CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

____________

(1)      Represents the maximum number of shares of Common Stock of the registrant that may be issued directly to (i) holders of warrants who tender their warrants pursuant to the Offer (as defined below) and (ii) holders of warrants who do not tender their warrants pursuant to the Offer and, pursuant to the Warrant Amendment (as defined below), if approved, may receive shares of Common Stock of the registrant in the event the registrant exercises its right to convert the warrants into shares of Common Stock.

(2)      Pursuant to Rule 416 under the Securities Act (the “Securities Act”), the registrant is also registering an indeterminate number of additional shares of Common Stock issuable by reason of any stock dividend, stock split, recapitalization or other similar transaction.

(3)      Estimated pursuant to Rule 457(f)(1) under the Securities Act, and solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee, the proposed maximum offering price is $10.36 per share, which is the average of the high and low prices of the Common Stock on August 10, 2021, on the The Nasdaq Capital Market.

(4)      Calculated by multiplying the estimated aggregate offering price of the securities being registered by 0.0001091.

(5)      Represents the maximum number of warrants that may be amended pursuant to the Warrant Amendment.

(6)      No additional registration fee is payable pursuant to Rule 457(g) under the Securities Act.

The registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

PRELIMINARY — SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED AUGUST 13, 2021

PROSPECTUS/OFFER TO EXCHANGE

PAYA HOLDINGS INC.

Offer to Exchange Warrants to Acquire Shares of Common Stock
of
Paya Holdings Inc.
for
Shares of Common Stock
of
Paya Holdings Inc.
and
Consent Solicitation

THE OFFER PERIOD (AS DEFINED BELOW) AND WITHDRAWAL RIGHTS WILL EXPIRE AT 11:59 P.M., EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME, ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2021, OR SUCH LATER TIME AND DATE TO WHICH WE MAY EXTEND.

Terms of the Offer and Consent Solicitation

Until the Expiration Date (as defined below), we are offering to the holders of our outstanding warrants, including the public warrants (as defined below) and the private placement warrants (as defined below) (collectively, the “warrants”), each to purchase shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“Common Stock”), of Paya Holdings Inc. (the “Company”), the opportunity to receive 0.260 shares of Common Stock in exchange for each of our outstanding warrants tendered by the holder and exchanged pursuant to the offer (the “Offer”).

The Offer is being made to all holders of our warrants. The warrants are governed by the warrant agreement, dated as of November 15, 2018 (the “Warrant Agreement”), by and between FinTech Acquisition Corp. III and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent. Our Common Stock and public warrants are listed on the The Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbols “PAYA” and “PAYAW,” respectively. As of August 11, 2021, a total of 17,714,945 warrants were outstanding. Pursuant to the Offer, we are offering up to an aggregate of 4,605,885 shares of our Common Stock in exchange for the warrants.

Each warrant holder whose warrants are exchanged pursuant to the Offer will receive 0.260 shares of our Common Stock for each warrant tendered by such holder and exchanged. No fractional shares of Common Stock will be issued pursuant to the Offer. In lieu of issuing fractional shares, any holder of warrants who would otherwise have been entitled to receive fractional shares pursuant to the Offer will, after aggregating all such fractional shares of such holder, be paid in cash (without interest) in an amount equal to such fractional part of a share multiplied by the last sale price of our Common Stock on Nasdaq on the last trading day of the Offer Period (as defined below). Our obligation to complete the Offer is not conditioned on the receipt of a minimum number of tendered warrants.

Concurrently with the Offer, we are also soliciting consents (the “Consent Solicitation”) from holders of the public warrants (the “consent warrants”) to amend the Warrant Agreement (the “Warrant Amendment”), which governs all of the warrants, to permit the Company to require that each warrant that is outstanding upon the closing of the Offer be converted into 0.234 shares of Common Stock, which is a ratio 10% less than the exchange ratio applicable to the Offer. Pursuant to the terms of the Warrant Agreement, all except certain specified modifications or amendments require the vote or written consent of holders of at least 65% of the outstanding public warrants.

Parties representing approximately 63.2% of the outstanding public warrants have agreed to tender their warrants in the Offer and to consent to the Warrant Amendment in the Consent Solicitation pursuant to a tender and support agreement (the “Tender and Support Agreement”). Accordingly, if holders of an additional approximately 1.8% of the outstanding public warrants consent to the Warrant Amendment in the Consent Solicitation, and the other conditions described herein are satisfied or waived, then the Warrant Amendment will be adopted. For additional detail regarding the Tender and Support Agreement, see “Market Information, Dividends and Related Stockholder Matters — Transactions and Agreements Concerning Our Securities — Tender and Support Agreement.”

You may not consent to the Warrant Amendment without tendering your consent warrants in the Offer and you may not tender such warrants without consenting to the Warrant Amendment. The consent to the Warrant Amendment is a part of the letter of transmittal and consent relating to the warrants, and therefore by tendering your consent warrants for exchange you will be delivering to us your consent. You may revoke your consent at any time prior to the Expiration Date (as defined below) by withdrawing the consent warrants you have tendered in the Offer.

The Offer and Consent Solicitation is made solely upon the terms and conditions in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange and in the related letter of transmittal and consent (as it may be supplemented and amended from time to time, the “Letter of Transmittal and Consent”). The Offer and Consent Solicitation will be open until 11:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on September 10, 2021, or such later time and date to which we may extend (the period during which the Offer and Consent Solicitation is open, giving effect to any withdrawal or extension, is referred to as the “Offer Period,” and the date and time at which the Offer Period ends is referred to as the “Expiration Date”). The Offer and Consent Solicitation is not made to those holders who reside in states or other jurisdictions where an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

We may withdraw the Offer and Consent Solicitation only if the conditions to the Offer and Consent Solicitation are not satisfied or waived prior to the Expiration Date. Promptly upon any such withdrawal, we will return the tendered warrants to the holders (and the consent to the Warrant Amendment will be revoked).

You may tender some or all of your warrants into the Offer. If you elect to tender warrants in response to the Offer and Consent Solicitation, please follow the instructions in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange and the related documents, including the Letter of Transmittal and Consent. If you tender warrants, you may withdraw your tendered warrants at any time before the Expiration Date and retain them on their current terms or amended terms if the Warrant Amendment is approved, by following the instructions in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange. In addition, tendered warrants that are not accepted by us for exchange by October 8, 2021, may thereafter be withdrawn by you until such time as the warrants are accepted by us for exchange. If you withdraw the tender of your warrants, your consent to the Warrant Amendment will be withdrawn as a result.

Warrants not exchanged for shares of our Common Stock pursuant to the Offer will remain outstanding subject to their current terms or amended terms if the Warrant Amendment is approved. We reserve the right to redeem any of the warrants, as applicable, pursuant to their current terms at any time, including prior to the completion of the Offer and Consent Solicitation, and if the Warrant Amendment is approved, we intend to require the conversion of all outstanding warrants to shares of Common Stock as provided in the Warrant Amendment. Our public warrants are currently listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “PAYAW”; however, our public warrants may be delisted if, following the completion of the Offer and Consent Solicitation, the extent of public distribution or the aggregate market value of outstanding warrants has become so reduced as to make further listing inadvisable or unavailable.

The Offer and Consent Solicitation is conditioned upon the effectiveness of a registration statement on Form S-4 that we filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) regarding the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exchange of the warrants pursuant to the Offer. This Prospectus/Offer to Exchange forms a part of the registration statement.

Our board of directors has approved the Offer and Consent Solicitation. However, neither we nor any of our management, our board of directors, or the information agent, the exchange agent or the dealer manager for the Offer and Consent Solicitation is making any recommendation as to whether holders of warrants should tender warrants for exchange in the Offer and, as applicable, consent to the Warrant Amendment in the Consent Solicitation. Each holder of a warrant must make its own decision as to whether to exchange some or all of its warrants and, as applicable, consent to the Warrant Amendment.

All questions concerning the terms of the Offer and Consent Solicitation should be directed to the dealer manager:

Evercore Group L.L.C.
55 East 52nd Street, 35th Floor
New York, New York 10055
Toll-Free: (888) 474-0200

All questions concerning exchange procedures and requests for additional copies of this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange, the Letter of Transmittal and Consent or the Notice of Guaranteed Delivery should be directed to the information agent:

D.F. King & Co., Inc.
48 Wall Street, 22nd Floor
New York, New York 10005
Banks and Brokers call: (212) 269-5550
Call Toll Free: (800) 370-1749
Email: paya@dfking.com

We will amend our offering materials, including this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange, to the extent required by applicable securities laws to disclose any material changes to information previously published, sent or given to warrant holders.

The securities offered by this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange involve risks. Before participating in the Offer and consenting to the Warrant Amendment, you are urged to read carefully the section titled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 8 of this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange.

Neither the SEC nor any state securities commission or any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Through the Offer, we are soliciting your consent to the Warrant Amendment. By tendering your warrants, you will be delivering your consent to the proposed Warrant Amendment, which consent will be effective upon our acceptance of such warrants for exchange.

The dealer manager for the Offer and Consent Solicitation is:

Evercore ISI

This Prospectus/Offer to Exchange is dated August 13, 2021.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange

This Prospectus/Offer to Exchange is a part of the registration statement that we filed on Form S-4 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. You should read this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange, including the detailed information regarding the Company, Common Stock and warrants, and the financial statements and the notes included herein and any applicable prospectus supplement.

We have not authorized anyone to provide you with information different from that contained in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange. If anyone makes any recommendation or representation to you, or gives you any information, you must not rely upon that recommendation, representation or information as having been authorized by us. We and the dealer manager take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. You should not assume that the information in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange or any prospectus supplement is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of those documents. You should not consider this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange to be an offer or solicitation relating to the securities in any jurisdiction in which such an offer or solicitation relating to the securities is not authorized. Furthermore, you should not consider this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange to be an offer or solicitation relating to the securities if the person making the offer or solicitation is not qualified to do so, or if it is unlawful for you to receive such an offer or solicitation.

Unless the context requires otherwise, in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange, we use the terms “the Company”, “our company,” “we,” “us,” “our,” and similar references to refer to Paya Holdings Inc. and its subsidiaries.

These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange and our management’s current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. We undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

Certain Defined Terms

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange to:

“Business Combination” are to the Company’s business combination with Fintech Acquisition Corp. III, a Delaware special purpose acquisition company formed in March 2017, which was consummated on October 16, 2020;

“bylaws” are to our bylaws currently in effect, filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange forms a part;

“Cantor” are to Cantor Fitzgerald & Co.;

“charter” are to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation filed with the Delaware Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on October 16, 2020 and as currently in effect, filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange forms a part;

“Common Stock” or “common stock” are to our common stock, par value $0.001 per share;

“Code” are to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;

“Consent Solicitation” are to the solicitation of consent from the holders of the consent warrants to approve the Warrant Amendment;

“DGCL” are to the Delaware General Corporation Law;

“Exchange Act” are to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended;

“Expiration Date” are to 11:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on September 10, 2021;

“GAAP” are to United States generally accepted accounting principles;

“IPO” are to the initial public offering of units of Fintech Acquisition Corp. (now known as Paya Holdings Inc.), which closed on November 20, 2018;

“Letter of Transmittal and Consent” are to the letter of transmittal and consent (as it may be supplemented and amended from time to time) related to the Offer and Consent Solicitation;

“Offer” are to the opportunity to receive 0.260 shares of common stock in exchange for each of our outstanding warrants;

“Offer Period” are to the period during which the Offer and Consent Solicitation is open, giving effect to any extension;

“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to certain parties in a private placement in connection with the closing of the IPO that have not become public warrants under the Warrant Agreement as a result of being transferred to any person other than permitted transferees;

“public warrants” are to the warrants (i) sold as part of the units in the IPO (whether they were purchased in the IPO or thereafter in the open market) or (ii) initially issued to certain parties in connection with the IPO that have been transferred to any person other than permitted transferees;

“Paya,” “the Company,” “we,” “our” or “us” are to Paya Holdings Inc., a Delaware corporation formerly known as Fintech Acquisition Corp. III Parent Corp. and its subsidiaries, unless the context otherwise requires;

“warrants” are to the private placement warrants and public warrants;

“Warrant Agreement” are to that Warrant Agreement, dated as of November 15, 2018, by and between FinTech Acquisition Corp. III and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent; and

“Warrant Amendment” are to the amendment to the Warrant Agreement permitting the Company to require that each outstanding warrant be converted into 0.234 shares of Common Stock, which is a ratio 10% less than the exchange ratio applicable to the Offer.

Risk Factors

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the risk factors below, as well as the other information contained in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange before making an investment decision. Any of the risk factors could significantly and negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and prospects and the trading price of our securities. You could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Relating to Our Business and Operations

The recent novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, global pandemic has had and is expected to continue to have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

In late 2019, COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan, China. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, and governmental authorities around the world have implemented measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. These measures, including “shelter-in-place” orders suggested or mandated by governmental authorities or otherwise elected by companies as a preventive measure, have adversely affected workforces, customers, consumer sentiment, economies, and financial markets, and, along with decreased consumer spending, have led to an economic downturn in the United States.

Numerous state and local jurisdictions, including in markets where we operate, have imposed, and others in the future may impose, “shelter-in-place” orders, quarantines, travel restrictions, executive orders and similar government orders and restrictions for their residents to control the spread of COVID-19. For example, the federal and state governments in the United States have imposed social distancing measures and restrictions on movement, only allowing essential businesses to remain open in certain areas. Such orders or restrictions have resulted in the temporary closure of many of our customers’ operations, work stoppages, slowdowns and delays, travel restrictions and cancellation of events, among other effects, any of which may materially impact our business and results of operations.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shelter-in-place and social distancing policies, as well as the broader economic decline, had a material impact on our business in 2020 and we expect it to continue to do so in 2021. Many of our customers experienced a decline in transaction volumes from pre COVID-19 levels. However, given many of our customers leverage our payment technology to accept transactions in a card-not-present environment, their business operations were not impacted dramatically. Further, most of our recurring or contractual transactions are business (“B2B”) customers and not tied to consumer discretionary spend and, as such, were not significantly impacted. This was evident by stable or growing volumes in our B2B goods & services, government & utilities, and non-Profit verticals. Lastly, we benefited from our lack of concentration in end markets which saw steep declines, such as restaurants, travel, hospitality, and brick-and-mortar retail.

In response to these developments, we took precautionary measures to ensure the safety of our employees, support our customers, and mitigate the impact on our financial position and operations. We seamlessly implemented remote working capabilities for our entire organization with minimal disruption to our operations or key operating performance indicators. We also identified opportunistic expenses reductions which increased operating efficiencies and provided additional profitability in the period.

Due to the uncertainty of COVID-19, we will continue to assess the situation, including abiding by any government-imposed restrictions, market by market. We are unable to accurately predict the ultimate impact that COVID-19 will have on our operations and marketing efforts relying on in person industry events and conferences due to the unknown duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, effect of new government regulations arising in response to the pandemic, and the speed and extent to which economic and operating conditions and consumer behavior will return to normal. Even as our customers re-open their operations, we cannot accurately predict the ongoing impact of government regulations and changing consumer behavior on our business. While we have not seen a meaningful degradation in new customer enrollment or an increase in existing customer attrition as a result of COVID-19, it is possible that those business trends may change if economic hardship across the country forces business closures. Any significant reduction in consumer visits to, or spending at, our customers’ establishments would result in a loss of revenue to us. In particular, we cannot accurately forecast the potential impact of additional outbreaks as government restrictions are relaxed, further shelter-in-place or other government restrictions are implemented in response to such outbreaks, or the impact on the ability of our customers to remain in business as a

result of the ongoing pandemic, which could result in additional chargeback or customer receivable losses. Further, disruptions in the business operations of our prospective partners because of their responses to COVID-19 may result in delays in the formation or implementation of new partnerships.

In addition, the global deterioration in economic conditions, which may have an adverse impact on discretionary consumer spending, could also impact our business. For instance, consumer spending may be negatively impacted by general macroeconomic conditions, including a rise in unemployment and decreased consumer confidence resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Changing consumer behaviors because of the COVID-19 pandemic may also have a material impact on our revenue for the foreseeable future.

