CardX by Stax Review

Pros

• Allows merchants to pass credit card processing fees to customers
• Month-to-month contracts with no ETF
• Affordable monthly pricing
• 24/7 customer service

Cons

• Not legal in all states
• Doesn’t disclose all fees on website
• No POS integration offered

What Is CardX by Stax?

Owned by Stax, CardX is a fully compliant surcharging solution allowing businesses to pass credit card processing fees to customers, thereby reducing the business’s costs associated with accepting credit cards.

Businesses can use CardX to take 0% fee credit card payments in-person, online, or via a virtual terminal. Businesses in Connecticut and Maine cannot legally use credit card surcharging solutions such as CardX.

CardX Services & Features

CardX is a payment processor that lets businesses accept credit cards without having to pay the usual interchange fees and processor markup. Instead, the customer pays these fees. Note that the customer also has the option of completing the sale via debit card, in which case they pay no fee, and the business pays the processing fee.

Credit Card Processing Services

CardX offers 0% transaction fee credit card processing via the following methods:

• In Person: Via Dejavoo credit card terminal
• On Your Website: Via Mastercard Click-To-Pay Lightbox
• Over The Phone: Using the CardX virtual terminal

Credit card surcharging services like the one offered by CardX by Stax may appeal to businesses such as convenience stores, service-based businesses (plumbers, landscapers, hairdressers, etc.), pet groomers, automotive businesses, restaurants, and even eCommerce businesses.

When your business implements a surcharging solution like CardX, customers are incentivized to pay by cash or with a debit card—which is less expensive to process than a credit card and deposits in your business bank account quicker.

One thing that’s missing from CardX’s processing services is that the solution currently does not have a POS system integration, which means CardX probably wouldn’t be suitable for businesses that want integrated point of sale features, such as retail inventory management or restaurant order management.

Automated Surcharging Compliance

CardX claims to be the only such company that offers a fully compliant surcharging solution—according to the company, most cash discounting processing solutions are non-compliant and can put businesses at risk of legal ramifications.

CardX’s legally compliant solution is a big selling point for larger businesses that want to make sure they are not getting themselves in trouble with the card brands or violating any state laws. In fact, CardX is so trusted that it is Mastercard’s exclusive surcharging partner.

But compliant or not, something to keep in mind is that surcharging is not right for every business and it can leave a bad taste in your customer’s mouth. On its own blog, CardX cites a statistic indicating that 78% of customers think surcharging is unfair.

Fees & Rates

Overall, CardX offers good pricing and moderately good transparency when it comes to the fees and rates it charges for its credit card surcharging solution.

Sales & Advertising Transparency

CardX exclusively uses an in-house sales team, which is a big point in its favor when it comes to sales and advertising transparency.

CardX has a professional informative website, which does a good job explaining its product as well as the laws surrounding surcharging. CardX also has its Terms & Services on its website and maintains active social media accounts on LinkedIn and X.

Still, it would be ideal if CardX displayed all of its pricing information prominently on its website. Instead, CardX is repeatedly described on its website as “0% cost,” which isn’t entirely true when considering that merchants will be paying a $29/month fee, at minimum.

Contract Length & Early Termination Fee

One thing I really appreciate about CardX is that the company has a month-to-month contract, as outlined in the Terms of Service posted on the CardX website. You can cancel your contract at any time as long as you give CardX 30 days notice.

You will need to return your terminal if you’re renting it, but you won’t be charged any other termination or account closure fees.

Customer Service & Technical Support

CardX offers multiple channels of customer support including email, 24/7 technical support via phone, and other channels offered from Stax directly, including a live chat function and an online knowledgebase (though CardX does not have its own dedicated knowledgebase).

Overall, CardX seems to have adequate support resources, and 24/7 phone support is always a good thing. However, some customers have complained about the quality of Stax’s customer service, which is likely the same entity that provides customer service for CardX.

It’s also unclear what level of technical support you will receive if you do not opt for the terminal rental plan.

CardX User Reviews

Final Verdict On CardX by Stax

On the whole, CardX by Stax can be a good surcharging solution for businesses that want to implement this credit card processing model to save on fees. Just be aware that using CardX does not mean you can process cards without incurring any fees—monthly account fees and debit card processing fees will still apply.

Surcharging is not right for all businesses, but CardX’s automated compliance makes it a good choice if you do want to use this type of processing, particularly if you own a larger business and want to save on processing fees while also protecting your business from possible legal ramifications of noncompliant surcharging or cash discount implementations.

Since CardX doesn’t make its monthly fee structure completely clear on its website, be sure to get in writing exactly what terms and fees you’ll be agreeing to before you sign up—this is actually true for any payment processor. But from what I can tell, CardX’s terms look pretty above-board and merchant-friendly, especially considering the contract is month-to-month.

If you’re interested in ways to reduce your credit card processing fees in general, check out our post on how to offset or reduce your credit card processing fees.

Credit Card Processor Review Methodology

We evaluate and test each payment processor that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on certain key characteristics in order to generate our granular ratings for merchant accounts and credit card processors.

For payment processing reviews, we use a 24-point rubric to evaluate the provider. First, we look at pricing structure – interchange plus, subscription-based, tiered, or hybrid – giving the most points to providers that provide fair, transparent pricing and docking those that rely on tiered models. Then we examine rates, the presence and transparency of early termination fees, and any additional fees.

We also look at contract length and fairness and test out sales staff and customer service channels ourselves to ensure that the company uses reputable, above-the-board sales techniques. Finally, we take the company’s online reputation into account, reading customer reviews and comments.

Read more about how we rate payment processors.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

CardX By Stax	Visit Site

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see CardX By Stax for yourself.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

CardX By Stax	Visit Site

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see CardX By Stax for yourself.