based on strong momentum generated by both full year and fourth quarter transactions and processing volume, as reported below.

Louis Hoch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Usio, said, "I am very pleased to report another increase in our recurring revenue base, which further solidifies our foundation and supports what we expect to be top and bottom-line growth in fiscal 2025. We believe that the strength of our business is demonstrated by our ability to grow most of our operating metrics by double-digits in 2024 including replacing $12 million of 2023 revenue generated by the expired NYC Covid vaccination card program. As we grow, we continue to optimize our inherent operating leverage such that we also believe 2025 will result in increasing EBITDA¹ margins as a percentage of revenue. The results from our operating metrics that we are reporting today clearly illustrates our focus on creating value for shareholders and the value that our customers are realizing in our products and services."

Fourth Quarter 2024 Processing Results
Card Processing, Including PayFac
	vQ4 23		vQ3 24
Credit Card Dollars Processed	+15%		+5%
Credit Card Transactions Processed	+34%		+14%
Led by PayFac, both transaction and dollar processing growth accelerated sequentially compared to the third quarter of 2024 and year-over-year and set a quarterly Card Processing record for both dollars and transactions processed.
Prepaid
	vQ4 23		vQ3 24
Prepaid Card Load Volume	-2%		-20%
Prepaid Card Transaction Volume	+36%		-24%
Prepaid Card Purchase Volume	+7%		-15%
Total dollars loaded on prepaid cards exceeded $111 million in the fourth quarter, the sixth consecutive quarter of over $100 million in prepaid card loads.
ACH
	vQ4 23		vQ3 24
Electronic Check Transaction Volume	+34%		+15%
Returned Check Transactions Processed	+27%		+16%
Electronic Check Dollars Processed	+44%		-6%
Electronic check transaction volume and dollars processed in the fourth quarter increased year-over-year, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.
Output Solutions
	vQ4 23		vQ3 24
Transactions/pieces processed & mailed	-10%		-6%
Electronic documents processed and delivered	+86%		+6%
Total mail pieces processed and delivered by Output Solutions in Q4 exceeded 5.4 million, and electronic only documents delivered exceeded 20 million.

Full Year 2024 Processing Results
Card Processing, Including PayFac	v2023
Credit Card Dollars Processed	+10%
Credit Card Transactions Processed	+24%
Total dollars processed for Card was $1.5 billion for the year, a new full-year record. Total transactions processed for Card exceeded 17 million and also set a new full-year record.
Prepaid
	v2023
Prepaid Card Load Volume	+35%
Prepaid Card Transaction Volume	+45%
Prepaid Card Purchase Volume	+26%
Total dollars loaded on prepaid cards exceeded $500 million in 2024, a new full-year record. Transaction volume exceeded 11 million and set a new full-year record. Purchase volume also set a new full-year record exceeding $250 million.
ACH
	v2023
Electronic Check Transaction Volume	+18%
Returned Check Transactions Processed	+17%
Electronic Check Dollars Processed	+42%
ACH performance continues to improve sequentially and is expected to sustain attractive growth characteristics in fiscal 2025.
Output Solutions
	v2023
Transactions/pieces processed & mailed	-4%
Electronic documents processed and delivered	+115%
Total pieces processed and mailed by Output Solutions in 2024 exceeded 24.5 million. Total electronic only documents, including statements, bills and other documents, processed and delivered exceeded 80.2 million which was more than double the amount of all of 2023.

All Payment Divisions Combined

For the full year 2024, total dollars processed reached $7.1 billion, a 33% increase, while total transactions processed totaled 46.8 million, reflecting 26% growth. This marks a new full-year record for transactions.

Mr. Hoch continued, "The large ERP ISV that we announced in May of last year has been very slow to implement as previously communicated, and we now know why. At the end of last week, we received a notification of the customer’s intent not to continue forward with their relationship with Usio due to the sale of their company. Financially, we recorded less than $100K in revenue and gross income of less than $7K in 2024 from the relationship. Our expectations for 2025 previously forecasted little financial contribution from this account due to their slow pace of implementation. As we look forward to 2025, I am encouraged by the backlog of both PayFac and Card signed deals expected to be implemented this year. We also have a strong pipeline of sales prospects. Output Solutions is well positioned with the addition of new, faster equipment, increased capacity and an acceleration electronic document delivery volume. This investment is expected to build on Output’s more than doubling the number of electronic documents it processed and delivered in 2024 compared to 2023."