In the past, governments have taken unprecedented actions in attempts to address and rectify these extreme market and economic conditions by providing liquidity and stability to financial markets. If these actions are not successful, the return of adverse economic conditions may cause a material impact on our ability to raise capital, if needed, on a timely basis and on acceptable terms or at all.

To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business and financial results, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those relating to our liquidity, indebtedness and our ability to comply with the covenants contained in the agreements that govern our indebtedness.

The payment processing industry is highly competitive and such competition is likely to increase, which may adversely influence the prices we can charge to merchants for our services and the compensation we must pay to our distribution partners, and as a result, our profit margins.

The payment processing industry is highly competitive. We primarily compete in the middle market merchant industry. Competition has increased recently as other providers of payment processing services have established a sizable market share in the middle market. Our primary competitors for middle market merchants include financial institutions and their affiliates and well-established payment processing companies that target middle market merchants directly and through third parties, including EVO Payments, REPAY, i3 Verticals, Stripe, and the acquiring arms of FIS, FISERV, and Global Payments. We also compete with many of these same entities for distribution partners. For example, many of our distribution partners are not exclusive to us but also have relationships with our competitors, such that we must continually expend resources to maintain those distribution partner relationships. Our growth will depend on our ability to increase our market share through successful competitive efforts to gain new merchants and distribution partners.

In addition, many financial institutions, subsidiaries of financial institutions or well-established payment processing companies with which we compete, have substantially greater capital, technological, and marketing resources than we have. These factors may allow our competitors to offer better pricing terms to merchants and more attractive compensation to distribution partners, which could result in a loss of our potential or current merchants and distribution partners. This competition may effectively limit the prices we can charge our merchants, cause us to increase the compensation we pay to our distribution partners and require us to control costs aggressively to maintain acceptable profit margins. Our future competitors may also develop or offer services that have price or other advantages over the services we provide.

We are also facing new competition from emerging and non-traditional payment processing companies as well as traditional companies offering alternative electronic payments services and products. Certain of these competitors integrate proprietary software and service solutions with electronic payments services and have significant financial resources and robust networks that could allow them to have access to merchants needing electronic payments services. If these new entrants gain a greater share of total electronic payments transactions, they could impact our ability to retain and grow our relationships with merchants and distribution partners. These new entrants also may compete in ways that minimize or remove the role of traditional payment gateways in the electronic payments process upon which our services are based, which could also limit our ability to retain or grow those relationships.

Degradation of the quality of the products and services we offer, including support services, could adversely impact our ability to attract and retain merchants and partners.

Our merchants and partners expect a consistent level of quality in the provision of our products and services, which are a significant element of the value proposition we offer to them. If the reliability or functionality of our products and services is compromised or the quality or support of such products and services is otherwise degraded,

we could lose existing merchants and partners and find it harder to attract new merchants and partners. If we are unable to scale our support functions to address the growth of our merchant portfolio and partner network, the quality of our support may decrease, which could also adversely affect our ability to attract and retain merchants and partners.

Failing to successfully implement initiatives to grow or improve our products and services could also adversely impact our business. While we offer redundant back-up capabilities inside of our data center environments, we still have site specific risk related to physical or communication network-based outages. Additionally, we rely on Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) to operate certain aspects of our service, including providing a distributed computing infrastructure platform for business operations, or what is commonly referred to as a “cloud” computing service. While we are in the process of building out full redundancy to prevent downtime in the case of an outage, we currently may encounter disruptions or interference in connection with our use of AWS. This could have an impact on our operations and consequently, our business would be adversely impacted if our partners and merchants leave due to a downtime or disruption.

Potential distribution partners and merchants may be reluctant to switch to a new merchant acquirer, which may adversely affect our growth.

Many potential distribution partners and merchants worry about potential disadvantages associated with switching payment providers, such as a loss of accustomed functionality, increased costs, and business disruption. For our distribution partners, switching to us from another payment provider or integrating with us may constitute a significant undertaking. As a result, many distribution partners and merchants often resist change. There can be no assurance that our strategies for overcoming potential reluctance to change vendors or initiate a relationship with us will be successful, and this resistance may adversely affect our growth and performance results.

Increases in card network fees and other changes to fee arrangements may result in the loss of merchants or a reduction in our earnings.

From time to time, card networks, including Visa and Mastercard, increase the fees that they charge merchant service providers. At their sole discretion, our sponsoring banks have the right to pass any increases in interchange fees on to us. Our sponsoring banks may seek to increase the sponsorship fees they charge us, all of which are based upon the dollar amount of the payment transactions we process. In addition, our back-end payment processors may seek to increase the fees they charge us, which are also based upon the floor amount of the payment transactions we process as well as the number of merchants we support. We could attempt to pass these increases along to our merchants, but this strategy might result in the loss of merchants to our competitors who do not pass along the increases. If competitive practices prevent us from passing along the higher fees to our merchants in the future, we may have to absorb all or a portion of such increases, which may increase our operating costs and reduce our earnings. In addition, in certain of our markets, card issuers pay merchant acquirers fees based on debit card usage in an effort to encourage debit card use. If this practice were discontinued, our revenue and margins in jurisdictions where we receive these fees would be adversely affected.

If we fail to comply with the applicable requirements of card networks and industry self-regulatory organizations, those card networks or organizations could seek to fine us, suspend us, or terminate our registrations through our bank sponsors. If our merchants or sales partners incur fines or penalties that we cannot collect from them, we may have to bear the cost of such fines or penalties.

We do not directly access the payment card networks, such as Visa, MasterCard and Discover, which enable our acceptance of credit cards and debit cards. Instead, we rely on sponsor banks and third-party processors to access such networks and settle transactions, and we must pay fees for such services.

As such, Visa, Mastercard and other card networks set complex and evolving rules and standards with which we must comply. The payment networks and their member financial institutions routinely update, generally expand and modify requirements applicable to merchant acquirers, including rules regulating data integrity, third-party relationships (such as those with respect to sponsor banks and Independent Sales Organizations (“ISO”)), merchant chargeback standards and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (“PCI-DSS”). Under certain circumstances, we are required to report incidents to the card networks within a specified time frame.

The rules of card networks are set by their boards, which include members that are card issuers that directly or indirectly sell processing services to merchants in competition with us. There is a risk that these members could

use their influence to enact changes to the card network rules or policies that are detrimental to us. Any changes in network rules or standards that increase the cost of doing business or limit our ability to provide processing services to our merchants will adversely affect the operation of our business.

If we or our bank sponsors fail to comply with the applicable rules and requirements of the Visa or Mastercard payment networks, Visa or Mastercard could suspend or terminate our registration. Further, our transaction processing capabilities, including settlement processes, could be delayed or otherwise disrupted, and recurring non-compliance could result in the payment networks seeking to fine us, or suspend or terminate our registrations which allow us to process transactions on their networks, making it impossible for us to conduct our business on its current scale. Under certain circumstances specified in the payment network rules, we may be required to submit to periodic audits, self-assessments, or other assessments of our compliance with the PCI-DSS. Such activities may reveal that we have failed to comply with the PCI-DSS. In addition, even if we comply with the PCI-DSS, there is no assurance that we will be protected from a security breach.

The termination of our registration with the payment networks, or any changes in payment network or issuer rules that limit our ability to provide merchant acquiring services, could have an adverse effect on our payment processing volumes, revenues and operating costs. If we are unable to comply with the requirements applicable to our settlement activities, the payment networks may no longer allow us to provide these services, which would require us to spend additional resources to obtain settlement services from a third-party provider. In addition, if we were precluded from processing Visa and Mastercard electronic payments, we would lose a substantial portion of our revenues.

In addition, if a merchant or sales partner fails to comply with the applicable requirements of the card networks, it could be subject to a variety of fines or penalties that may be levied by those card networks. We may have to bear the cost of such fines or penalties if we are unable to collect them from the applicable merchant or sales partner. The termination of our member registration, any change in our status as a service provider or merchant processor, or any changes in network rules or standards could prevent us from providing processing services relating to the affected card network and could adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

We are also subject to the operating rules of National Automated Clearing House Association (“NACHA”). NACHA is a self-regulatory organization which administers and facilitates private-sector operating rules for ACH payments and defines the roles and responsibilities of financial institutions and other ACH network participants. The NACHA Rules and Operating Guidelines impose obligations on us and our partner financial institutions. These obligations include audit and oversight by the financial institutions and the imposition of mandatory corrective action, including termination, for serious violations. If an audit or self-assessment under PCI DSS or NACHA identifies any deficiencies that we need to remediate, the remediation efforts may distract our management team and be expensive and time consuming.

Similarly, our Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) sponsor banks have the right to audit our compliance with NACHA’s rules and guidelines and are given wide discretion to approve certain aspects of our business practices and terms of our agreements with ACH customers. Like the payment networks, NACHA may update its operating rules and guidelines at any time, which could require us to take more costly compliance measures or to develop more complex monitoring systems.

There may be a decline in the use of electronic payments as a payment mechanism for consumers or adverse developments with respect to the electronic payments industry in general, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results.

Maintaining or increasing our profitability is dependent on consumers and businesses continuing to use credit cards, debit cards and make ACH payments at the same or increasing rate. If consumers do not continue to use these cards for their transactions or if there is a change in the mix of payments between cash and electronic payments which is adverse to us, our business could decline and we could incur material losses. Regulatory changes may also result in merchants seeking to charge customers additional fees for use of electronic payments. Additionally, in recent years, increased incidents of security breaches have caused some consumers to lose confidence in the ability of businesses to protect or store their information, causing consumers to discontinue use of electronic payment methods. In addition, security breaches could result in financial institutions cancelling large numbers of credit and debit cards, or consumers electing to cancel their cards following such an incident.

In order to remain competitive and to continue to increase our revenues and earnings, we must continually update our products and services, a process which could result in increased costs and the loss of revenues, earnings, merchants and distribution partners if the new products and services do not perform as intended or are not accepted in the marketplace.

The electronic payments industry in which we compete is subject to rapid technological changes and is characterized by new technology, product and service introductions, evolving industry standards, regulatory compliance, changing merchant needs and the entrance of non-traditional competitors. We are subject to the risk that our existing products and services become obsolete, and that we are unable to develop new products and services in response to industry demands. Our future success will depend in part on our ability to develop or adapt to technological changes and evolving industry trends. We are continually involved in a number of projects, such as ongoing enhancements to our Paya Connect platform and other new offerings emerging in the electronic payments industry, many of which require investment in non-revenue generating products or services that our distribution partners and merchants expect to be included in our product and service offerings. These projects carry the risks associated with any development effort, including difficulty in determining market demand and timing for delivery of new products and services, cost overruns, delays in delivery and performance problems.

In addition, new products and offerings may not perform as intended or generate the business or revenue growth expected. Defects in our software and errors or delays in our processing of electronic transactions could result in additional development costs, diversion of technical and other resources from our other development efforts, loss of credibility with current or potential distribution partners and merchants, harm to our reputation, fines imposed by card networks, or exposure to liability claims. Any delay in the delivery of new products or services or the failure to differentiate our products and services could render them less desirable, or possibly even obsolete, to our merchants. Additionally, the market for alternative payment processing products and services is evolving, and it may develop too rapidly or not rapidly enough for us to recover the costs we have incurred in developing new products and services.

We may not be able to continue to expand our share of our existing vertical markets or expand into new vertical markets, which would inhibit our ability to grow and increase our profitability.

Our future growth and profitability depend, in part, upon our continued expansion within the vertical markets in which we currently operate, the emergence of other vertical markets for electronic payments and our integrated solutions, and our ability to penetrate new vertical markets and our current distribution partners’ customer base. As part of our strategy to expand into new vertical markets, we look for acquisition opportunities and partnerships with other businesses that will allow us to increase our market penetration, technological capabilities, product offerings and distribution capabilities. We may not be able to successfully identify suitable acquisition or partnership candidates in the future, and if we do, they may not provide us with the benefits we anticipated.

Our expansion into new vertical markets also depends upon our ability to adapt our existing technology or to develop new technologies to meet the particular needs of each new vertical market. We may not have adequate financial or technological resources to develop effective and secure services or distribution channels that will satisfy the demands of these new vertical markets. Penetrating these new vertical markets may also prove to be more challenging or costly or take longer than we may anticipate. If we fail to expand into new vertical markets and increase our penetration into existing vertical markets, we may not be able to continue to grow our revenues and earnings.

Our ability to grow our business will depend in part on the addition of new partners. Inability to effectively onboard these new partners could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our ability to grow our business will depend in part on the addition of new partners, and an inability to effectively onboard these new partners could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may encounter delays onboarding partners due to COVID-19, issues integrating the partner into Paya Connect, or other unforeseen circumstances. If we do not effectively onboard our new partners, including assisting such partners to quickly resolve any post-onboarding issues and provide effective ongoing support, our reputation could be damaged and our ability to add new partners and our relationships with our existing

partners could be adversely affected. Additionally, if we fail to onboard these partners in a timely manner, it could lead to delays in collecting revenues that we may otherwise receive, causing our financial condition and results of operations to be adversely affected.

We may not be able to successfully execute our strategy of growth through acquisitions.

A significant part of our growth strategy is to enter new vertical markets through platform acquisitions of vertically focused integrated payment and software solutions providers and to expand within our existing vertical markets through selective tuck-in acquisitions.

Although we expect to continue to execute our acquisition strategy:

•        we may not be able to identify suitable acquisition candidates or acquire additional assets on favorable terms;

•        we may compete with others to acquire assets, and as competition increases, could result in decreased availability or increased prices for acquisition candidates;

•        we may compete with others for select acquisitions and our competition may consist of larger, better-funded organizations with more resources and easier access to capital;

•        we may experience difficulty in anticipating the timing and availability of acquisition candidates;

•        we may not be able to obtain the necessary financing, on favorable terms or at all, to finance any of our potential acquisitions; and

•        we may not be able to generate the cash necessary to execute our acquisition strategy.

•        we may be unable to maintain uniform standards, controls, procedures, and policies as we attempt to integrate the acquired businesses, and this may lead to operational inefficiencies.

The occurrence of any of these factors could adversely affect our growth strategy.

Potential changes in the competitive landscape, including disintermediation from other participants in the payments value chain, could harm our business.

We expect that the competitive landscape will continue to change, including the following developments.

•        Rapid and significant changes in technology may result in new and innovative payment methods and programs that could place us at a competitive disadvantage and reduce the use of our services.

•        Competitors, merchants, distribution partners, and other industry participants may develop products that compete with or replace our value-added products and services.

•        Participants in the financial services payments and technology industries may merge, create joint ventures, or form other business combinations that may strengthen their existing business services or create new payment services that compete with us.

Failure to compete effectively against any of these competitive threats could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are subject to economic and political risk, the business cycles of our merchants and distribution partners and the overall level of consumer and commercial spending, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The electronic payments industry depends heavily on the overall level of consumer, commercial and government spending. We are exposed to general economic conditions that affect consumer confidence, consumer spending, consumer discretionary income and changes in consumer purchasing habits. A sustained deterioration in general economic conditions or increases in interest rates could adversely affect our financial performance by reducing the number or aggregate dollar volume of transactions made using electronic payments. If our merchants

make fewer sales of their products and services using electronic payments, or consumers spend less money through electronic payments, we will have fewer transactions to process at lower dollar amounts, resulting in lower revenue. In addition, a weakening in the economy could force merchants to close at higher than historical rates, resulting in exposure to potential losses and a decline in the number of transactions that we process. We also have material fixed and semi-fixed costs, including rent, debt service, contractual minimums, and salaries, which could limit our ability to quickly adjust costs and respond to changes in our business and the economy.

A substantial portion of our merchants are middle market businesses, which may increase the impact of economic fluctuations and merchant attrition on us.

We market and sell our solutions to middle market merchants. Middle market merchants are typically more susceptible to the adverse effects of economic fluctuations than larger businesses. We experience attrition in merchants and merchant charge volume in the ordinary course of business resulting from several factors, including business closures, transfers of merchants’ accounts to our competitors and account closures that we initiate due to heightened credit risks relating to, or contract breaches by, a merchant. Adverse changes in the economic environment or business failures of our middle market merchants may have a greater impact on us than on our competitors who do not focus on middle market merchants to the extent that we do. We cannot accurately predict the level of middle market merchant attrition in the future. If we are unable to establish accounts with new merchants or otherwise increase our payment processing volume to counter the effect of this attrition, our revenues will decline.

