With Demand Rising, Stax Acquires CardX To Boost Its Surcharging Efforts

Merchant services company Stax has acquired CardX LLC, a Chicago-based surcharging provider, in an effort to better meet demand for surcharging, especially among enterprise clients. Terms were not disclosed.

The deal is the third of 2021 for Orlando, Fla.-based Stax, whose parent company is Fattmerchant . Founded in 2013, CardX has made surcharging programs its central focus. 

“One of our fastest-growing segments at Stax is our enterprise segment, which has an increased demand for handling the regulatory requirements associated with surcharging,” Suneera Madhani, chief executive and cofounder of Stax, says in an email to Digital Transactions News. “CardX provides an expanded platform of capabilities for surcharging automation, pairing card acceptance with integrated compliance, administration, and reporting.” Stax introduced its own surcharging services in August.

CardX will continue to operate as a standalone brand, but will reside on the Stax platform, Madhani says. “With this acquisition, CardX and Stax customers will have the opportunity to leverage both companies’ offerings seamlessly,” she says. “Our customers at Stax will be able to leverage CardX’s automated surcharging capabilities and CardX’s customers will have access to the financial strength and broader portfolio of capabilities to address customers’ payment needs.”

CardX will help automate surcharging compliance for Stax. “Their capabilities will enhance our existing surcharging services, specifically helping our customers automate surcharging compliance with built-in disclosures—pricing technology to accurately process every card type—and tools for seamless reconciliation and cash application. This eliminates the compliance risks and operational headaches that our merchant customers have often associated with surcharging,” Madhani says.

CardX has been a strong advocate for enabling surcharging. Earlier this year it was a vocal advocate of efforts to enable surcharging in Colorado, which was approved. Only two states, Massachusetts and Connecticut, still prohibit surcharging. 

CardX’s leadership—Jonathan Razi, chief executive, and Michael Tomko, chief operating officer—remains in place. CardX has 2,600 active customers processing more than $1 billion in volume. Stax counts 22,000 businesses as customers that process more than $23 billion in volume. Stax says the acquisition also adds an office in Chicago.