Suns put Paze on their jerseys as PayPal’s patch run ends

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns have picked a hometown company for the front of their jerseys. Early Warning Services, the Arizona-based payments company behind Zelle and the Paze online checkout wallet, signed a multi-year deal on Sept. 28 that makes Paze the Suns’ Official Jersey Patch Partner, succeeding PayPal. The Paze logo will sit on the upper left of every Suns uniform starting with the 2026-27 season.

PayPal’s logo had been stitched on Phoenix jerseys every season since 2018. Neither side disclosed financial terms or the exact length of the new agreement.

A deal that reaches past the jersey

The patch is only one piece. Paze also becomes the Suns’ Official Online Checkout Partner and Official Digital Wallet, and takes entitlement of the team’s season-ticket membership program. That gives the brand a place in ticketing, online merchandise checkout and, the team says, the fan experience inside the downtown arena. The Suns opened the partnership with a Paze-only merchandise discount on the team shop from Sept. 29 through Oct. 1.

Paze is offered through participating banks and credit unions. Shoppers use cards they already hold without opening a new payment account, and actual card numbers are not shared with merchants. Early Warning says more than 220 million debit and credit cards have been added to the wallet.

What both sides said

Suns and Mercury CEO Josh Bartelstein said the patch drew heavy interest. “We had a lot of interest in our patch; it was a very competitive process,” he said, adding that Early Warning stood out for its payments history from Zelle to Paze, its deep Arizona roots and the chance to build “an innovative partnership that goes well beyond the jersey.” He called it an honor to have a hometown partner on the uniforms.

Paze general manager Serge Elkiner said the company employs more than 900 people in Arizona and has grown there for nearly four decades. “Having Paze succeed PayPal in one of the most visible positions in sports is an important marker of our momentum,” he said.

Paze’s growing NBA footprint

Phoenix is the second NBA team to wear Paze, after the Atlanta Hawks put the brand on their uniforms last season. The Suns deal fits a wider push by Early Warning into sports: in New York, where it employs nearly 250 people, the company is the first Founding Partner of Etihad Park, the future stadium for New York City FC.

The swap also continues a trend in how patch inventory turns over. Payments and fintech brands have been some of the steadiest buyers since the NBA opened jerseys to sponsors in 2017, and Phoenix replaced one digital-wallet company with a newer rival rather than leaving the category. With Paze tied into tickets and checkout as well, the Suns are selling a package of transactions as much as a spot on the shirt.