Fraud by merchants or others could cause us to incur losses.

We face potential liability for fraudulent electronic payment transactions initiated by merchants or others. Merchant fraud occurs when a merchant opens a fraudulent merchant account and conducts fraudulent transactions or when a merchant, rather than a customer (though sometimes working in collusion with a customer engaged in fraudulent activities), knowingly uses a stolen or counterfeit card or card number to record a false sales transaction, or intentionally fails to deliver the merchandise or services sold in an otherwise valid transaction. Any time a merchant is unable to fund a chargeback, we are responsible for that chargeback.

Additionally, merchant fraud occurs when employees of merchants change the merchant demand deposit accounts to their personal bank account numbers, so that payments are improperly credited to the employee’s personal account. We have established systems and procedures to detect and reduce the impact of merchant fraud, but we cannot be sure that these measures are or will be effective. Failure to effectively manage risk and prevent fraud could increase our chargeback or other liability. In addition, beginning in October 2015, U.S. merchants that cannot process Europay, Mastercard and Visa (“EMV”), chip-based cards are held financially responsible for certain fraudulent transactions conducted using such cards. This has increased the risk to merchants who are not yet EMV-compliant and shifted a substantial amount of fraud to card-not-present transactions, which is the primary environment in which we operate. This increased risk and the shift to card-not-present fraud has resulted in us having to seek increased chargebacks from such merchants. Increases in chargebacks, failure to recover fraud-related losses from our merchants that have not yet complied with EMV standards or other liability could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We also have potential liability for losses caused by fraudulent card-based payment transactions. Card fraud occurs when a merchant’s customer uses a stolen card (or a stolen card number in a card-not-present transaction) to purchase merchandise or services. In a card-present transaction, if the merchant swipes or dips the card, receives authorization for the transaction from the issuer and verifies the signature on the back of the card against the paper receipt signed by the customer, the issuer remains liable for any loss. In a card-not-present transaction, even if the merchant receives authorization for the transaction, the merchant is liable for any loss arising from the transaction. Many of the merchants that we serve transact a substantial percentage of their sales in card-not-present transactions over the Internet or in response to telephone or mail orders, which makes these merchants more vulnerable to fraud than merchants whose transactions are conducted largely in card-present transactions.

Criminals are using increasingly sophisticated methods to engage in illegal activities such as counterfeiting and fraud. For example, bust-out fraud is a first-party fraud scheme where legitimate business credentials are combined with legitimate personal identity credentials and used to open a merchant account. After a period of either no processing or normal processing activity, typically ranging from four to 12 months, and processing minimal

volume, the criminal quickly processes a substantial volume from fraudulent cards, receives the corresponding deposits and exits before chargebacks or returns are assessed. Incidents and types of fraud and counterfeiting may increase in the future. Failure to effectively identify and manage risk and prevent fraud could increase our chargeback liability or cause us to incur other liabilities.

We incur liability when our merchants refuse or cannot reimburse us for chargebacks resolved in favor of their customers.

We have potential liability for chargebacks associated with the transactions we process. If a billing dispute between a merchant and a cardholder is not ultimately resolved in favor of the merchant, the disputed transaction is “charged back” to the merchant’s bank and credited or otherwise refunded to the cardholder. The risk of chargebacks is typically greater with those merchants that promise future delivery of goods and services rather than delivering goods or rendering services at the time of payment. If we or our bank sponsors are unable to collect the chargeback from the merchant’s account or reserve account (if applicable), or if the merchant refuses or is financially unable (due to bankruptcy or other reasons) to reimburse the merchant’s bank for the chargeback, we may bear the loss for the amount of the refund paid to the cardholder. Any increase in chargebacks not paid by our merchants could increase our costs and decrease our revenues. Additionally, an ACH transaction could be rejected in certain situations, including instances where we attempt to pull fees out of a bank account with insufficient funds, where an account has been closed, or where the account number is invalid. If an ACH reject occurs, we may bear the loss for the amount not pulled from the applicable account, which could increase our costs and decrease our revenues.

Our risk management policies and procedures may not be fully effective in mitigating our risk exposure in all market environments or against all types of risks.

We operate in a rapidly changing industry. Accordingly, our risk management policies and procedures may not be fully effective to identify, monitor, manage and remediate our risks. Some of our risk evaluation methods depend upon information provided by others and public information regarding markets, merchants or other matters that are otherwise inaccessible by us. In some cases, that information may not be accurate, complete, or current. Additionally, our risk detection system is subject to a high degree of “false positive” risks being detected, which makes it difficult for us to identify real risks in a timely manner. If our policies and procedures are not fully effective or we are not always successful in capturing all risks to which we are or may be exposed, we may suffer harm to our reputation or be subject to litigation or regulatory actions that materially increase our costs and subject us to reputational damage that could limit our ability to grow and cause us to lose existing merchant clients.

Legal proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

In the ordinary course of business, we may become involved in various litigation matters, including but not limited to commercial disputes and employee claims, and from time to time may be involved in governmental or regulatory investigations or similar matters arising out of our current or future business. Any claims asserted against us, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, could harm our reputation and have an adverse impact on our relationship with our merchants, distribution partners and other third parties and could lead to additional related claims. Certain claims may seek injunctive relief, which could disrupt the ordinary conduct of our business and operations or increase our cost of doing business. Our insurance or indemnities may not cover all claims that may be asserted against us, and any claims asserted against us, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, may harm our reputation and cause us to expend resources in our defense. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that we will be successful in defending ourselves in future litigation. Should the ultimate judgments or settlements in any pending litigation or future litigation or investigation significantly exceed our insurance coverage, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The loss of key personnel or of our ability to attract, recruit, retain and develop qualified employees could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our success depends upon the continued services of our senior management and other key personnel who have substantial experience in the electronic payments industry and the markets in which we offer our services. In addition, our success depends in large part upon the reputation within the industry of our senior managers who have, developed relationships with our distribution partners, payment networks and other payment processing and

service providers. Further, for us to continue to successfully compete and grow, we must attract, recruit, develop and retain personnel who will provide us with expertise across the entire spectrum of our intellectual capital needs. Our success is also dependent on the skill and experience of our sales force, which we must continuously work to maintain. While we have key personnel who have substantial experience with our operations, we must also develop our personnel to provide succession plans capable of maintaining the continuity of our operations. The market for qualified personnel is competitive, and we may not succeed in recruiting additional personnel or may fail to effectively replace current personnel who depart with qualified or effective successors.

Failure to retain or attract key personnel could impede our ability to grow and could result in our inability to operate our business profitably. In addition, contractual obligations related to confidentiality, assignment of intellectual property rights, and non-solicitation may be ineffective or unenforceable and departing employees may share our proprietary information with competitors in ways that could adversely impact us, or seek to solicit our distribution partners or merchants or recruit our key personnel to competing businesses.

Our ability to successfully operate the business will depend largely upon the efforts of certain key personnel, including the key personnel of Paya. The loss of such key personnel could adversely affect the operations and profitability of our business.

Our ability to successfully operate Paya’s business depends upon the efforts of certain key personnel of Paya. Although we expect all of such key personnel to remain with us, the unexpected loss of key personnel may adversely affect our operations and profitability. In addition, our future success depends in part on our ability to identify and retain key personnel to succeed senior management. Furthermore, while we have closely scrutinized the skills, abilities and qualifications of the key Paya personnel that we will employ, our assessment may not prove to be correct. If such personnel do not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities we expect or those necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of our business may be negatively impacted.

Risks Relating to Intellectual Property and Information Technology

Unauthorized disclosure of merchant or cardholder data, whether through breach of our computer systems, computer viruses, or otherwise, could expose us to liability, protracted and costly litigation and damage our reputation.

We are responsible for data security for ourselves and for third parties with whom we partner and under the rules and regulations established by the payment networks, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express, and debit card networks and by industry regulations and standards that may be promulgated by organizations such as NACHA, which manages the governance of the ACH network. These third parties include merchants, our distribution partners and other third-party service providers and agents. We and other third parties collect, process, store and/or transmit sensitive data, such as names, addresses, social security numbers, credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates, driver’s license numbers and bank account numbers. We have ultimate liability to the payment networks and our bank that sponsors our registration with Visa or MasterCard for our failure or the failure of third parties with whom we contract to protect this data in accordance with PCI-DSS and network requirements. The loss, destruction or unauthorized modification of merchant or cardholder data by us or our contracted third parties could result in significant fines, sanctions and proceedings or actions against us by the payment networks, card issuing banks, governmental entities, consumers, or others.

Threats may derive from human error, fraud, or malice on the part of employees or third parties, or from accidental technological failure. For example, certain of our employees have access to sensitive data that could be used to commit identity theft or fraud. Concerns about security increase when we transmit information electronically because such transmissions can be subject to attack, interception, or loss. Also, computer viruses can be distributed and spread rapidly over the Internet and could infiltrate our systems or those of our contracted third parties. Denial of service or other attacks could be launched against us for a variety of purposes, including interfering with our services or to create a diversion for other malicious activities. These types of actions and attacks and others could disrupt our delivery of services or make them unavailable. Any such actions or attacks against us or our contracted third parties could impugn our reputation, force us to incur significant expenses in remediating the resulting impacts, expose us to uninsured liability, result in the loss of our bank sponsors or our ability to participate in the payment networks, subject us to lawsuits, fines or sanctions, distract our management or increase our costs of doing business.

We and our contracted third parties could be subject to security breaches by hackers. Our encryption of data and other protective measures may not prevent unauthorized access to or use of sensitive data. A breach of a system may subject us to material losses or liability, including payment network fines, assessments and claims for unauthorized purchases with misappropriated credit, debit or card information, impersonation, or other similar fraud claims. A misuse of such data or a cybersecurity breach could harm our reputation and deter merchants from using electronic payments generally and our services specifically, thus reducing our revenue. In addition, any such misuse or breach could cause us to incur costs to correct the breaches or failures, expose us to uninsured liability, increase our risk of regulatory scrutiny, subject us to lawsuits, and result in the imposition of material penalties and fines under state and federal laws or by the payment networks. While we maintain insurance coverage that may, subject to policy terms and conditions, cover certain aspects of cyber risks, our insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses. In addition, a significant cybersecurity breach of our systems or communications could result in payment networks prohibiting us from processing transactions on their networks or the loss of our bank sponsors that facilitate our participation in the payment networks, either of which could materially impede our ability to conduct business.

Although we generally require that our agreements with distribution partners or our service providers which may have access to merchant or cardholder data include confidentiality obligations that restrict these parties from using or disclosing any merchant or cardholder data except as necessary to perform their services under the applicable agreements, we cannot guarantee that these contractual measures will prevent the unauthorized use, modification, destruction or disclosure of data or allow us to seek reimbursement from the contracted party. In addition, many of our merchants are middle market businesses that may have limited competency regarding data security and handling requirements and thus may experience data breaches. Any unauthorized use, modification, destruction, or disclosure of data could result in protracted and costly litigation, and our incurring significant losses.

In addition, our agreements with our bank sponsors and our third-party payment processors (as well as payment network requirements) require us to take certain protective measures to ensure the confidentiality of merchant and consumer data. Any failure to adequately comply with these protective measures could result in fees, penalties, litigation, or termination of our bank sponsor agreements.

Any significant unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data entrusted to us would cause significant damage to our reputation, and impair our ability to attract new distribution partners, and may cause parties with whom we already have such agreements to terminate them.

We may not be able to successfully manage our intellectual property and may be subject to infringement claims.

We rely on a combination of contractual rights and copyright, trademark and trade secret laws to establish and protect our proprietary technology. Third parties may challenge, circumvent, infringe or misappropriate our intellectual property, or such intellectual property may not be sufficient to permit us to take advantage of current market trends or otherwise to provide competitive advantages, which could result in costly redesign efforts, discontinuance of service offerings or other competitive harm. Others, including our competitors, may independently develop similar technology, duplicate our services or design around our intellectual property and, in such cases, we could not assert our intellectual property rights against such parties. Further, our contractual arrangements may not effectively prevent disclosure of our confidential information or provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of our confidential information. We may have to litigate to enforce or determine the scope and enforceability of our intellectual property rights and knowhow, which is expensive, could cause a diversion of resources and may not prove successful. Also, because of the rapid pace of technological change in our industry, aspects of our business and our services rely on technologies developed or licensed by third parties, and we may not be able to obtain or continue to obtain licenses and technologies from these third parties on reasonable terms or at all. The loss of intellectual property protection or the inability to license or otherwise use third-party intellectual property could harm our business and ability to compete.

We may also be subject to costly litigation if our services and technology are alleged to infringe upon or otherwise violate a third party’s proprietary rights. Third parties may have, or may eventually be issued, patents that could be infringed by our products, services, or technology. Any of these third parties could make a claim of infringement against us with respect to our products, services, or technology. We may also be subject

to claims by third parties for patent, copyright or trademark infringement, breach of license or violation of other third-party intellectual property rights. Any claim from third parties may result in a limitation on our ability to use the intellectual property subject to these claims. Additionally, in recent years, individuals and groups have been purchasing intellectual property assets for the sole purpose of making claims of infringement or other violations and attempting to extract settlements from companies like ours. Even if we believe that intellectual property related claims are without merit, defending against such claims is time consuming and expensive and could result in the diversion of the time and attention of our management and employees. Claims of intellectual property infringement or violation also might require us to redesign affected products or services, enter into costly settlement or license agreements, pay costly damage awards, or face a temporary or permanent injunction prohibiting us from marketing or selling certain of our products or services. Even if we have an agreement for indemnification against such costs, the indemnifying party, if any in such circumstances, may be unable to uphold its contractual obligations. If we cannot or do not license the infringed technology on reasonable terms or substitute similar technology from another source, our revenue and earnings could be adversely impacted.

Our systems and our third-party providers’ systems may fail due to factors beyond our control, which could interrupt our service, resulting in our inability to process payments, cause us to lose business, increase our costs and expose us to liability.

We depend on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of numerous systems, including our computer network systems, software, data centers and telecommunication networks, as well as the systems and services of our bank sponsors, the payment networks, third-party providers of processing services and other third parties. Our systems and operations or those of our third-party providers, such as our provider of authorization services, or the payment networks themselves, could be exposed to damage or interruption from, among other things, fire, natural disaster, power loss, telecommunications failure, unauthorized entry, computer viruses, denial-of-service attacks, acts of terrorism, human error or sabotage, financial insolvency and similar events. Our property and business interruption insurance may not be adequate to compensate us for all losses or failures that may occur. At present, our systems are not fully redundant. Therefore, certain aspects of our operations may be subject to interruption. While we have disaster recovery policies and arrangements in place, they have not been tested under actual disasters or similar events.

Defects in our systems or those of third parties, errors or delays in the processing of payment transactions, delays or discrepancies in merchant funding and settlement processes, telecommunications failures or other difficulties could result in failure to process transactions, additional operating costs, diversion of technical and other resources, loss of revenue, merchants and distribution partners, loss of merchant and cardholder data, harm to our business or reputation, exposure to fraud losses or other liabilities and fines and other sanctions imposed by payment networks.

We rely on other service and technology providers. If they fail or discontinue providing their services or technology generally or to us specifically, our ability to provide services to merchants may be interrupted, and, as a result, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely impacted.

We rely on third parties to provide or supplement card processing services and for infrastructure hosting services. We also rely on third parties for specific software and hardware used in providing our products and services. The termination by our service or technology providers of their arrangements with us or their failure to perform their services efficiently and effectively may adversely affect our relationships with our merchants and, if we cannot find alternate providers quickly, may cause those merchants to terminate their relationship with us.

We also rely in part on third parties for the development of and access to new technologies, or updates to existing products and services for which third parties provide ongoing support, which increases the cost associated with new and existing product and service offerings. Failure by these third-party providers to devote an appropriate level of attention to our products and services could result in delays in introducing new products or services, or delays in resolving any issues with existing products or services for which third-party providers provide ongoing support.

