Product: SurchX
Company: SurchX
SurchX, a payment gateway and processor-agnostic software provider, launched a suite of ecommerce solutions designed to facilitate credit card surcharging in the ecommerce marketplace.
An open API simplifies integrating and implementing the cloud-based software and shopping cart plug-ins, which can significantly impact merchant and ISO partner profits. These solutions can add a 20 to 30 percent margin to a merchant's out-of-pocket expenses, according to SurchX founder and CEO Robert Maynard.
"Before SurchX, there was no way for retailers to recover credit card processing fees and be assured of compliance with the 60-plus jurisdictions that govern surcharging in the United States," Maynard said. "And yet, jurisdictional filtering is the most trivial thing that we do. Our ability to calculate processing fees in real time enables millions of ecommerce merchants to lower costs without impacting conversion rates, sacrificing service or falling out of compliance."
Noting the technology took years to develop, Maynard saw a giant need for a surcharging solution for ecommerce merchants, who typically don't know the cost of a transaction until settlement but are required to disclose pricing before customers press a buy button.
"The final invoice page has to be disclosed, and that's the hardest part: there's no Rosetta Stone to back track pricing in an interchange-plus environment," he said. "We worked with dozens of ISO partners to perfect our solutions and revenue share models for referral partners and resellers."
Maynard's commitment to partnering with ISOs informed the company's design of an "infrastructure-agnostic" program devised to rapidly scale. SurchX is purpose-built to manage high transaction volumes while providing full transparency to consumers, who see a transaction fee surcharge as a line item at checkout.
Most consumers see surcharging as an immaterial expense and cost of doing business, similar to sales tax, he noted.
The program provides significant benefits to merchants, Maynard mentioned. Credit card processing fees have been tightening margins and forcing some merchants to choose between new hires or layoffs, or lower versus higher pricing to cover costs.
According to Maynard, the program is simple to implement using an open API. It usually takes two to three hours to integrate and several days to test. Participants must also provide a 30-day notice to card brands, using registration forms on their websites, he added.
A SurchX extension that Magento users and software integration partners can download and install is available on the Magento Marketplace. The fully integrated extension automatically
calculates surcharges and fee structures, based on card type and jurisdiction at checkout, and adds a transaction fee to the customer's total purchase price as a separate line item on the final invoice.
Soaring credit card interchange rates have made it difficult to compete in the global online marketplace, Maynard said. Card-not-present merchants can put their savings from the SurchX program to productive use, for example, improving search engine rankings to competing against giant ecommerce brands.
"Our promise is to take the compliance risk out of surcharging," he said. "We've had a positive reception from small and mid-market merchants and are proud to help them turn customer interactions into opportunities to improve margins." 
Website: www.surchx.com Contact: francine@surchx.com
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