# Michael Long

> Michael Richard Long (1944-2022) co-founded the business now known as Usio in 1998 with Louis Hoch and David Jones. He served as chief executive until August 2016 and chairman until September 2022, guiding the company from electronic billing into payment processing. His earlier work included Billing Concepts, Andersen Consulting and his own systems consultancy. Usio named him chairman emeritus posthumously.

- **Role:** Chairman Emeritus (posthumous) at Usio
- **Organizations:** Usio, Inc. (formerly Payment Data Systems and Billserv), Billing Concepts, US Long Distance, Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), FaceKey Corporation
- **From:** Little Rock, United States
- **Known for:** Co-founded the company now called Usio in 1998., Served as chief executive from July 1998 to August 2016 and chairman from July 1998 to September 2022., Led the company during its transition from Billserv’s primary electronic billing business to Payment Data Systems’ payment processing operations.

## Career timeline

- **Before 1998** — Held technology leadership responsibilities at Billing Concepts; also worked in business development at Andersen Consulting and operated a systems consulting business.
- **1998** — Co-founded Billserv.com with Louis Hoch and David Jones; became chairman and CEO in July.
- **2001** — Billserv entered a distribution agreement with the bank-backed Spectrum electronic billing network.
- **2003** — Billserv sold substantially all its assets to Saro in July and concentrated on electronic payments as Payment Data Systems; Long became CFO in September in addition to chairman and CEO.
- **2015** — Ended his CFO service in March; Payment Data Systems began Nasdaq Capital Market trading on August 11.
- **2016** — Louis Hoch became CEO on August 4; Long remained chairman.
- **2019** — The company changed its name to Usio while Long remained chairman.
- **2022** — Long died on September 7; the board unanimously named him chairman emeritus on September 12.

## Achievements

- Co-founded the company now called Usio in 1998.
- Served as chief executive from July 1998 to August 2016 and chairman from July 1998 to September 2022.
- Led the company during its transition from Billserv’s primary electronic billing business to Payment Data Systems’ payment processing operations.
- Was chairman and CEO when Payment Data Systems began Nasdaq Capital Market trading in August 2015.
- Was chairman and CEO during 2015, when Payment Data Systems processed more than $3.3 billion across more than 14.3 million transactions.
- Named chairman emeritus posthumously by unanimous board vote.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — A Totus interview with co-founder David Jones recalled Long’s decision to give Jones an opportunity at Billing Concepts and their subsequent Billserv founding.
- **2022-09** — Usio named Long chairman emeritus posthumously on September 12 after his death on September 7; Louis Hoch assumed the chairman role.

## Links

- Website: https://usio.com/usio-team-members/michael-long/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/michael-long
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-27