Risks Relating to Reliance on Third Parties

To acquire and retain a segment of our merchants, we depend in part on distribution partners that may not serve us exclusively and are subject to attrition.

We rely in significant part on the efforts of integrated software vendors and referral partners to market our services to merchants seeking to establish an integrated payment processing relationship. These distribution partners seek to introduce us, as well as our competitors, to newly established and existing middle market merchants. Generally, our agreements with distribution partners (except for a portion of our Integrated Solutions and Payment Services segments) are not exclusive and distribution partners retain the right to refer merchants to other merchant acquirers. Gaining and maintaining loyalty or exclusivity can require financial concessions to maintain current distribution partners and merchants or to attract potential distribution partners and merchants from our competitors. We have been required, and expect to be required in the future, to make concessions when renewing contracts with our distribution partners and such concessions can have a material impact on our financial condition or operating performance. If these distribution partners switch to another merchant acquirer, cease operations, or become insolvent, we will no longer receive new merchant referrals from them and we risk losing existing merchants that were originally enrolled by them. We cannot accurately predict the level of attrition of our distribution partners or merchants in the future, particularly those merchants we acquired as customers in the portfolio acquisitions we have completed in the past three years, which makes it difficult for us to forecast growth. If we are unable to establish relationships with new distribution partners or merchants, or otherwise increase our transaction processing volume to counter the effect of this attrition, our revenues will decline.

If the banks that currently provide ACH and wire transfers fail to properly transmit ACH or terminate their relationship with us or limit our ability to process funds or we are not able to increase our ACH capacity with our existing and new banks, our ability to process funds on behalf of our clients and our financial results and liquidity could be adversely affected.

We currently have agreements with two sponsor banks to execute ACH and wire transfers to support our processing services. If one or more of the banks fails to process ACH transfers on a timely basis, or at all, then our relationship with our clients could be harmed and we could be subject to claims by a client with respect to the failed transfers. In addition, these banks have no obligation to renew their agreements with us on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. Currently, some agreements with our bank sponsors give them substantial discretion in approving certain aspects of our business practices, including our solicitation, application and qualification procedures for clients and the terms of our agreements with clients. If these banks terminate their relationships with us or restrict the dollar amounts of funds that they will process on behalf of our clients, their doing so may impede our ability to process funds and could have an adverse impact on our financial results and liquidity.

Inability to maintain our strategic relationship with Sage could adversely affect our business.

We have a strategic relationship with Sage Group plc, a global provider of integrated accounting, payroll, and payment solutions, which previously acquired Paya in 2006 and remained a strategic partner after GTCR, LLC acquired us in 2017. As part of this strategic relationship, we offer integration into Sage Intacct, X3, and other Sage products. During 2020, 2019 and 2018, we derived approximately 8.6%, 8.5%, and 8.9%, respectively, of our net revenue from this relationship. We depend on Sage to refer new merchants to Paya and deliver an acceptable level of software functionality and service to our joint customers. There can be no assurance we will realize the expected benefits from this strategic relationship or that it will continue in the future. If successful, this relationship may be mutually beneficial and result in the continued growth in joint customers. However, such a relationship carries an element of risk given the ongoing competition for this customer base. Also, if Sage fails to perform or if the relationship fails to continue as expected, we could suffer reduced sales or other operational difficulties and our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

We rely on bank sponsors, which have substantial discretion with respect to certain elements of our business practices, to process electronic payment transactions. If these sponsorships are terminated and we are not able to secure new bank sponsors, we will not be able to conduct our business.

Because we are not a bank, we are not eligible for membership in the Visa, Mastercard, and other payment networks, and are, therefore, unable to directly access these payment networks, which are required to process transactions. These networks’ operating regulations require us to be sponsored by a member bank to process

electronic payment transactions. We are currently registered with Visa and Mastercard through BMO Harris. We are also subject to network operating rules promulgated by the NACHA relating to payment transactions processed by us using the ACH Network. For ACH payments, our ACH network is sponsored by Wells Fargo and Fifth Third. The term of the agreements with Wells Fargo and Fifth Third, which automatically renew annually, do not have a termination date but are terminable with written notice. From time to time, we may enter into other sponsorship relationships as well.

The current term of our agreement with BMO Harris lasts through November 1, 2022 and will thereafter automatically renew for one year periods unless either party provides the other at least six months’ notice of its intent to terminate.

Our bank sponsors may terminate their agreements with us if we materially breach the agreements and do not cure the breach within an established cure period, if our membership with Visa and/or Mastercard terminates, if we enter bankruptcy or file for bankruptcy, or if applicable laws or regulations, including Visa and/or Mastercard regulations, change to prevent either the applicable bank or us from performing services under the agreement. If these sponsorships are terminated and we are unable to secure a replacement bank sponsor within the applicable wind down period, we will not be able to process electronic payment transactions.

Although we do not believe that Paya is substantially dependent on any of these agreements, bank sponsors do have discretion in these agreements and there is a possibility that the termination of a sponsorship could have an adverse impact on our business due to the need to transition services to an alternative provider. If any of these contracts were terminated, we believe we would be able to enter into alternative arrangements, although we may not be able to procure terms of an equal or more advantageous nature. Additionally, each of these agreements have wind down and de-conversion periods, which we believe would allow sufficient time for us to replace any of the aforementioned sponsors during such de-conversion periods. We are unable to predict with any certainty which terms might change in such alternative arrangements.

Furthermore, our agreements with our bank sponsors provide the bank with substantial discretion in approving certain elements of our business practices, including our solicitation, application, and underwriting procedures for merchants. We cannot guarantee that our bank sponsors’ actions under these agreements will not be detrimental to us, nor can we provide assurance that any of our bank sponsors will not terminate their sponsorship of us in the future. Our bank sponsors have broad discretion to impose new business or operational requirements on us, which may materially adversely affect our business. If our sponsorship agreements are terminated and we are unable to secure another bank sponsor, we will not be able to offer Visa or Mastercard transactions or settle transactions which would likely cause us to terminate our operations.

Our bank sponsors also provide or supplement authorization, funding, and settlement services in connection with our bankcard processing services. If our sponsorships agreements are terminated and we are unable to secure another bank sponsor, we will not be able to process Visa and MasterCard transactions, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In July 2018, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) announced that it will begin accepting special purpose national bank charter applications from financial technology companies (“FinTech Charter”). No applications for a FinTech Charter have been submitted to date, and we cannot predict which, if any, of our current or future competitors would take advantage of the charter. However, such a development could increase the competitive risks discussed above or create new competitive risks, such as our nonbank competitors being able to more easily access the payment networks without the requirement of a bank sponsor, which could provide them with a competitive advantage.

Legal and Regulatory Risks

We are subject to extensive government regulation, and any new laws and regulations, industry standards or revisions made to existing laws, regulations or industry standards affecting the electronic payments industry may have an unfavorable impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition to those regulations discussed below that are imposed by the cards networks, NACHA and PCI-DSS, we are subject to numerous regulations that affect electronic payments including, U.S. financial services regulations, consumer protection laws, escheat regulations, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy

Act (“FERPA”), the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (“PPRA”), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) and other privacy and information security regulations. Regulation and proposed regulation of our industry has increased significantly in recent years, with states enacting regulations in areas that have historically only been federally regulated. Changes to statutes, regulations, or industry standards, including interpretation and implementation of statutes, regulations, or standards, could increase our cost of doing business, affect our competitive balance, and significantly increase the difficulty of compliance. Failure to comply with regulations may have an adverse effect on our business, including the limitation, suspension or termination of services provided to, or by, third parties, and the imposition of penalties or fines.

Interchange fees, which are typically paid by the payment processor to the issuer in connection with electronic payments, are subject to increasingly intense legal, regulatory, and legislative scrutiny. In particular, the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) significantly changed the U.S. financial regulatory system by regulating and limiting debit card fees charged by certain issuers, allowing merchants to set minimum dollar amounts for the acceptance of credit cards and allowing merchants to offer discounts or other incentives for different payment methods.

Rules implementing the Dodd-Frank Act also contain certain prohibitions on payment network exclusivity and merchant routing restrictions. These restrictions could limit the number of debit transactions, and prices charged per transaction, which would negatively affect our business. The Dodd-Frank Act also created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”), which has assumed responsibility for most federal consumer protection laws, and the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which has the authority to determine whether any non-bank financial company, such as Paya, should be supervised by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”), because it is systemically important to the U.S. financial system. Because we provide data processing and other services to U.S. banks, we are subject to regular oversight and examination by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (the “FFIEC”), which is an inter-agency body of federal banking regulators. Any such designation would result in increased regulatory burdens on our business, which increases our risk profile and may have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We and many of our merchants are subject to Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices. That statement and other laws, rules and or regulations, including the Telemarketing Sales Act, may directly impact the activities of certain of our merchants and, in some cases, may subject us, as the merchant’s electronic processor or provider of certain services, to investigations, fees, fines and disgorgement of funds if we were deemed to have improperly aided and abetted or otherwise provided the means and instrumentalities to facilitate the illegal or improper activities of the merchant through our services. Various federal and state regulatory enforcement agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general, have authority to take action against non-banks that engage in unfair or deceptive practices or violate other laws, rules and regulations and to the extent we are processing payments or providing services for a merchant that may be in violation of laws, rules and regulations, we may be subject to enforcement actions and as a result may incur losses and liabilities that may impact our business.

Our business may also be subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the “FCRA”), which regulates the use and reporting of consumer credit information and imposes disclosure requirements on entities that take adverse action based on information obtained from credit reporting agencies. We could be liable if our practices under the FCRA are not in compliance with the FCRA or regulations under it.

Separately, the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 included an amendment to the Code, that requires the filing of yearly information returns by payment processing entities and third-party settlement organizations with respect to payments made in settlement of electronic payment transactions and third-party payment network transactions occurring in that calendar year. Reportable transactions are also subject to backup withholding requirements. We could be liable for penalties if our information returns do not comply with these regulations.

These and other laws and regulations, even if not directed at us, may require us to make significant efforts to change our products and services and may require that we incur additional compliance costs and change how we price our services to merchants. Implementing new compliance efforts may be difficult because of the complexity of new regulatory requirements and may cause us to devote significant resources to ensure compliance. Furthermore, regulatory actions may cause changes in business practices by us and other industry participants which could affect

how we market, price and distribute our products and services, which could limit our ability to grow, reduce our revenues, or increase our costs. In addition, even an inadvertent failure to comply with laws and regulations, as well as rapidly evolving social expectations of corporate fairness, could damage our business or our reputation.

We may be required to register under the Bank Secrecy Act as a money services business or to become licensed under state money transmission statutes.

We provide payment processing services through our Paya, Inc. subsidiary, including card processing and ACH processing services. We have taken the position that Paya, Inc. is: (i) exempt from registration under the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (as amended, the “BSA”), as Paya is a payment processor and therefore able to avail itself of the payment processor exemption in accordance with guidance from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) including FinCEN Administrative Letter Ruling FIN-2014-R009; and (ii) exempt from licensure under various state money transmission laws, either expressly as a payment processor or agent of the payee, or pursuant to common law as an agent of the payee.

While we believe we have defensible arguments in support of our positions under the BSA and the state money transmission statutes, we have not expressly obtained confirmation of such positions from either FinCEN or the state banking departments who administer the state money transmission statutes. It is possible that FinCEN or certain state banking departments may determine that our activities are not exempt. Any determination that Paya, Inc. is in fact required to be registered either under the BSA or licensed under the state money transmission statutes may require substantial expenditures of time and money and could lead to liability in the nature of penalties or fines, as well as cause us to be required to cease operations in some or all of the U.S. jurisdictions we service, which would have a materially adverse effect on our business and our financial results.

While we believe we are exempt from the BSA we are contractually required to comply with certain obligations in the BSA pursuant to our agreements with those federally-insured depository institutions that sponsor our card processing activities and our ACH activities.

In addition, we, and those federally-insured depository institutions that sponsor our card processing activities and our ACH activities, are subject to the sanctions programs enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). If we fail to comply with these sanctions programs or our sanctions compliance program is found to be deficient then the fines or penalties we face may be severe and our efforts to remediate our sanctions compliance program may be costly and result in diversion of management time and effort and may still not guarantee compliance.

Governmental regulations designed to protect or limit access to or use of consumer information could adversely affect our ability to effectively provide our services to merchants.

Governmental bodies in the United States have adopted, or are considering the adoption of, laws and regulations restricting the use, collection, storage, and transfer of, and requiring safeguarding of, non-public personal information. Our operations are subject to certain provisions of these laws. Relevant federal privacy laws include the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, which applies directly to a broad range of financial institutions and indirectly, or in some instances directly, to companies that provide services to financial institutions. These laws and regulations restrict the collection, processing, storage, use and disclosure of personal information, require notice to individuals of privacy practices and provide individuals with certain rights to prevent the use and disclosure of protected information. These laws also impose requirements for safeguarding and proper destruction of personal information through the issuance of data security standards or guidelines. The Federal Trade Commission’s information safeguarding rules under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act require us to develop, implement and maintain a written, comprehensive information security program containing safeguards that are appropriate for our size and complexity, the nature and scope of our activities and the sensitivity of any customer information at issue. Our financial institution clients are subject to similar requirements under the guidelines issued by the federal banking regulators. As part of their compliance with these requirements, each of our financial institution clients is expected to have a program in place for responding to unauthorized access to, or use of, customer information that could result in substantial harm or inconvenience to customers and they are also responsible for our compliance efforts as a major service provider. Changes in our relationships with service providers, such as our plan to use AWS to provide additional redundancy, could further complicate the applicability of these regulations to our business. In addition, regulators are proposing new laws or regulations which could require us to adopt certain cybersecurity and

data handling practices. In many jurisdictions, consumers must be notified in the event of a data breach, and such notification requirements continue to increase in scope and cost. The changing privacy laws in the United States create new individual privacy rights and impose increased obligations on companies handling personal data. In addition, there are state laws restricting the ability to collect and utilize certain types of information such as Social Security and driver’s license numbers. Certain state laws impose similar privacy obligations as well as obligations to provide notification of security breaches of computer databases that contain personal information to affected individuals, state officers and consumer reporting agencies and businesses and governmental agencies that own data.

In connection with providing services to our merchants, we are required by regulations and contracts with our merchants and with our financial institution referral partners to provide assurances regarding the confidentiality and security of non-public consumer information. These contracts require periodic audits by independent companies regarding our compliance with industry standards and allow for similar audits regarding best practices established by regulatory guidelines. The compliance standards relate to our infrastructure, components and operational procedures designed to safeguard the confidentiality and security of non-public consumer personal information shared by our merchants with us. Our ability to maintain compliance with these standards and satisfy these audits will affect our ability to attract, grow and maintain business in the future.

Additionally, privacy and data security have become significant issues in the United States. With the recent increase in publicity regarding data breaches resulting in improper dissemination of consumer information, all 50 states have passed laws regulating the actions that a business must take if it experiences a data breach, such as prompt disclosure to affected customers. As we receive, collect, process, use, and store personal and confidential data, we are subject to diverse laws and regulations relating to data privacy and security, including, local state laws such as the New York Stop Hacks and Improve Data Security Act (the “SHIELD Act”), and the California Consumer Privacy Act (the “CCPA”).

The SHIELD Act requires companies to implement a written information security program that contains appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards. The CCPA, which became effective on January 1, 2020, gives California residents expanded rights to access and delete their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches that is expected to increase data breach litigation. The CCPA may increase our potential liability and may require us to modify our data collection or processing practices and policies and to incur substantial costs and expenses in effort to comply. Some observers have noted that the CCPA could mark the beginning of a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States, which could increase our potential liability and adversely affect our business.

If we fail to comply with the laws and regulations relating to the protection of data privacy, we could be exposed to suits for breach of contract or to governmental proceedings. In addition, our relationships and reputation could be harmed, which could inhibit our ability to retain existing merchants and distribution partners and obtain new merchants and distribution partners.

If more restrictive privacy laws or rules are adopted by authorities in the future, our compliance costs may increase and our ability to perform due diligence on, and monitor the risk of, our current and potential merchants may decrease, which could create liability for us. Additionally, our opportunities for growth may be curtailed by our compliance capabilities or reputational harm, and our potential liability for security breaches may increase.

