# Jimmy Nafso

> Jimmy Nafso is the co-founder, president and former CEO of Fortis. Before entering payments, he spent a decade owning and operating hotels and retail locations in Metro Detroit, then founded lodging processor Cambridge Payment Systems, sold to iPayment in 2007. His career also includes leadership of AirTime Trampoline & Game Parks. He has publicly discussed consultative payment services and the importance of human relationships as technology evolves.

- **Role:** Co-founder and President at Fortis
- **Organizations:** Fortis, Cambridge Payment Systems, AirTime Trampoline & Game Parks
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, Michigan State University, Master of Business Administration
- **Known for:** Founded Cambridge Payment Systems and sold it to iPayment at the end of 2007., Co-founded Fortis in 2010 and led it as CEO through its 2019 growth investment., Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA).

## Career timeline

- **Before payments career** — Spent 10 years owning and operating hotels and retail locations in Metro Detroit.
- **2004** — Founded Cambridge Payment Systems, according to his public professional biography.
- **2007** — Cambridge Payment Systems sold to iPayment at year-end.
- **2010** — Co-founded Fortis, originally Fortis Payment Systems.
- **2014** — Became CEO/franchisor of AirTime Trampoline & Game Parks.
- **2019** — Led Fortis as CEO when Lovell Minnick Partners announced a growth investment on December 17.
- **2021** — Welcomed executive chairman Greg Cohen’s appointment as Fortis CEO in July.
- **2022** — As Fortis president, commented on its residential-app payments partnership with Zonetail.
- **2024** — Appeared with brother Timmy Nafso on the Embedded podcast episode published April 2.
- **2025** — Welcomed the Audax and Lovell Minnick joint investment in Fortis in March.

## Achievements

- Founded Cambridge Payment Systems and sold it to iPayment at the end of 2007.
- Co-founded Fortis in 2010 and led it as CEO through its 2019 growth investment.
- Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA).
- Led AirTime, which appeared in Michigan’s 2015 business winner profiles with three Michigan locations.

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — Audax and Lovell Minnick announced a joint investment in Fortis, closed March 11; Nafso publicly welcomed Audax and thanked his team.
- **2025-07** — Nafso publicly welcomed Serve First Solutions to Fortis; the acquisition was announced July 29, 2025.

## Links

- Website: https://fortispay.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-nafso-21857813b

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jimmy-nafso
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-14