Family Financial Centers Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $224K – $309K
- Disclosed sales
- $262K
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Under 10 loans (1)
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Family Financial Centers is a financial services franchise offering check cashing, prepaid cards, bill pay, and money transfers. Franchisees run retail centers, managing transactions, cash handling, and compliance for underbanked customers.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Family Financial Centers franchise requires a total initial investment of $224K – $309K, including a $41K franchise fee and an ongoing 1.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $262K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium - issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored5 of 6 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing; the rest are marked “Not cited” beside the figure.
Overview
- Investment
- $224K – $309K
- 82nd pct Financial Ser…
- Avg gross sales
- $262K
- 9th pct Financial Ser…
- Royalty
- 1.0%
- 0th pct Financial Ser…
- Units
- 52
- 43rd pct Financial Ser…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Financial Services · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Financial Services median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $224K – $309K including a $41K franchise fee, 1.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $262K/year.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 63/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHNegative: net -3 franchised outlets in the latest year (2 opened, 5 closed) (Item 20).
- DECLINESystem contracting at -8.8% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Family Financial Centers, LLC
- Parent company
- Family Financial Centers, Inc. (FFCI)
- FDD Item 1, page 6 of the 2025 FDD
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Paul W. Eckert
- CEO experience
- 2004 yrs
- Years in role or industry
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- HQ
- 99 Lantern Drive, Suite 101, Doylestown, Pennsylvania 18901
- Auditor
- BKC, CPAs, PC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $2.2M
- vs $2.3M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
- CEO
- Paul W. Eckert
- Headquarters
- PA
- Founded
- 2004
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 11
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 183% above the typical financial services franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $41K | $41K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $5K | $34K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $179K | $235K |
| Total initial investment | $224K | $309K |
Source: Family Financial Centers 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $224K – $309K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $5K – $34K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $41K – $41K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 1.0%
- Set by a formula · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 3.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% |
| Technology fee | $70 |
| Training fee | $2K |
| Transfer fee | $37K |
| Renewal fee | $15K |
| Inventory (initial) | $50K – $60K |
| Total fee load | 3.0% of rev |
A 3.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales land near the financial services norm.
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for Family Financial Centers until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$286K
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Family Financial Centers unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $262K
- Per unit, per year
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross sales
- Sample size
- 49 outlets
- vs category median 94
- Quartile band
- $80K→$355K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 4 / 10
- vs category median 0 / 10 · above
Compared against 45 Financial Services brands
Revenue is only 1.0x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $262K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.0x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 3.0% — below the Financial Services median of 16.5%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 4/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System contracting at -8.8% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven consolidation or franchisee exits.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Financial Services medians
How Family Financial Centers Compares
Category median of published Financial Services brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 52
- Opened
- 2
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 5
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 9.6%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- -8.8%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- -8.8%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 0
- 0.00 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 0
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Ceased ops
- 9.6%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 11 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
11
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 1 7(a) loan on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 1
- Loan volume
- $150K
- Median loan
- $150K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- Under 10 loans (1)
- Insufficient SBA coverage: 1 loan, rate hidden below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Under 10 loans (1)
- 5-yr charge-off
- Under 10 loans (1)
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 1
- Defaults
- N/A
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Declining franchise system in a commoditized, heavily regulated industry with undisclosed profitability and complex, tiered royalty structure creates moderate-to-high investment risk.
Why this reads harsher than the B grade: the grade weighs financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency across the whole filing, while this summary lists individual flags without that weighting. The flags are worth checking with current owners; neither is investment advice.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation required to be disclosed.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · BKC, CPAs, PC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ITEM 19 DISCLOSES CHECK-CASHING FEES ONLY. Printed p.33, Note 1: 'The fees shown in Table No. 1 represent only the fees collected by FFC Financial Centers through the cashing of checks. The Financial Centers also earn fees from the sale of other products like money orders, wire transfers, electronic bill payments, gift card buybacks, gold, tax preparation, stamps, copies, lottery tickets, and other services ... we have excluded these revenues from the table.' The $261,757 average therefore understates what a centre actually takes in, by an amount the filing does not quantify, and is NOT comparable to a gross-sales figure at another brand. No total revenue per centre is printed anywhere in the filing. | FY2024 audited total revenues comprise franchise fees $122,028, franchise royalties $1,758,680, project management fees $19,000, and commissions/marketing/other $265,007. Audited by BKC, CPAs, PC (Woodstown, NJ) for year ended Dec 31, 2024. Company reports a members' deficit.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORSystem declining 5.5% YoY with only 52 units—suggests market headwinds or franchisee dissatisfaction
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19—impossible to validate true profitability claims against $261,757 average revenue
- 03MINORComplex royalty structure with multiple tiers (fixed + percentage of checks cashed + fee-based) creates unpredictable monthly obligations and potential disputes
- 04MINORAverage revenue of $261,757 leaves minimal margin if royalties consume 5-10% and overhead is high in financial services
- 05MINORCheck cashing and payday lending face regulatory headwinds, consumer backlash, and digitalization pressures from banking competitors
- 06MINOR15-year term is lengthy for a declining niche business without demonstrated path to unit growth
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 3.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 15 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Not allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | No |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 10 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 6 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | PA |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 39 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 38 hrs
- Training location
- Doylestown, PA (corporate headquarters) + on-site at franchisee location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 38 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Time to open
- 6 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee selects site within approved Site Selection Area; franchisor approves within 30 days
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Power Check or Tier3
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Power Check or Tier3
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
51 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Family Financial Centers franchise?
The total investment to open a Family Financial Centers franchise ranges from $224K – $309K, with an initial franchise fee of $41K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Family Financial Centers franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Family Financial Centers FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $262K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Family Financial Centers?
Family Financial Centers is franchised by Family Financial Centers, LLC. Its parent company is Family Financial Centers, Inc. (FFCI). Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Family Financial Centers FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Family Financial Centers FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Family Financial Centers's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Family Financial Centers (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Family Financial Centers franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Family Financial Centers has 52 total units in the United States, including 52 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 2 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Family Financial Centers a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Family Financial Centers as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 63 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.