30 years ago, Ming Ye and her husband Tom Jin were engineers in Silicon Valley. About a decade later, they were asked to design and build their first POS system for a Texas-based restaurant owned by Jin’s sister. The couple also became investors in the eatery, leveraging their combined passions for food, the customer experience and technology to support a thriving — and eventually expanding — dining footprint.

That experience inspired them to continue developing restaurant and retail management solutions as a B2B company. That’s how KwickPOS was born.

The team broke ground 20 years ago with a browser-based POS system that helped restaurants and other service-based businesses realize the power of “smart” technology to optimize operations, revenue and other critical functions. Powered by Linux system and cloud technology, KwickPOS continued to deliver innovative products and services affordably, with a personal touch.

Through a long-running partnership with North, KwickPOS has experienced increased sales and opportunities for innovation, leading to growth and expansion. When asked why the relationship continues to work, Ye highlights the two most important factors: both parties see significant potential in one another, and have earned and maintained a mutual trust. The results: processing volume that has grown exponentially over five years, new verticals served, and international expansion for KwickPOS.

KwickPOS is building solutions with a variety of integrated North Developer products including the PAX SI SDK, for which the company is certified. Because of the diversity of business types and verticals the company serves — traditional dining, QSR, convenience stores, boutiques, nail salons, hotels and more — KwickPOS is also certified in MagTek and Magensa for restaurant handheld devices.

In North Developer, Ye has chosen a partner that shares the vision and ambition of her company.

Chosen as a Top 10 Food Technology Solutions Company in 2023 by Food & Beverage Technology Review, KwickPOS’ merchant base processed a combined $215M with North in 2024, growth of nearly 50% year-over-year. The company achieved, and has sustained this success, through deliberate, yet inventive strategy, seeing opportunity before its competitors do.

Yet Ye credits the origin of KwickPOS’ relationship with North to a fortunate stroke of Google luck: “I needed a merchant service provider in Texas. I already had the POS solution.”

Five years later, a fortuitous digital accident has evolved into a relationship of mutual vision and opportunity. Because she says, her partners at North are different too. “We looked at, and talked to, other potential collaborators, but didn’t feel or receive the same reaction. Some were sales people, but didn’t have the necessary POS expertise. Others were very technical, but lacked the connection between the agency and the industries we serve.”

By combining technology, industry expertise and humanity, KwickPOS and North are developing solutions that are visionary today, while nodding toward the future. The technical and sales teams often know what restaurant customers need, before they do. While rare to find, this strong collaborative partnership between an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) and their payment processor creates a significant advantage in today's market.

Without giving away trade secrets, Ye alludes to the future of full-business and operations management solutions that KwickPOS is developing. More than just inventory, payment and personnel management features, their POS vision includes the ability to manage and enforce food quality itself, down to the recipe level.

KwickPOS often connects with North experts to help sell and build customizable solutions for its customers. However, the lead generation relationship is very much two-way, lending itself to the extraordinary growth of the partnership.

Ye and her team have collaborated with a number of sales agents across the North enterprise, which she acknowledges as a “special thing. They offer what we can do to their own leads, creating a feedback loop that has produced more innovation, revenue and happier customers. Sometimes I start to introduce a new POS function concept, and the North team already knows where I’m going.”

It might be assumed that all of this creativity and increased onboarding comes with a heavier price tag for North, KwickPOS, and/or the merchants served. But not so. Repeatability, speed to market and cost-effectiveness are hallmarks of these solutions, without sacrificing the service levels and ease of use that customers demand and deserve.

From sales, to onboarding, training and support, North is there for KwickPOS and its customers, and vice versa. Integrations are so simple that little more than a computer with working WiFi is required. None of this is accidental, and it takes ongoing, mutual work and respect to make it look so easy.

Says Ye, “We collaborate with North at public events, workshops, webinars and more. We’re not just engineering technology. We’re creating thought leadership. We’re learning from each other. The potential is limitless and everyone involved sees that.”