Changes in tax laws or their interpretations, or becoming subject to additional U.S., state or local taxes that cannot be passed through to our clients, could negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to extensive tax liabilities, including federal and state and transactional taxes such as excise, sales/use, payroll, franchise, withholding, income (including both net income and gross income) and ad valorem taxes. Changes in tax laws or their interpretations could decrease the amount of revenues we receive, the value of any tax loss carryforwards and tax credits recorded on our balance sheet and the amount of our cash flow, and have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Some of our tax liabilities are subject to periodic audits by the respective taxing authority which could increase our tax liabilities. Furthermore, companies in the payment processing industry, including us, may become subject to incremental taxation in various tax jurisdictions. Taxing jurisdictions have not yet adopted uniform positions on this topic. If we are required to pay

additional taxes and are unable to pass the tax expense through to our clients, our costs would increase and our net income would be reduced, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in the method pursuant to which the LIBOR is determined and the transition to other benchmarks may adversely affect our results of operations.

LIBOR and certain other “benchmarks” have been the subject of continuing national, international, and other regulatory guidance and proposals for reform. These reforms may cause such benchmarks to perform differently than in the past or have other consequences which cannot be predicted. In July 2017, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, publicly announced that it intends to stop persuading or compelling banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. To identify a successor rate for U.S. dollar LIBOR, the Alternative Reference Rates Committee or ARRC, a U.S. based group convened by the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, was formed. The ARRC is comprised of a diverse set of private sector entities and a wide array of official-sector entities, banking regulators, and other financial sector regulators. The ARRC has identified the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, as its preferred alternative rate for LIBOR. SOFR is a measure of the cost of borrowing cash overnight, collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities, and is based on directly observable U.S. Treasury-backed repurchase transactions. Financial regulators in the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, and Switzerland also have formed working groups with the aim of recommending alternatives to LIBOR denominated in their local currencies. Although SOFR appears to be the preferred replacement rate for U.S. dollar LIBOR, it is unclear if other benchmarks may emerge or if other rates will be adopted outside of the United States.

As of June 30, 2021, the majority of our outstanding indebtedness had interest rate payments determined directly or indirectly based on LIBOR. Uncertainty regarding the continued use and reliability of LIBOR as a benchmark interest rate could adversely affect the performance of LIBOR relative to its historic values. Even if financial instruments are transitioned to alternative benchmarks, such as SOFR, successfully, the new benchmarks are likely to differ from LIBOR, and our interest expense associated with our outstanding indebtedness or any future indebtedness we incur may increase. Further, transitioning to an alternative benchmark rate, such as SOFR, may result in us incurring significant expense and legal risks, as renegotiation and changes to documentation may be required in effecting the transition. Any alternative benchmark rate may be calculated differently than LIBOR and may increase the interest expense associated with our existing or future indebtedness. In addition, it is possible that LIBOR quotes will become unavailable after 2021, in which case risks associated with the transition away from LIBOR would be accelerated.

Any of these occurrences could materially and adversely affect our borrowing costs, financial condition, and results of operations.

Risks Relating to Indebtedness

Certain subsidiaries have and will continue to have high levels of indebtedness.

Paya Holdings III, LLC, as parent borrower, Paya, Inc., as borrower (together, the “Borrowers”), and Paya Holdings II, LLC (“Holdings”), each a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paya, are parties to a Credit Agreement with Credit Suisse AG, Cayman Islands Branch, as administrative agent, collateral agent and L/C issuer (the “Agent”), dated as of June 25, 2021 (the “Credit Agreement”). As of June 30, 2021, there were no outstanding borrowings under the $45.0 million revolving credit facility thereunder (the “Revolver”) and there were $250.0 million outstanding under the term loan facility thereunder (“Term Loan”). Because borrowings under the Term Loan and Revolver bear interest at variable rates, any increase in interest rates on debt that has not been fixed using interest rate hedges will increase interest expense, reduce cash flow or increase the cost of future borrowings or refinancings. Our indebtedness could have important consequences to our investors, including, but not limited to:

•        increasing vulnerability to, and reducing our flexibility to respond to, general adverse economic and industry conditions;

•        requiring the dedication of a substantial portion of cash flow from operations to the payment of principal of, and interest on, its indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of such cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, joint ventures or other general corporate purposes;

•        limiting flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in its business and the competitive environment; and

•        limiting our ability to borrow additional funds and increasing the cost of any such borrowing.

We believe our business is relatively capital intensive, which could cause revenue fluctuations in our operating results. As a result, a decline in revenue may lead to a relatively larger impact on operating results. A substantial portion of our operating expenses will be related to personnel costs, regulation and corporate overhead, none of which can be adjusted quickly and some of which cannot be adjusted at all. Our operating expense levels will be based on our expectations for future revenue. If actual revenue is below management’s expectations, or if our expenses increase before revenues do, both revenues less transaction-based expenses and operating results would be materially and adversely affected. Because of these factors, it is possible that our operating results or other operating metrics may fail to meet the expectations of stock market analysts and investors. If this happens, the market price of our common stock may be adversely affected.

The Credit Agreement contains a change of control provision that could require us to amend or refinance the existing indebtedness.

The Credit Agreement provides that an event of default will occur upon a change of control (as defined in the Credit Agreement), which includes Holdings ceasing to beneficially own directly or indirectly through wholly owned subsidiaries all of the interests of the Borrowers. In addition, a change of control event occurs if any person or group acquires beneficial or of record ownership directly or indirectly a majority of Holdings’ voting equity interests (other than GTCR LLC and certain other specified persons). Although we do not currently anticipate that any such person will beneficially own a majority of the voting equity interests prior to the amendment or refinancing of this indebtedness, no person is contractually obligated to retain the voting equity interests it holds, subject to certain forfeiture restrictions governing a limited number of shares. If we are unable to amend these agreements or refinance this indebtedness, we will be limited in our ability to issue additional equity to any person which would acquire a majority of common stock following such issuance and will need to rely on other sources of financing, including additional borrowings.

Our ability to pay dividends in the future will be subject to our subsidiaries’ ability to distribute cash to us.

Paya does not anticipate that the board of directors will declare dividends in the foreseeable future. If Paya decides to declare dividends in the future, as a holding company, we will require dividends and other payments from our subsidiaries to meet such cash requirements. The Credit Agreement places certain contractual restrictions on our subsidiaries’ ability to make distributions to us. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Indebtedness” for a discussion of the Credit Agreement’s restrictions on our subsidiaries’ ability to make distributions to us. In addition, minimum capital requirements may indirectly restrict the amount of dividends paid upstream, and repatriations of cash from our subsidiaries may be subject to withholding, income and other taxes in various applicable jurisdictions. If our subsidiaries are unable to distribute cash to us and we are unable to pay dividends, our common stock may become less attractive to investors and the price of our common stock may become volatile.

Risks Relating to Ownership of our Common Stock

We may issue additional common stock or other equity securities without your approval, which would dilute your ownership interests and may depress the market price of the common stock.

We may issue an aggregate of 14,000,000 shares of common stock to existing equity holders of Paya upon achievement of milestone targets. Our issuance of additional common stock or other equity securities of equal or senior rank would have the following effects:

•        our existing shareholders’ proportionate ownership interest will decrease;

•        the amount of cash available per share, including for payment of dividends in the future, may decrease;

•        the relative voting strength of each previously outstanding share of common stock may be diminished; and

•        the market price of our common stock may decline.

Paya’s only significant asset is the ownership of Paya’s business through its indirect ownership interest in Holdings. If Paya’s business is not profitably operated, Holdings may be unable to pay us dividends or make distributions or loans to enable us to pay any dividends on its common stock or satisfy its other financial obligations.

We currently have no direct operations and no significant assets other than the indirect ownership of Holdings, which will operate Paya’s business. We will depend on profits generated by Paya’s business for distributions, debt repayment and other payments to generate the funds necessary to meet its financial obligations, including its expenses as a publicly traded company, and to pay any dividends with respect to its capital stock. Legal and contractual restrictions in agreements governing the indebtedness of Paya, as well as the financial condition and operating requirements of Paya, may limit its ability to receive distributions from Holdings and the Paya business in the foreseeable future.

Provisions in our charter and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for its common stock and could entrench management.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws will contain provisions to limit the ability of others to acquire control of us or cause us to engage in change-of-control transactions, including, among other things:

•        provisions that authorize our board of directors, without action by our stockholders, to authorize by resolution the issuance of shares of preferred stock and to establish the number of shares to be included in such series, along with the preferential rights determined by our board of directors; provided that, our board of directors may also, subject to the rights of the holders of preferred stock, authorize shares of preferred stock to be increased or decreased by the approval of the board of directors and the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority in voting power of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the corporation;

•        provisions that permit only a majority of our board of directors or the chairman of the board of directors at the direction of a majority of the board of directors or, for so long as Ultra and its affiliates beneficially own at least 35% of our common stock, the Chairman of the board of directors at the written request of the holders of a majority of the voting power of the then outstanding shares of voting stock, to call shareholder meetings, and therefore do not permit stockholders to call special stockholder meetings;

•        provisions that impose advance notice requirements, minimum shareholding periods and ownership thresholds, and other requirements and limitations on the ability of stockholders to propose matters for consideration at stockholder meetings; provided, however, that at any time when Ultra beneficially owns, in the aggregate, at least 10% of our common stock, such advance notice procedure will not apply to it; and

•        a staggered board whereby our directors are divided into three classes, with each class subject to retirement and reelection once every three years on a rotating basis.

These provisions could have the effect of depriving our stockholders of an opportunity to sell their shares at a premium over prevailing market prices by discouraging third parties from seeking to obtain control of us in a tender offer or similar transaction. With our staggered board of directors, at least two annual meetings of shareholders will generally be required in order to effect a change in a majority of our directors. Our staggered board of directors can discourage proxy contests for the election of our directors and purchases of substantial blocks of our shares by making it more difficult for a potential acquirer to gain control of our board of directors in a relatively short period of time.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, subject to limited exceptions, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for certain stockholder litigation matters, which may limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or stockholders.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside

of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in its amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm its business, operating results and financial condition.

A market for our securities may not be sustained, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of its securities.

The price of our securities may fluctuate significantly due to general market and economic conditions. An active trading market for our securities may not be sustained.

We may be unable to satisfy Nasdaq listing requirements in the future, which could limit investors’ ability to effect transactions in its securities and subject it to additional trading restrictions.

If we fail to continue to satisfy ongoing Nasdaq listing requirements, or if we are delisted, there could be significant material adverse consequences, including:

•        a limited availability of market quotations for its securities;

•        a limited amount of news and analyst coverage for us; and

•        a decreased ability to obtain capital or pursue acquisitions by issuing additional equity or convertible securities.

We will incur increased costs and obligations as a result of being a public company.

Paya is required to comply with many corporate governance and financial reporting practices and policies required of a publicly traded company. As a publicly traded company, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we were not required to incur in the recent past. These expenses will increase once we are no longer an “emerging growth company” as defined under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. In addition, new and changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure for public companies, including the Dodd-Frank Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, regulations related thereto and the rules and regulations of the SEC and Nasdaq, have increased the costs and the time that must be devoted to compliance matters. We expect these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial costs and lead to a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities.

For as long as we remain an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act, we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies.” Based on our aggregate worldwide market value of voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 2021, we expect that we will become a “large accelerated filer” and lose emerging growth company status beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. At such time, we will be subject to the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and will no longer be eligible to take advantage of the extended transition period for adoption of new or revised financial accounting standards under the JOBS Act. However, because we will continue to qualify as a smaller reporting company with respect to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, we will continue to be able to take advantage of reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in such Annual Report and in our proxy statement for the year 2022.

As an “emerging growth company,” we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to “emerging growth companies” will make its common stock less attractive to investors.

As an “emerging growth company,” we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies, including reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange. In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards, which we have elected to do.

We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active market for our common stock, our share price may be more volatile and the price at which our securities trade could be less than if we did not use these exemptions.

As a public reporting company, we are subject to rules and regulations established from time to time by the SEC and Nasdaq regarding our internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to establish and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results, or report them in a timely manner.

We are a public reporting company subject to the rules and regulations established from time to time by the SEC and Nasdaq. As a public company we are required to document and test our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act so that our management can certify as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Likewise, our independent registered public accounting firm will be required to provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting when we cease to be an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. Based on our aggregate worldwide market value of voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 2021, we expect that we will become a “large accelerated filer” and lose emerging growth company status beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. Therefore, our independent registered public accounting firm will be required to provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in such Annual Report. If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, or expresses an adverse opinion, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, we may face restricted access to the capital markets and our stock price may be adversely affected.

In addition, we expect to continue to incur costs related to our internal control over financial reporting in the upcoming years to further improve our internal control environment. If we identify deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting or if we are unable to comply with the requirements applicable to us as a public company, including the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, in a timely manner, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results, or report them within the timeframes required by the SEC. If this occurs, we also could become subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities.

We may issue additional shares of common stock or other equity securities without your approval, which would dilute your ownership interest and may depress the market price of our common stock.

We may issue additional shares of common stock or other equity securities in the future in connection with, among other things, future acquisitions, repayment of outstanding indebtedness or grants under the Omnibus Plan without stockholder approval in a number of circumstances.

The issuance of additional common stock or other equity securities could have one or more of the following effects:

•        Our existing stockholders’ proportionate ownership interest will decrease;

•        the amount of cash available per share, including for payment of dividends in the future, may decrease;

•        the relative voting strength of each previously outstanding share of common stock may be diminished; and

•        the market price of its common stock may decline.

The price of our common stock may fluctuate substantially.

The market price for our common stock is likely to be volatile, in part because our common stock has been traded publicly for only a short time.

Factors affecting the trading price of our common stock may include:

•        actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly financial results or the quarterly financial results of companies perceived to be similar to it;

•        changes in the market’s expectations about our operating results;

•        success of competitors;

•        our operating results failing to meet market expectations in a particular period;

•        changes in financial estimates and recommendations by securities analysts concerning us or the payments industry and market in general;

•        operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors deem comparable to us;

•        our ability to market new and enhanced products on a timely basis;

•        changes in laws and regulations affecting our business;

•        commencement of, or involvement in, litigation involving us;

•        changes in its capital structure, such as future issuances of securities or the incurrence of additional debt;

•        the volume of shares of common stock available for public sale;

•        any significant change in our board or management;

•        sales of substantial amounts of common stock by our directors, executive officers or significant stockholders or the perception that such sales could occur; and

•        general economic and political conditions such as recessions, interest rates, fuel prices, international currency fluctuations and acts of war or terrorism.

Broad market and industry factors may depress the market price of our common stock irrespective of our operating performance. The stock market in general and Nasdaq have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected. The trading prices and valuations of these stocks, and of our securities, may not be predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the market for financial technology stocks or the stocks of other companies which investors perceive to be similar to us could depress its stock price regardless of its business, prospects, financial conditions or results of operations. A decline in the market price of our common stock also could adversely affect its ability to issue additional securities and its ability to obtain additional financing in the future.

Our ability to meet expectations and projections in any research or reports published by securities or industry analysts, or a lack of coverage by securities or industry analysts, could result in a depressed market price and limited liquidity for our common stock.

The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market, or our competitors. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of us, our stock price would likely be less than that which would be obtained if it had such coverage and the liquidity, or trading volume of our common stock may be limited, making it more difficult for a stockholder to sell shares at an acceptable price or amount. If any analysts do cover us, their projections may vary widely and may not accurately predict the results we actually achieve. Our share price may decline if our actual results do not match the projections of research analysts covering us. Similarly, if one or more of the analysts who write reports on us downgrades our stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our share price could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, our share price or trading volume could decline.

Future sales of our common stock issued to Ultra may reduce the market price of common stock that you might otherwise obtain.

GTCR-Ultra Holdings, LLC (“Ultra”), our largest shareholder holds approximately 45.2 million shares of Company common stock. In connection with the Business Combination, the Company entered into a registration rights agreement with Ultra and certain other stockholders, pursuant to which it granted certain registration right to Ultra and the other stockholders party thereto. Ultra and its affiliates may sell large amounts of Company common stock in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. The registration and availability of such a significant number of shares of common stock for trading in the public market may increase the volatility in the Company’s stock price or put significant downward pressure on the price of its stock. In addition, the Company may use shares of its common stock as consideration for future acquisitions, which could further dilute its stockholders.

