Sola: A Comprehensive Payment Gateway for Modern Businesses

Sola is a robust, all-in-one payment gateway and merchant services provider built for the evolving needs of businesses today. By combining in-person, online, and platform-integrated payment capabilities, Sola delivers a streamlined and scalable solution that empowers merchants to accept payments securely and efficiently across any channel.

Company Background

Sola was formed through the unification of Fidelity Payment Services and Cardknox, combining their years of expertise into one powerful brand. This rebranding reflects a strategic move to simplify and enhance the customer experience by offering a unified platform that caters to modern payment demands, regardless of business size or industry.

With Sola, businesses gain access to a future-ready infrastructure that emphasizes flexibility, security, and ease of integration.

Key Features of Sola

Omni-Channel Payment Support

Sola is designed to support payment acceptance in various environments, enabling businesses to deliver consistent and secure payment experiences. Its core capabilities include:

• In-Person Payments: Businesses can accept EMV chip cards, contactless payments, magnetic stripe cards, and ACH transactions through a range of point-of-sale terminals. Sola’s terminal support includes countertop, mobile, and unattended hardware options.

• Online Payments: The platform enables a seamless online checkout experience, with hosted payment forms and embedded payment fields that can be customized to reflect the merchant’s branding. Customers can pay via credit cards, debit cards, ACH, and digital wallets.

• Integrated Platform Payments: Software vendors, SaaS platforms, and developers can embed payment capabilities directly into their applications using Sola’s developer tools. This enables platforms to support payment acceptance for their own users and generate new revenue through embedded finance.

Merchant Portal

Sola offers an intuitive merchant portal that empowers businesses to manage their transactions and accounts in real time. Key portal features include:

• Easy access to transaction history, reporting, and batch settlement data

• Stored card information and recurring billing management

• On-demand transaction search and refund capabilities

• Custom payment form creation with branding options

• Option to add convenience or service fees for cost recovery

This portal is designed for both operational efficiency and strategic insight, helping businesses stay informed and in control.

Developer-Friendly APIs and SDKs

Sola offers a full set of RESTful APIs and JavaScript SDKs that make it easy for developers to build custom payment experiences. Documentation is publicly available, making it easy to integrate features like:

• Tokenized payments

• Secure customer authentication

• Card vaulting and recurring billing

• Custom checkout flows

• Real-time transaction status updates

Additionally, Sola supports third-party plugins and pre-built connectors for popular platforms, making integration even faster.

Security and Compliance

Security is a cornerstone of Sola’s infrastructure. The platform includes multiple safeguards and compliance certifications to ensure the protection of sensitive payment data.

• Tokenization: Sola replaces cardholder data with unique tokens, meaning real card numbers are never stored or transmitted. This significantly reduces PCI DSS scope and protects against data breaches.

• PCI DSS Compliance: Sola is fully compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Businesses using Sola’s hosted forms or tokenization tools inherit many compliance benefits.

• Duplicate Transaction Prevention: Sola includes built-in mechanisms to detect and prevent accidental double charges, ensuring accurate and trustworthy payment processing.

• Encryption and HTTPS: All data in transit is encrypted using industry-standard TLS protocols to maintain confidentiality and integrity.

Customizable Payment Forms

Sola allows merchants to create and customize hosted payment forms with ease. Businesses can tailor the look and feel of these forms using HTML, CSS, and pre-built templates. Fields can be added, removed, or reordered to fit business requirements.

Other customization options include:

• Pre-populated fields for returning customers

• Dynamic payment amount calculation

• Multi-step or single-page checkout formats

• Language and localization support

Fee Management and Cost Recovery

Sola gives merchants the ability to enable convenience or electronic transfer fees directly on hosted payment forms. This feature is especially useful for nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, or government entities that wish to pass processing costs to the payer.

Onboarding Process

Getting started with Sola is straightforward and well-supported. The onboarding journey typically includes the following steps:

1. Merchant Application Submission: Businesses fill out a secure form providing basic business, banking, and contact details.

2. Underwriting and Approval: Sola reviews the application and performs standard underwriting. Most businesses receive a decision within a few business days.

3. Account Configuration: After approval, merchants receive credentials for the Merchant Portal and support for integrating payment forms or APIs.

4. Testing and Go-Live: Businesses are encouraged to perform test transactions to ensure configuration accuracy before going live.

Throughout this process, a dedicated onboarding specialist is available to assist with form setup, technical integration, and training.

Support and Documentation

Sola places high importance on customer support and enablement. Businesses benefit from:

• U.S.-based support team: Available by phone and email during standard business hours.

• Comprehensive documentation: Covering integration steps, API reference, form customization, troubleshooting, and security best practices.

• Ongoing account management: For high-volume merchants or platform partners, dedicated account managers provide proactive support and strategic advice.

Additionally, Sola offers training materials and guides to help new users navigate the system effectively.

Ideal Use Cases

Sola is well-suited for businesses and platforms across a variety of industries, including:

• E-commerce stores looking for customizable checkout experiences

• Brick-and-mortar retailers needing modern terminal support

• Software platforms aiming to embed payments into their applications

• Nonprofits, schools, and service providers wanting to reduce processing costs

• Professional services firms that invoice clients online

The combination of flexibility, security, and developer access makes Sola a smart choice for businesses with both simple and complex payment needs.

Final Thoughts

Sola stands out as a next-generation payment gateway that prioritizes both merchant flexibility and payment security. With a focus on customization, scalability, and multi-channel support, Sola is well-positioned to serve startups, mid-sized businesses, and enterprise platforms alike.