Guidance for Fiscal Year 2025

2025 revenues should increase 14 – 16% from full year 2024 based on strong yearly recurring transactions and processing volume and should generate 5 – 7 percentage of revenue in Adjusted EBITDA¹. Usio is a company that executes and continues to grow year-over-year, generating positive cash flows and has a very healthy balance sheet with almost no debt. 2025 should continue to build upon our previous years of success.

Usio will report fiscal year 2024 financial results on or before March 28, 2024.

¹ Please see reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures.

About Usio, Inc.

Usio, Inc. (Nasdaq: USIO), a leading, cloud-based, integrated FinTech electronic payment solutions provider, offers a wide range of payment solutions to merchants, billers, banks, service bureaus, integrated software vendors and card issuers. The Company operates credit, debit/prepaid, and ACH payment processing platforms to deliver convenient, world-class payment solutions and services to clients through its unique payment facilitation platform as a service. The Company, through its Usio Output Solutions division offers services relating to electronic bill presentment, document composition, document decomposition and printing and mailing services. The strength of the Company lies in its ability to provide tailored solutions for card issuance, payment acceptance, and bill payments as well as its unique technology in the card issuing sector. Usio is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, and has offices in Austin, Texas. Websites: www.usio.com, www.payfacinabox.com, www.akimbocard.com and www.usiooutput.com. Find us on Facebook^® and Twitter.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS DISCLAIMER
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this release include forward-looking statements which are covered by safe harbors. Those statements include, but may not be limited to, all statements regarding management's intent, belief and expectations, such as statements concerning our future and our operating and growth strategy. These forward-looking statements are identified by the use of words such as "believe," "intend," "look forward," "anticipate," "schedule," and "expect" among others. Forward-looking statements in this press release are subject to certain risks and uncertainties inherent in the Company's business that could cause actual results to vary, including such risks related to an economic downturn as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the realization of opportunities from the IMS acquisition, the management of the Company's growth, the loss of key resellers, the relationships with the Automated Clearinghouse network, bank sponsors, third-party card processing providers and merchants, the security of our software, hardware and information, the volatility of the stock price, the need to obtain additional financing, risks associated with new tax legislation, and compliance with complex federal, state and local laws and regulations, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. One or more of these factors have affected, and in the future, could affect the Company’s businesses and financial results in the future and could cause actual results to differ materially from plans and projections. The Company believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements included in this release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by us or any other person that the objectives and plans will be achieved. All forward-looking statements made in this release are based on information presently available to management. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release includes non-GAAP financial measures, as defined in Regulation G adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, of EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margins and adjusted operating cash flows. The Company reports its financial results in compliance with GAAP, but believes that also discussing non-GAAP financial measures provides investors with financial measures it 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 option 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.
• The Company defines adjusted operating cash flow as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, less changes in prepaid card load obligations, customer deposits, merchant reserves and net operating lease assets and obligations. These adjustments to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities are not inclusive of any regular expense items, and only include changes in our assets and liabilities accounts on our consolidated balance sheet. These measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Management uses EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margins and adjusted operating cash flows as indicators of the Company's operating performance and ability to fund acquisitions, capital expenditures and other investments and, in the absence of refinancing options, to repay debt obligations. 

Management believes EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margins and adjusted operating cash flows 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. 

EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margins and adjusted operating cash flow 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, net income, or cash provided by (used in) operating activities, 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, adjusted EBITDA margins and adjusted operating cash flow have limitations as analytical tools and you should not consider these non-GAAP financial measures in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our operating results as reported under GAAP.

Contact:

Paul Manley
Senior Vice President, Investor Relations
paul.manley@usio.com
612-834-1804

FAQ

What is Usio's revenue growth guidance for 2025?

Usio projects revenue growth of 14-16% for fiscal year 2025 compared to 2024.

How much did USIO's total processing volume grow in 2024?

Usio's total dollars processed increased by 33% to $7.1 billion in 2024.

What was USIO's card processing volume in 2024?

Usio's card processing reached a record $1.5 billion in dollars processed for 2024.

What is USIO's expected EBITDA margin for 2025?

Usio expects to generate 5-7% of revenue in Adjusted EBITDA for 2025.

How did USIO's electronic document delivery perform in 2024?

Electronic document delivery more than doubled in 2024, exceeding 80.2 million documents processed and delivered.