Risks Related to Our Warrants and the Offer to Exchange and Consent Solicitation

The Warrant Amendment, if approved, will allow us to require that all outstanding warrants be exchanged for Common Stock at a ratio 10% lower than the exchange ratio applicable to the Offer.

If we complete the Offer and Consent Solicitation and obtain the requisite approval of the Warrant Amendment by holders of the consent warrants, the Company will have the right to require holders of all warrants that remain outstanding upon the closing of the Offer to exchange each of their warrants for 0.234 shares of Common Stock. This represents a ratio of shares of Common Stock per warrant that is 10% less than the exchange ratio applicable to the Offer. Although we intend to require an exchange of all remaining outstanding warrants as a result of the approval of the Warrant Amendment, we would not be required to effect such an exchange and may defer doing so, if ever, until most economically advantageous to us.

Pursuant to the terms of the Warrant Agreement, the consent of holders of at least 65% of the outstanding public warrants is required to approve the Warrant Amendment. Therefore, one of the conditions to the adoption of the Warrant Amendment is the receipt of the consent of holders of at least 65% of the outstanding public warrants. Parties representing approximately 63.2% of the outstanding public warrants have agreed to tender their warrants in the Offer and to consent to the Warrant Amendment in the Consent Solicitation, pursuant to the Tender and Support Agreement. Accordingly, if holders of an additional approximately 1.8% of the outstanding public warrants consent to the Warrant Amendment in the Consent Solicitation, and the other conditions described herein are satisfied or waived, then the Warrant Amendment will be adopted.

If adopted, we currently intend to require the conversion of all outstanding warrants to Common Stock as provided in the Warrant Amendment, which would result in the holders of any remaining outstanding warrants receiving approximately 10% fewer shares than if they had tendered their warrants in the Offer.

The exchange of warrants for Common Stock will increase the number of shares eligible for future resale and result in dilution to our stockholders.

Our warrants may be exchanged for shares of Common Stock pursuant to the Offer, which will increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to our stockholders, although there can be no assurance that such warrant exchange will be completed or that all of the holders of the warrants will elect to participate in the Offer. Any warrants remaining outstanding after the exchange likely will be exercised only if the $11.50 per share exercise price is below the market price of our Common Stock. We also intend to require an exchange of all remaining outstanding warrants assuming the approval of the Warrant Amendment. To the extent such warrants are exchanged following the approval of the Warrant Amendment or exercised, additional shares of Common Stock will be issued. These issuances of Common Stock will result in dilution to our stockholders and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market.

We have not obtained a third-party determination that the Offer or the Consent Solicitation is fair to warrant holders.

None of us, our affiliates, the dealer managers, the exchange agent or the information agent makes any recommendation as to whether you should exchange some or all of your warrants or, with respect to the consent warrants, consent to the Warrant Amendment. We have not retained, and do not intend to retain, any unaffiliated representative to act on behalf of the warrant holders for purposes of negotiating the Offer or Consent Solicitation or preparing a report concerning the fairness of the Offer or the Consent Solicitation. You must make your own independent decision regarding your participation in the Offer and the Consent Solicitation.

There is no guarantee that tendering your warrants in the Offer will put you in a better future economic position.

We can give no assurance as to the market price of our Common Stock in the future. If you choose to tender some or all of your warrants in the Offer, future events may cause an increase in the market price of our Common Stock and warrants, which may result in a lower value realized by participating in the Offer than you might have realized if you did not exchange your warrants. Similarly, if you do not tender your warrants in the Offer, there can be no assurance that you can sell your warrants (or exercise them for shares of Common Stock) in the future at a higher value than would have been obtained by participating in the Offer. In addition, if the Warrant Amendment is adopted, you may receive fewer shares than if you had tendered your warrants in the Offer. You should consult your own individual tax and/or financial advisor for assistance on how this may affect your individual situation.

The number of shares of Common Stock offered in the Offer is fixed and will not be adjusted. The market price of our Common Stock may fluctuate, and the market price of our Common Stock when we deliver our Common Stock in exchange for your warrants could be less than the market price at the time you tender your warrants.

The number of shares of Common Stock for each warrant accepted for exchange is fixed at the number of shares specified on the cover of this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange and will fluctuate in value if there is any increase or decrease in the market price of our Common Stock or the warrants after the date of this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange. Therefore, the market price of our Common Stock when we deliver Common Stock in exchange for your warrants could be less than the market price of the public warrants at the time you tender your warrants. The market price of our Common Stock could continue to fluctuate and be subject to volatility during the period of time between when we accept warrants for exchange in the Offer and when we deliver Common Stock in exchange for warrants, or during any extension of the Offer Period.

We may redeem your unexpired warrants that are not exchanged prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.

We will have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants (excluding any placement warrants held by Cantor and its affiliates or its permitted transferees) at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price (or the closing bid price of our common stock in the event the shares of our common stock are not traded on any specific trading day) of our common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third business day prior to the date we send proper notice of such redemption, provided that on the date we give notice of redemption and during the entire period thereafter until the time it redeems the warrants, we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and current prospectus relating to them is available. If and when the warrants that are not exchanged become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force a warrant holder: (i) to exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, will be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.

The liquidity of the warrants that are not exchanged may be reduced.

If the Warrant amendment is approved, it is unlikely that any warrants will remain outstanding following the completion of the Offer and Consent Solicitation. See “— The Warrant Amendment, if approved, will allow us to require that all outstanding warrants be exchanged for Common Stock at a ratio 10% lower than the exchange ratio applicable to the Offer.” However, if any unexchanged warrants remain outstanding, then the ability to sell such warrants may become more limited due to the reduction in the number of warrants outstanding upon completion of the Offer and Consent Solicitation. A more limited trading market might adversely affect the liquidity, market price and price volatility of unexchanged warrants. If there continues to be a market for our unexchanged warrants, these securities may trade at a discount to the price at which the securities would trade if the number outstanding were not reduced, depending on the market for similar securities and other factors.

The Offer and Consent Solicitation

Participation in the Offer and Consent Solicitation involves a number of risks, including, but not limited to, the risks identified in the section titled “Risk Factors.” Warrant holders should carefully consider these risks and are urged to speak with their personal legal, financial, investment and/or tax advisor as necessary before deciding whether or not to participate in the Offer and Consent Solicitation. In addition, we strongly encourage you to read this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange in its entirety, and the information and documents that have been included herein, before making a decision regarding the Offer and Consent Solicitation.

General Terms

Until the Expiration Date, we are offering to holders of our warrants the opportunity to receive 0.260 shares of Common Stock in exchange for each warrant they hold. Holders of the warrants tendered for exchange will not have to pay any of the exercise price for the tendered warrants in order to receive shares of Common Stock pursuant to the Offer. Our obligation to complete the Offer is not conditioned on the receipt of a minimum number of tendered warrants.

No fractional shares will be issued pursuant to the Offer. In lieu of issuing fractional shares, any holder of warrants who would otherwise have been entitled to receive fractional shares pursuant to the Offer will, after aggregating all such fractional shares of such holder, be paid cash (without interest) in an amount equal to such fractional part of a share multiplied by the last sale price of our Common Stock on Nasdaq on the last trading day of the Offer Period.

As part of the Offer, we are also soliciting from the holders of the public warrants their consent to the Warrant Amendment, which, if approved, will permit the Company to require that all warrants outstanding upon completion of the Offer be converted into shares of Common Stock at a ratio of 0.234 shares of Common Stock per warrant, which is a ratio 10% less than the exchange ratio applicable to the Offer. The Warrant Amendment will permit us to eliminate all of the warrants that remain outstanding after the Offer is consummated. A copy of the Warrant Amendment is attached hereto as Annex A. We urge that you carefully read the Warrant Amendment in its entirety. Pursuant to the terms of the Warrant Agreement, the consent of holders of at least 65% of the outstanding public warrants is required to approve the Warrant Amendment.

Holders who tender consent warrants for exchange in the Offer will automatically be deemed, without any further action, to have given their consent to approval of the Warrant Amendment (effective upon our acceptance of the tendered warrants). The consent to the Warrant Amendment is a part of the Letter of Transmittal and Consent relating to the warrants.

You cannot tender any consent warrants for exchange in the Offer without giving your consent to the Warrant Amendment. Thus, before deciding whether to tender any consent warrants, you should be aware that a tender of warrants may result in the approval of the Warrant Amendment.

The Offer and Consent Solicitation is subject to the terms and conditions contained in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange and the Letter of Transmittal and Consent.

You may tender some or all of your warrants into the Offer.

If you elect to tender warrants in the Offer and Consent Solicitation, please follow the instructions in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange and the related documents, including the Letter of Transmittal and Consent.

If you tender warrants, you may withdraw your tendered warrants at any time before the Expiration Date and retain them on their current terms or amended terms if the Warrant Amendment is approved, by following the instructions herein. In addition, warrants that are not accepted by us for exchange by October 8, 2021 may thereafter be withdrawn by you until such time as the warrants are accepted by us for exchange.

Corporate Information

We are headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Our business was founded as Verus Financial Management in 2003 and acquired by Sage Group plc (“Sage”) in 2006. In August 2017, GTCR, LLC acquired the business from Sage and rebranded the Company as Paya. On October 16, 2020, we became a publicly-listed company through our combination with FinTech Acquisition Corp. III (“FinTech”), a Delaware special purpose acquisition company formed in March 2017 for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or assets (the “Business Combination”). Paya Holdings Inc. was incorporated as a Delaware corporation on July 28, 2020 to serve as a public holding company in connection with the Business Combination.

Our principal executive offices are located at 303 Perimeter Center N, Suite 600, Atlanta, Georgia 30346, and our telephone number is (800) 261-0240. We maintain a website at www.paya.com where general information about us is available. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website is not part of, and is not incorporated into, this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange or the registration statement of which it forms a part. Our Common Stock and public warrants trade on Nasdaq under the symbols “PAYA” and “PAYAW” respectively.

Warrants Subject to the Offer

The public warrants were issued in connection with the FinTech IPO. The private placement warrants were issued pursuant to certain subscription agreements, each in connection with the closing of FinTech’s IPO. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of our Common Stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The public warrants are quoted on Nasdaq under the symbol “PAYAW.” As of August 11, 2021, 17,714,945 warrants were outstanding. Pursuant to the Offer, we are offering up to an aggregate of 4,605,885 shares of our Common Stock in exchange for the warrants.

Offer Period

The Offer and Consent Solicitation will expire on the Expiration Date, which is 11:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on September 10, 2021, or such later time and date to which we may extend. We expressly reserve the right, in our sole discretion, at any time or from time to time, to extend the period of time during which the Offer and Consent Solicitation is open. There can be no assurance that we will exercise our right to extend the Offer Period. During any extension, all warrant holders who previously tendered warrants will have a right to withdraw such previously tendered warrants until the Expiration Date, as extended. If we extend the Offer Period, we will make a public announcement of such extension by no later than 9:00 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on the next business day following the Expiration Date as in effect immediately prior to such extension.

We may withdraw the Offer and Consent Solicitation only if the conditions to the Offer and Consent Solicitation are not satisfied or waived prior to the Expiration Date. Upon any such withdrawal, we are required by Rule 13e-4(f)(5) under the Exchange Act to promptly return the tendered warrants. We will announce our decision to withdraw the Offer and Consent Solicitation by disseminating notice by public announcement or otherwise as permitted by applicable law.

At the expiration of the Offer Period, the current terms of the warrants will continue to apply to any unexchanged warrants, or the amended terms if the Warrant Amendment is approved, until the warrants expire on October 16, 2025, subject to certain terms and conditions.

Amendments to the Offer and Consent Solicitation

We reserve the right at any time or from time to time, to amend the Offer and Consent Solicitation, including by increasing or (if the conditions to the Offer are not satisfied) decreasing the exchange ratio of Common Stock issued for every warrant exchanged or by changing the terms of the Warrant Amendment.

If we make a material change in the terms of the Offer and Consent Solicitation or the information concerning the Offer and Consent Solicitation, or if we waive a material condition of the Offer and Consent Solicitation, we will extend the Offer and Consent Solicitation to the extent required by Rules 13e-4(d)(2) and 13e-4(e)(3) under the Exchange Act. These rules require that the minimum period during which an offer must remain open after material

changes in the terms of the offer or information concerning the offer, other than a change in price or a change in percentage of securities sought, will depend upon the facts and circumstances, including the relative materiality of the changed terms or information.

If we increase or decrease the exchange ratio of our Common Stock issuable in exchange for a warrant, the amount of warrants sought for tender or the dealer manager’s soliciting fee, and the Offer and Consent Solicitation is scheduled to expire at any time earlier than the end of the tenth business day from the date that we first publish, send or give notice of such an increase or decrease, then we will extend the Offer and Consent Solicitation until the expiration of that ten business day period.

Other material amendments to the Offer and Consent Solicitation may require us to extend the Offer and Consent Solicitation for a minimum of five business days.

Partial Exchange Permitted

Our obligation to complete the Offer is not conditioned on the receipt of a minimum number of tendered warrants. If you choose to participate in the Offer, you may tender less than all of your warrants pursuant to the terms of the Offer. No fractional shares will be issued pursuant to the Offer. In lieu of issuing fractional shares, any holder of warrants who would otherwise have been entitled to receive fractional shares pursuant to the Offer will, after aggregating all such fractional shares of such holder, be paid cash (without interest) in an amount equal to such fractional part of a share multiplied by the last sale price of our Common Stock on Nasdaq on the last trading day of the Offer Period.

Conditions to the Offer and Consent Solicitation

The Offer and Consent Solicitation are conditioned upon the following:

•        the registration statement, of which this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange forms a part, shall have become effective under the Securities Act, and shall not be the subject of any stop order or proceeding seeking a stop order;

•        no action or proceeding by any government or governmental, regulatory or administrative agency, authority or tribunal or any other person, domestic or foreign, shall have been threatened, instituted or pending before any court, authority, agency or tribunal that directly or indirectly challenges the making of the Offer, the tender of some or all of the warrants pursuant to the Offer or otherwise relates in any manner to the Offer;

•        there shall not have been any action threatened, instituted, pending or taken, or approval withheld, or any statute, rule, regulation, judgment, order or injunction threatened, proposed, sought, promulgated, enacted, entered, amended, enforced or deemed to be applicable to the Offer or Consent Solicitation or us, by any court or any authority, agency or tribunal that, in our reasonable judgment, would or might, directly or indirectly, (i) make the acceptance for exchange of, or exchange for, some or all of the warrants illegal or otherwise restrict or prohibit completion of the Offer or Consent Solicitation, or (ii) delay or restrict our ability, or render us unable, to accept for exchange or exchange some or all of the warrants; and

•        there shall not have occurred (i) any general suspension of, or limitation on prices for, trading in securities in U.S. securities or financial markets; (ii) a declaration of a banking moratorium or any suspension of payments in respect to banks in the United States; (iii) any limitation (whether or not mandatory) by any government or governmental, regulatory or administrative authority, agency or instrumentality, domestic or foreign, or other event that, in our reasonable judgment, would or would be reasonably likely to affect the extension of credit by banks or other lending institutions; or (iv) a natural disaster, a significant worsening of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, an outbreak of a pandemic or contagious disease other than COVID-19, or a commencement or significant worsening of a war or armed hostilities or other national or international calamity, including but not limited to, catastrophic terrorist attacks against the United States or its citizens.

The Consent Solicitation is conditioned on our receiving the consent of holders of at least 65% of the outstanding public warrants to approve the Warrant Amendment (which is the minimum number required to amend the Warrant Agreement).

We will not complete the Offer and Consent Solicitation unless and until the registration statement described above is effective. If the registration statement is not effective at the Expiration Date, we may, in our discretion, extend, suspend or cancel the Offer and Consent Solicitation, and will inform warrant holders of such event. If we extend the Offer Period, we will make a public announcement of such extension and the new Expiration Date by no later than 9:00 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on the next business day following the Expiration Date as in effect immediately prior to such extension.

