We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Allen Jackson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Allen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

We are in the industry of helping small to large size businesses with their everyday solutions like payments and payroll. We are different from the industry standard when offering multiple business solutions under one roof. We are entirely independent. We are not incentivized or required to provide a specific solution to any business owner or manager. We get to pick what we believe is the best fit for the business. Most other processors push their software to their customers because they make more when used. We do the demos first and pre-vet any company that we work with. We spend much time finding good partnerships for our current and future customers.

Allen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Oak City Payments is locally owned and operated in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, and is an expert in all areas of credit card processing, Point of Sale, payroll, and business/customer lending.
After years of learning, training, and working with one of the largest processors in the industry, I set out to start Oak City Payments on a foundation of fair pricing and stand-out customer service. What began as one person in the processing solutions industry became an avenue to bring passion and dedication to a market that business owners rely on. We love business and helping other business owners through our experience of supporting over 100 businesses with their day-to-day operations.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I spent 15 years in the alcohol business and figured that I would probably retire from that one day. I moved to North Carolina at the end of 2019, expecting to find a job at a brewery or distributor in the Raleigh area. Before that time came, the pandemic had started, and all hiring was frozen until further notice. At this time, I knew that it would be a good time to look into a different career path. I knew that I loved business and wanted to find a way to work around them more. The opportunity to sell credit card processing fell into my lap, and I decided to try it. At this point, you could not walk into a business to talked to them about their painpoints. Everything was a pain point. This allowed me to take the time and learn the payment industry and how I could help most coming out of a pandemic. I spent the next 6-9 months learning the best way help and was ready to go by the time that some restrictions were lifted.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My reputetion was built in my community by the businesses that I work with. I work hard to show them the support they need. All they need is someone who will pick up the phone and help them when help is needed.
I also work close with our Chamber of Commerce in Fuquy-Varina. Our business practices aligh because we both work hard to set up the businesses that we work with for success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://oakcitypayments.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oak_city_payments
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OakCityPayments
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/allen-jackson-ocp