“Can a bank-channel-only payment processor sustain independent growth, or does it inevitably become an acquisition target for a scaled non-bank processor seeking community FI distribution?”
Founded in 1989 by Bob Morris, CBMS spent over three decades as a niche payment processing intermediary exclusively focused on community and regional bank distribution channels. The company offered credit card processing, merchant accounts, and merchant cash advances to SMBs through its bank partners rather than selling direct. In August 2022, Celero Commerce acquired CBMS to expand its financial institution network, effectively folding CBMS into Celero's larger non-bank payment processor platform; the CBMS brand now redirects to Celero Commerce.
Community Bankers Merchant Services (cbms) processes payments through Fifth Third Bank (acquiring/processing partner) and Wells Fargo Bank (acquiring/processing partner).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 2 layers in Community Bankers Merchant Services (cbms)'s stack: Payments / PSP (Fifth Third Bank (acquiring/processing partner) and Wells Fargo Bank (acquiring/processing partner)); Lending (Merchant Cash Advance).
Community Bankers Merchant Services (cbms) was founded by Bob Morris and is founded in 1989, headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, United States.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Community Bankers Merchant Services (cbms) and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.