In addition, as to any warrant holder, the Offer and Consent Solicitation is conditioned upon such warrant holder desiring to tender warrants in the Offer delivering to the exchange agent in a timely manner the holder’s warrants to be tendered and any other required paperwork, all in accordance with the applicable procedures described in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange and set forth in the Letter of Transmittal and Consent.

The foregoing conditions are solely for our benefit, and we may assert one or more of the conditions regardless of the circumstances giving rise to any such conditions. We may also, in our sole and absolute discretion, waive these conditions in whole or in part, subject to the potential requirement to disseminate additional information and extend the Offer Period. The determination by us as to whether any condition has been satisfied shall be conclusive and binding on all parties. The failure by us at any time to exercise any of the foregoing rights shall not be deemed a waiver of any such right, and each such right shall be deemed a continuing right which may be asserted at any time and from time to time prior to the Expiration Date.

We may withdraw the Offer and Consent Solicitation only if the conditions of the Offer and Consent Solicitation are not satisfied or waived prior to the Expiration Date. Promptly upon any such withdrawal, we will return the tendered warrants (and, with respect to the consent warrants, the related consent to the Warrant Amendment will be revoked). We will announce our decision to withdraw the Offer and Consent Solicitation by disseminating notice by public announcement or otherwise as permitted by applicable law.

No Recommendation; Warrant Holder’s Own Decision

None of our affiliates, directors, officers or employees, or the information agent, the exchange agent or the dealer manager for the Offer and Consent Solicitation, is making any recommendations to any warrant holder as to whether to exchange their warrants and deliver their consent to the Warrant Amendment. Each warrant holder must make its own decision as to whether to tender warrants for exchange pursuant to the Offer and, with respect to the consent warrants, consent to the amendment of the Warrant Agreement pursuant to the Consent Solicitation.

Procedure for Tendering Warrants for Exchange and Consenting to the Warrant Amendment

Issuance of Common Stock upon exchange of warrants pursuant to the Offer and acceptance by us of warrants for exchange pursuant to the Offer and providing your consent to the Warrant Amendment will be made only if warrants are properly tendered pursuant to the procedures described below and set forth in the Letter of Transmittal and Consent. A tender of warrants pursuant to such procedures, if and when accepted by us, will constitute a binding agreement between the tendering holder of warrants and us upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the Offer and Consent Solicitation. The proper tender of your consent warrants will constitute a consent to the Warrant Amendment with respect to each consent warrant tendered.

A tender of warrants made pursuant to any method of delivery set forth herein will also constitute an agreement and acknowledgement by the tendering warrant holder that, among other things: (i) the warrant holder agrees to exchange the tendered warrants on the terms and conditions set forth in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange and Letter of Transmittal and Consent, in each case as may be amended or supplemented prior to the Expiration Date; (ii) the warrant holder consents to the Warrant Agreement; (iii) the Offer is discretionary and may be extended, modified, suspended or terminated by us as provided herein; (iv) such warrant holder is voluntarily participating in the Offer; (v) the future value of our warrants is unknown and cannot be predicted with certainty; and (vi) such warrant holder has read this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange, Letter of Transmittal and Consent and Warrant Amendment.

Registered Holders of Warrants; Beneficial Owners of Warrants

For purposes of the tender procedures set forth below, the term “registered holder” means any person in whose name warrants are registered on our books or who is listed as a participant in a clearing agency’s security position listing with respect to the warrants.

Persons whose warrants are held through a direct or indirect participant of The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), such as a broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other financial intermediary, are not considered registered holders of those warrants but are “beneficial owners.” Beneficial owners cannot directly tender warrants for exchange pursuant to the Offer. Instead, a beneficial owner must instruct its broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other financial intermediary to tender warrants for exchange on behalf of the beneficial owner. See “— Required Communications by Beneficial Owners.”

Tendering Warrants Using Letter of Transmittal and Consent

A registered holder of warrants may tender warrants for exchange using a Letter of Transmittal and Consent in the form provided by us with this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange. A Letter of Transmittal is to be used only if delivery of warrants is to be made by book-entry transfer to the exchange agent’s account at DTC pursuant to the procedures set forth in “— Tendering Warrants Using Book-Entry Transfer”; provided, however, that it is not necessary to execute and deliver a Letter of Transmittal and Consent if instructions with respect to the tender of such warrants are transmitted through DTC’s Automated Tender Offer Program (“ATOP”). If you are a registered holder of warrants, unless you intend to tender those warrants through ATOP, you should complete, execute and deliver a Letter of Transmittal and Consent to indicate the action you desire to take with respect to the Offer and Consent Solicitation.

In order for warrants to be properly tendered for exchange pursuant to the Offer using a Letter of Transmittal and Consent, the registered holder of the warrants being tendered must ensure that the exchange agent receives the following: (i) a properly completed and duly executed Letter of Transmittal and Consent, in accordance with the instructions of the Letter of Transmittal and Consent (including any required signature guarantees); (ii) delivery of the warrants by book-entry transfer to the exchange agent’s account at DTC; and (iii) any other documents required by the Letter of Transmittal and Consent.

In the Letter of Transmittal and Consent, the tendering registered warrant holder must set forth: (i) its name and address; (ii) the number of warrants being tendered by the holder for exchange; and (iii) certain other information specified in the form of Letter of Transmittal and Consent.

In certain cases, all signatures on the Letter of Transmittal and Consent must be guaranteed by an “Eligible Institution.” See “— Signature Guarantees.”

If the Letter of Transmittal and Consent is signed by someone other than the registered holder of the tendered warrants (for example, if the registered holder has assigned the warrants to a third-party), or if our shares of Common Stock to be issued upon exchange of the tendered warrants are to be issued in a name other than that of the registered holder of the tendered warrants, the tendered warrants must be properly accompanied by appropriate assignment documents, in either case signed exactly as the name(s) of the registered holder(s) appear on the warrants, with the signature(s) on the warrants or assignment documents guaranteed by an Eligible Institution.

Any warrants duly tendered and delivered as described above shall be automatically cancelled upon the issuance of Common Stock in exchange for such warrants as part of the completion of the Offer.

Signature Guarantees

In certain cases, all signatures on the Letter of Transmittal and Consent must be guaranteed by an “Eligible Institution.” An “Eligible Institution” is a bank, broker dealer, credit union, savings association or other entity that is a member in good standing of the Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program or a bank, broker, dealer, credit union, savings association or other entity which is an “eligible guarantor institution,” as that term is defined in Rule 17Ad-15 promulgated under the Exchange Act.

Signatures on the Letter of Transmittal and Consent need not be guaranteed by an Eligible Institution if (i) the Letter of Transmittal and Consent is signed by the registered holder of the warrants tendered therewith exactly as the name of the registered holder appears on such warrants and such holder has not completed the box entitled “Special Issuance Instructions” or the box entitled “Special Delivery Instructions” in the Letter of Transmittal and Consent; or (ii) such warrants are tendered for the account of an Eligible Institution. In all other cases, an Eligible Institution must guarantee all signatures on the Letter of Transmittal and Consent by completing and signing the table in the Letter of Transmittal and Consent entitled “Guarantee of Signature(s).”

Required Communications by Beneficial Owners

Persons whose warrants are held through a direct or indirect DTC participant, such as a broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other financial intermediary, are not considered registered holders of those warrants, but are “beneficial owners,” and must instruct the broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other financial intermediary to tender warrants on their behalf. Your broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other financial intermediary should have provided you with an “Instructions Form” with this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange. The Instructions Form is also filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange forms a part. The Instructions Form may be used by you to instruct your broker or other custodian to tender and deliver warrants on your behalf.

Tendering Warrants Using Book-Entry Transfer

The exchange agent has established an account for the warrants at DTC for purposes of the Offer and Consent Solicitation. Any financial institution that is a participant in DTC’s system may make book-entry delivery of warrants by causing DTC to transfer such warrants into the exchange agent’s account in accordance with ATOP. However, even though delivery of warrants may be effected through book-entry transfer into the exchange agent’s account at DTC, a properly completed and duly executed Letter of Transmittal and Consent (with any required signature guarantees), or an “Agent’s Message” as described in the next paragraph, and any other required documentation, must in any case also be transmitted to and received by the exchange agent at its address set forth in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange prior to the Expiration Date, or the guaranteed delivery procedures described under “— Guaranteed Delivery Procedures” must be followed.

DTC participants desiring to tender warrants for exchange pursuant to the Offer may do so through ATOP, and in that case the participant need not complete, execute and deliver a Letter of Transmittal and Consent. DTC will verify the acceptance and execute a book-entry delivery of the tendered warrants to the exchange agent’s account at DTC. DTC will then send an “Agent’s Message” to the exchange agent for acceptance. Delivery of the Agent’s Message by DTC will satisfy the terms of the Offer and Consent Solicitation as to execution and delivery of a Letter of Transmittal and Consent by the DTC participant identified in the Agent’s Message. The term “Agent’s Message” means a message, transmitted by DTC to, and received by, the exchange agent and forming a part of a Book-Entry Confirmation, which states that DTC has received an express acknowledgment from the participant in DTC tendering the warrants for exchange that such participant has received and agrees to be bound by the terms of the Letter of Transmittal and Consent and that our company may enforce such agreement against the participant. Any DTC participant tendering by book-entry transfer must expressly acknowledge that it has received and agrees to be bound by the Letter of Transmittal and Consent and that the Letter of Transmittal and Consent may be enforced against it.

Any warrants duly tendered and delivered as described above shall be automatically cancelled upon the issuance of Common Stock in exchange for such warrants as part of the completion of the Offer.

Delivery of a Letter of Transmittal and Consent or any other required documentation to DTC does not constitute delivery to the Exchange Agent. See “— Timing and Manner of Deliveries.”

Guaranteed Delivery Procedures

If a registered holder of warrants desires to tender its warrants for exchange pursuant to the Offer, but (i) the procedure for book-entry transfer cannot be completed on a timely basis, or (ii) time will not permit all required documents to reach the exchange agent prior to the Expiration Date, the holder can still tender its warrants if all the following conditions are met:

•        the tender is made by or through an Eligible Institution;

•        the exchange agent receives by hand, mail, overnight courier, facsimile or electronic mail transmission, prior to the Expiration Date, a properly completed and duly executed Notice of Guaranteed Delivery in the form we have provided with this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange, with signatures guaranteed by an Eligible Institution; and

•        a confirmation of a book-entry transfer into the exchange agent’s account at DTC of all warrants delivered electronically, together with a properly completed and duly executed Letter of Transmittal and Consent with any required signature guarantees (or, in the case of a book-entry transfer, an Agent’s Message in accordance with ATOP), and any other documents required by the Letter of Transmittal and Consent, must be received by the exchange agent within two days that Nasdaq is open for trading after the date the exchange agent receives such Notice of Guaranteed Delivery.

In any case where the guaranteed delivery procedure is utilized for the tender of warrants pursuant to the Offer, the issuance of Common Stock for those warrants tendered for exchange pursuant to the Offer and accepted pursuant to the Offer will be made only if the exchange agent has timely received the applicable foregoing items.

Timing and Manner of Deliveries

UNLESS THE GUARANTEED DELIVERY PROCEDURES DESCRIBED ABOVE ARE FOLLOWED, WARRANTS WILL BE PROPERLY TENDERED ONLY IF, BY THE EXPIRATION DATE, THE EXCHANGE AGENT RECEIVES SUCH WARRANTS BY BOOK-ENTRY TRANSFER, TOGETHER WITH A PROPERLY COMPLETED AND DULY EXECUTED LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL AND CONSENT OR AN AGENT’S MESSAGE.

ALL DELIVERIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE OFFER AND CONSENT SOLICITATION, INCLUDING ANY LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL AND CONSENT AND THE TENDERED WARRANTS, MUST BE MADE TO THE EXCHANGE AGENT. NO DELIVERIES SHOULD BE MADE TO US. ANY DOCUMENTS DELIVERED TO US WILL NOT BE FORWARDED TO THE EXCHANGE AGENT AND THEREFORE WILL NOT BE DEEMED TO BE PROPERLY TENDERED. THE METHOD OF DELIVERY OF ALL REQUIRED DOCUMENTS IS AT THE OPTION AND RISK OF THE TENDERING WARRANT HOLDERS. IF DELIVERY IS BY MAIL, WE RECOMMEND REGISTERED MAIL WITH RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED (PROPERLY INSURED). IN ALL CASES, SUFFICIENT TIME SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO ENSURE TIMELY DELIVERY.

Determination of Validity

All questions as to the form of documents and the validity, eligibility (including time of receipt) and acceptance for exchange of any tender of warrants will be determined by us, in our sole discretion, and our determination will be final and binding. We reserve the absolute right to reject any or all tenders of warrants that we determine are not in proper form or reject tenders of warrants that may, in the opinion of our counsel, be unlawful. We also reserve the absolute right to waive any defect or irregularity in any tender of any particular warrant, whether or not similar defects or irregularities are waived in the case of other tendered warrants. Neither we nor any other person will be under any duty to give notice of any defect or irregularity in tenders, nor shall any of us or them incur any liability for failure to give any such notice.

Fees and Commissions

Tendering warrant holders who tender warrants directly to the exchange agent will not be obligated to pay any charges or expenses of the exchange agent, the dealer manager or any brokerage commissions. Beneficial owners who hold warrants through a broker or bank should consult that institution as to whether or not such institution will charge the owner any service fees in connection with tendering warrants on behalf of the owner pursuant to the Offer and Consent Solicitation.

Transfer Taxes

We will pay all transfer taxes, if any, applicable to the transfer of warrants to us in the Offer. If transfer taxes are imposed for any other reason, the amount of those transfer taxes, whether imposed on the registered holder or any other persons, will be payable by the tendering holder. Other reasons transfer taxes could be imposed include (i) if our Common Stock is to be registered or issued in the name of any person other than the person signing the Letter of Transmittal and Consent, or (ii) if tendered warrants are registered in the name of any person other than the person signing the Letter of Transmittal and Consent. If satisfactory evidence of payment of or exemption from those transfer taxes is not submitted with the Letter of Transmittal and Consent, the amount of those transfer taxes will be billed directly to the tendering holder and/or withheld from any payment due with respect to the warrants tendered by such holder.

Withdrawal Rights

By tendering warrants for exchange, a holder will be deemed to have validly delivered its consent to the Warrant Amendment. Tenders of warrants made pursuant to the Offer may be withdrawn at any time prior to the Expiration Date. Consents to the Warrant Amendment in connection with the Consent Solicitation may be revoked at any time before the Expiration Date by withdrawing the tender of your consent warrants. A valid withdrawal of tendered consent warrants before the Expiration Date will be deemed to be a concurrent revocation of the related consent to the Warrant Amendment. Tenders of warrants and consent to the Warrant Amendment may not be withdrawn after the Expiration Date. If the Offer Period is extended, you may withdraw your tendered warrants at any time until the expiration of such extended Offer Period. After the Offer Period expires, such tenders are irrevocable, provided, however, that warrants that are not accepted by us for exchange by October 8, 2021 may thereafter be withdrawn by you until such time as the warrants are accepted by us for exchange.

To be effective, a written notice of withdrawal must be timely received by the exchange agent at its address identified in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange. Any notice of withdrawal must specify the name of the person who tendered the warrants for which tenders are to be withdrawn and the number of warrants to be withdrawn. If the warrants to be withdrawn have been delivered to the exchange agent, a signed notice of withdrawal must be submitted prior to release of such warrants. In addition, such notice must specify the name of the registered holder (if different from that of the tendering warrant holder). A withdrawal may not be cancelled, and warrants for which tenders are withdrawn will thereafter be deemed not validly tendered for purposes of the Offer and Consent Solicitation. However, warrants for which tenders are withdrawn may be tendered again by following one of the procedures described above in the section titled “— Procedure for Tendering Warrants for Exchange” at any time prior to the Expiration Date.

A beneficial owner of warrants desiring to withdraw tendered warrants previously delivered through DTC should contact the DTC participant through which such owner holds its warrants. In order to withdraw warrants previously tendered, a DTC participant may, prior to the Expiration Date, withdraw its instruction by (i) withdrawing its acceptance through DTC’s Participant Tender Offer Program (“PTOP”) function, or (ii) delivering to the exchange agent by mail, hand delivery or facsimile transmission, notice of withdrawal of such instruction. The notice of withdrawal must contain the name and number of the DTC participant. A withdrawal of an instruction must be executed by a DTC participant as such DTC participant’s name appears on its transmission through the PTOP function to which such withdrawal relates. If the tender being withdrawn was made through ATOP, it may only be withdrawn through PTOP, and not by hard copy delivery of withdrawal instructions. A DTC participant may withdraw a tendered warrant only if such withdrawal complies with the provisions described in this paragraph.

A holder who tendered its warrants other than through DTC should send written notice of withdrawal to the exchange agent specifying the name of the warrant holder who tendered the warrants being withdrawn. All signatures on a notice of withdrawal must be guaranteed by an Eligible Institution, as described above in the section titled “— Procedure for Tendering Warrants for Exchange — Signature Guarantees”; provided, however,

that signatures on the notice of withdrawal need not be guaranteed if the warrants being withdrawn are held for the account of an Eligible Institution. Withdrawal of a prior warrant tender will be effective upon receipt of the notice of withdrawal by the exchange agent. Selection of the method of notification is at the risk of the warrant holder, and notice of withdrawal must be timely received by the exchange agent.

All questions as to the form and validity (including time of receipt) of any notice of withdrawal will be determined by us, in our sole discretion, which determination shall be final and binding. Neither we nor any other person will be under any duty to give notification of any defect or irregularity in any notice of withdrawal or incur any liability for failure to give any such notification.

Acceptance for Issuance of Shares

Upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the Offer and Consent Solicitation, we will accept for exchange warrants validly tendered until the Expiration Date, which is 11:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on September 10, 2021, or such later time and date to which we may extend. Our Common Stock to be issued upon exchange of warrants pursuant to the Offer, along with written notice from Exchange Agent confirming the balance of any warrants not exchanged, will be delivered promptly following the Expiration Date. In all cases, warrants will only be accepted for exchange pursuant to the Offer after timely receipt by the exchange agent of (i) book-entry delivery of the tendered warrants, (ii) a properly completed and duly executed Letter of Transmittal and Consent, or compliance with ATOP where applicable, (iii) any other documentation required by the Letter of Transmittal and Consent, and (iv) any required signature guarantees.

For purposes of the Offer and Consent Solicitation, we will be deemed to have accepted for exchange warrants that are validly tendered and for which tenders are not withdrawn, unless we give written notice to the warrant holder of our non-acceptance.

Announcement of Results of the Offer and Consent Solicitation

We will announce the final results of the Offer and Consent Solicitation, including whether all of the conditions to the Offer and Consent Solicitation have been satisfied or waived and whether we will accept the tendered warrants for exchange, as promptly as practicable following the end of the Offer Period. The announcement will be made by a press release and by amendment to the Schedule TO we will file with the SEC in connection with the Offer and Consent Solicitation.

Background and Purpose of the Offer and Consent Solicitation

The Board approved the Offer and Consent Solicitation on August 10, 2021. The purpose of the Offer and Consent Solicitation is to attempt to simplify our capital structure and reduce the potential dilutive impact of the warrants, thereby providing us with more flexibility for financing our operations in the future. The warrants that are tendered for exchange pursuant to the Offer will be retired and cancelled automatically upon the issuance of Common Stock in exchange for such warrants pursuant to the Offer.

Agreements, Regulatory Requirements and Legal Proceedings

There are no present or proposed agreements, arrangements, understandings or relationships between us, and any of our directors, executive officers, affiliates or any other person relating, directly or indirectly, to the Offer and Consent Solicitation or to our securities that are the subject of the Offer and Consent Solicitation.

Except for the requirements of applicable federal and state securities laws, we know of no federal or state regulatory requirements to be complied with or federal or state regulatory approvals to be obtained by us in connection with the Offer and Consent Solicitation. There are no antitrust laws applicable to the Offer and Consent Solicitation. The margin requirements under Section 7 of the Exchange Act, and the related regulations thereunder, are inapplicable to the Offer and Consent Solicitation.

There are no pending legal proceedings relating to the Offer and Consent Solicitation.

Interests of Directors, Executive Officers and Others

Neither we nor any of our directors, executive officers or affiliates beneficially own any of the warrants.

Selected Historical Consolidated Financial Data

The following tables summarize our consolidated financial data and other data. We derived the selected consolidated income statement data for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2020, the selected consolidated statement of cash flow data for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2020 and selected consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2020 from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange. We derived the selected consolidated income statement data for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2021, the selected consolidated statement of cash flow data for the six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020 and the selected consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2021 from our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected in the future. The following selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Prospectus/Offer to Exchange.

____________

(1)      EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization.

(2)      Adjusted EBITDA is defined as a non-GAAP financial measure that represents earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or EBITDA and further adjustments to EBITDA to exclude certain non-cash items and other non-recurring items that we believe are not indicative of ongoing operations to come to Adjusted EBITDA. For a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income prepared in accordance with GAAP, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Key performance indicators and non-GAAP Financial Measures — Adjusted EBITDA.”

(3)      Adjusted Net Income is a non-GAAP financial measure that represents net income prior to amortization and further adjustments to exclude certain non-cash items and other non-recurring items that management believes are not indicative of ongoing operations to come to Adjusted Net Income. For a reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income to net income prepared in accordance with GAAP, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Key performance indicators and non-GAAP Financial Measures — Adjusted Net Income.”

Business

Unless the context otherwise requires, references to “we”, “us”, “our”, “Paya”, “Paya Holdings”, or “the Company” refer to Paya Holdings Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

Overview

We are a leading independent integrated payments and commerce platform providing card, ACH, and check payment processing solutions via software to middle-market businesses in the United States. Our solutions integrate with our customers’ core business software to enable payments acceptance, reconcile invoice detail, and post payment information to their core accounting systems. In this manner, we enable our customers to collect revenue from their consumer (“B2C”) and B2B customers with a seamless experience and high-level of security across payment types. Given the focus on B2B and consumer bill payments integrated into software, 87% of our payment card volume is card-not-present and our average customer accepts $450,000 of credit and debit card volume per year. These metrics are both significantly higher than industry average according to the Nilson Report published in March 2021.

We concentrate on strategic vertical markets defined by strong secular growth and low penetration of electronic payments that are non-cyclical in nature such as B2B goods & services, healthcare, faith-based & non-profit, government & utilities, and education. Our technology, distribution, and support are tailored to the specific and complex payment needs of customers in these verticals. We have deep expertise of industry-specific considerations and believe this makes us a leading provider of integrated payment solutions in these markets with a sustainable competitive advantage.

In these strategic verticals, we deliver our payment solutions through front-end CRM and back-end accounting ISVs who sell or refer our integrated payments bundled with their proprietary software solutions to their customers. We enter into contracts with these ISV’s where they deliver new customers to us in exchange for a portion of transaction revenue those customers generate. We refer to these ISV’s as “partners” and the customers they bring to us as “customers.” Our partners choose Paya because of our easy to use and feature rich technology platform, vertical expertise, and commitment to customer service. To our partners, embedding payments in their software increases customer life-time value and generates a new revenue stream through a share of Paya’s payments revenue.

Our payment technology is centered around Paya Connect, a proprietary, API-driven and service-oriented payments platform which integrates with our customers’ front-end CRM and back-end accounting software and acts as a universal gateway which connects to multiple card processors as well as Paya’s proprietary ACH processing platform. Paya Connect also serves as the foundation for modular value-added solutions including digital boarding, flexible funding, e-invoicing, auto-billing and recurring payments, tokenized and secure transactions, and robust customer and partner reporting, which are differentiators in our key end markets. Further, Paya Connect’s architecture allows us to easily add incremental value-added services into our ecosystem through API integration.

We have built industry-leading scale with a highly diverse customer portfolio. As of June 30, 2021, we served over 100,000 businesses, representing over $35 billion in card and ACH payment volume for the twelve months ended June 30, 2021. Our customer portfolio is highly diversified with no single customer representing more than 1% of payment revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020. Average transaction size was $225 inclusive of all card and ACH payment transactions in 2020. Integrated Solutions net volume change of existing merchants from attrition and same store sales was 7% in 2020.

We derive most of our revenue from fees paid by our customers which principally include a processing fee that is charged as a percentage of total payment volume, as well as fixed interchange fees and convenience-based fees. In some cases, including card processing in our government and utilities end-market and in ACH and check processing, fees are charged in the form of a fixed fee per transaction. We also derive a portion of revenue from monthly and annual fees for customers to use the Paya Connect platform and its suite of value-added services. Our revenue is re-occurring in nature because of the consistency of B2B and consumer bill payments, the mission-critical and embedded nature of the solutions we provide, and the high switching costs associated with these solutions due to complex levels of integration. We also benefit from a high degree of operating leverage given the combination of our highly scalable payments platform and low customer acquisition costs resulting from our partner-centric model.

Paya’s revenue increased to $206.0 million for fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 from $203.4 million for fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, representing year-over-year growth of 1.3%. Paya’s net loss decreased to $0.52 million for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 from $9.02 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, representing year-over-year growth of 94.2%. Our adjusted EBITDA increased to $53.0 million for fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 from $50.3 million for fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, representing year-over-year growth of 5.4%. Paya’s revenue increased to $119.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021 from $100.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020, representing year-over-year growth of 19%. Paya’s net loss increased to $2.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021 from $0.05 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020. Our adjusted EBITDA increased to $31.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2021 from $24.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020, representing year-over-year growth of 27.4%. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Key performance indicators and non-GAAP Measures — Adjusted EBITDA” for a reconciliation of our non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.

Segments

We have two reportable segments, Integrated Solutions and Payment Services.

Integrated Solutions

Our Integrated Solutions segment represents the delivery of our credit and debit card payment solutions, and to a lesser extent, ACH processing solutions to customers via integrations with software partners across our strategic vertical markets. Our Integrated Solutions partners include vertical focused front-end CRM software providers as well as back-end Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”) and accounting solutions. Integrated Solutions represented 59.4% of revenue for the year ending December 31, 2020.

Payment Services

The Payment Services segment represents the delivery of card payment processing solutions to our customers through resellers, as well as ACH, check, and gift card processing. Card payment processing solutions in this segment utilize Paya’s core technology infrastructure and do not originate through a software integration. ACH, check, and gift card processing may or may not be integrated with third-party software, however, Paya focuses on strategically cross selling these products with new software partners. Payment Services represented 40.6% of revenue for the year ending December 31, 2020.

Industry Overview

The payment processing industry enables businesses to accept and deliver credit and debit card, ACH, and other payment processing services. The industry continues to experience growth driven by broader acceptance of electronic payments methods and continued delivery of value-added functionality via payment technology and related solutions. We believe the identifiable U.S. business to business payments market to be $22 trillion based on Wall Street estimates.

Payment Processing Value Chain

We provide mission-critical services in what we believe is the most economically advantageous part of the payment processing value chain. We operate the technology behind, and facilitate the experience around, the actual acceptance of the payment transaction. We have direct relationships with both our partners and our end customers. Shown below is a graphic outlining the steps in a typical payment card or ACH transaction in the Paya ecosystem, along with descriptions of each key step.

A typical transaction in one of Paya’s core verticals consists of the following steps, which demonstrates a simplified version of a card-not-present or ACH payment transaction:

1.      A payment usually starts with the business creating an invoice for services rendered or goods sold. Businesses can leverage Paya Connect for this feature, but also leverage the capabilities built into their core software.

2.      The business will then send the invoice through their core software to their customer, the payor, which may be either a consumer or another business.

3.      The transaction process begins when the payor (consumer or business) navigates to the invoice sender’s website or payment portal, or leverages Paya’s click-to-pay functionality contained within an invoice email. The payor can choose to pay with a credit or debit card via a card-not-present transaction or with a bank account via an ACH transaction. The actual payment transaction and the experience of submitting the payment takes place on Paya’s gateway. This allows the software provider (Paya’s partner) and the business accepting the payment (Paya’s customer) to remain out of the scope of PCI-DSS compliance and enables Paya to offer other value added services alongside the transaction (e.g. encryption, tokenization, stored payment method recurring & installment payments).

4.      After the payor initiates the payment, Paya routes the transaction information to a back-end payment processor. The processor provides the technology needed for transaction authorization, data transmission, and settlement of funds. In our case, we leverage multiple relationships with back-end processors for card processing and utilize Paya’s proprietary ACH platform for ACH processing.

5.      For credit and debit card transactions, the processor then transmits the data to the issuing/payor bank using card network rails. The card networks, such as MasterCard or Visa, provide the rails to route transactions and data between the key parties in a card transaction: issuing/payor banks, processors, and Paya. Data is transmitted in real-time over sophisticated communication networks which require compliance with various rules and regulations to use. ACH transactions are validated by Paya directly

with the issuing bank through our Original Depository Financial Institution partners (“ODFIs”) and are submitted by the ODFIs into the ACH network for settlement. ACH transactions do not utilize the card network rails for authorization or settlement.

6.      For debit and credit card transactions, the issuing/payor bank then receives the transaction information and is responsible for authorizing the transaction (by checking for sufficient funds and fraud). After authorization, the issuing/payor bank then transfers the funds to the card network. The issuing/payor bank is the financial institution that issued the payor the debit or credit card. For ACH transactions, the issuing/payor bank (the bank that holds the payor’s deposit account) receives the transaction information and is responsible for authorizing the transaction. After authorization, the issuing/payor bank transfers the funds through the ACH network to Paya’s ODFI.

7.      The debit and credit card authorization data is routed back to Paya’s gateway to accept the transaction. This entire process takes seconds.

8.      For debit and credit card transactions, the card network then routes the funds to Paya’s sponsor bank. The sponsor bank, in our case BMO Harris, is a member of the card networks and ultimately provides Paya access to the card networks. In the case of ACH transactions (7A in the diagram), Paya’s ODFI funds the business’ bank account without funds flowing through any third-party payment processor.

9.      Finally, for debit and credit card transactions, the sponsor bank routes the funds to the bank account of the card accepting business.

10.    Paya sends enriched transaction data back to the core software to reduce manual data entry, ease the reconciliation process, and provide valuable insights to the business.

Key Trends Impacting Our Market

We specialize in delivering payment processing solutions to middle-market businesses in the United States. The middle-market has historically been reliant on banks and networks of local resellers with installation and service capabilities to provision access to payments. However, as internet access and software penetration increased, local bank partnerships became less relevant, and a new generation of high-tech, integrated payment processors emerged to serve businesses’ needs. Today, integrated-focused payments providers marry their payment acceptance capabilities and solutions with owned or third-party software to deliver differentiated solutions to customers with value-added services such as general ledger post-back capabilities, digital onboarding, and more. Traditional bank processors have had limited success in this area given gaps in technological capabilities and lack of vertical-specific knowledge. Key trends defining the market include the following:

•        Businesses require electronic payment solutions (card-not-present and ACH) that are integrated with electronic invoicing, recordkeeping, and other reporting tools.

•        Software vendors have become critical to payments distribution. Software vendors and payments providers have developed mutually beneficial relationships where software vendors provide unique customer leads to the payments providers and in turn are able to monetize payments.

•        Proliferation of payments and software solutions catering to specific end markets with differentiated features that streamline business operations.

•        Increasing demand for a unified payment processing solution that provides access to both card and ACH capabilities, including combined underwriting, pricing, and reporting.

We believe our core market opportunity is large and growing faster than the broader payments market. According to a third party market study conducted in 2019, the total addressable market in our five strategic vertical markets (B2B goods and services, healthcare, faith-based & non-profit, government & utilities, and education) represents approximately $1 trillion in card payments volume alone and is growing at low double-digits growth rates annually.

Market Developments

We determined that we are a leading independent integrated payments and commerce platform based on data published by the Nilson Report, which is a trade publication specializing in the global card and payment industry. According to the Nilson Report, Paya was the second largest independent payments provider for U.S. Card Not Present transactions on the basis of both total number of transactions and dollar volume during 2020. We define an independent payments provider as one that is not owned by a bank or FIS. Data from the Nilson Report shows that Paya’s proportion of card-not-present transactions, volume per transaction and volume per customer are all considerab