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SurchX Review: Fees, Complaints, Comparisons, & Lawsuits

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Rating

5/5
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Note: Since SurchX was acquired by InterPayments, we will no longer be updating this profile.

Rebranded as InterPayments

As of 2021, SurchX’s website now redirects to InterPayments. InterPayments acquired SurchX in 2020, and the InterPayments name was registered in California in 2020 by Nagendra Jayanty, who currently serves as the CEO for the company. It does not appear that SurchX’s founder, Robert Maynard, is involved with the new company. We look forward to providing a full InterPayments review in the future.

SurchX Payment Processing

Founded in 2017, SurchX is a financial technology company that enables merchant accounts to add surcharges to e-commerce transactions and pass the cost of accepting credit cards to their customers. The company advertises that it does not require merchants to change their “processor, bank or shopping cart,” which suggests that it is not a merchant account provider offering zero-fee or cash discount pricing. Rather, SurchX’s software appears to interface with each merchant’s current payment gateway or shopping cart to add a checkout field that applies and discloses an additional surcharge to each transaction. SurchX advertises that its service is free, so it is unclear how it generates revenue, but a likely explanation is that it takes some percentage of each surcharge for itself.

SurchX Location & Ownership

SurchX does not disclose an acquiring bank or backend processor. The company’s headquarters are located at 40 N Central Ave #2100, Phoenix, Arizona 85004, where it has announced its intention to hire 150 new employees during 2019. Robert Maynard is the founder of SurchX.

SurchX Review Table of Contents

  • Costs & Contract: SurchX does not require merchants to enter into a merchant account contract.
  • Complaints & Service: SurchX complaints number fewer than 10 on public complaints forums.
  • BBB Rating: SurchX does not have a Better Business Bureau profile at this time.
  • Sales & Marketing: SurchX does not hire independent sales agents and has not received any complaints about its sales practices.

Is the BBB Rating for SurchX Accurate?

Better Business Bureau Profile

see which processors will offer you the lowest pricing and best service
see who will offer you the lowest pricing and best service

No Profile Available

The Better Business Bureau does not maintain a profile for SurchX at this time. We therefore will not factor a BBB rating into this review.

How Expensive is SurchX?

Rates, Fees, and Contract Terms

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Cost Summary

Swiped Rate 0.5%
Keyed-In Rate 0.5%
Early Termination Fee $0
PCI Compliance Fee $0
Equipment Lease Terms $0

No Contract Required

SurchX does not require its users to sign a new merchant account contract in order to use its services because it is not a conventional merchant account provider. Instead, SurchX is a software solution that interacts with a merchant’s existing payment processing environment to add a surcharge to each sale processed through the merchant’s online store. This surcharge is intended to offset the per-transaction fee charged by the merchant’s existing processor, hence the company’s claims that it is “free.” However, SurchX fees do include a portion of each surcharge for itself whenever possible in order to generate revenue.

Using SurchX For Retail

SurchX does not publicly state whether it is intended for retail use, but all of its marketing copy refers to the use of APIs and shopping cart integrations in order to add surcharges. It would be very labor-intensive for the company to reconfigure each merchant’s in-store terminal to apply surcharges without involving the merchant’s existing provider. For this reason, merchants should primarily expect to use SurchX in conjunction with a low-cost e-commerce merchant account if they want to receive the greatest benefit. We encourage merchants to check out our list of the providers of the best merchant services.

No Red Flags, But No Disclosure

The SurchX rates and business model is unique within the credit card processing industry. Most companies offering “zero fee” or “cash discount” pricing require merchants to switch their merchant accounts in order to correctly apply and collect surcharges. SurchX is attempting to add its product to existing checkout flows in order to make surcharging easier for all businesses, regardless of provider. This approach raises a number of questions that are not addressed on SurchX’s website or its public statements. For now, we will take the company at its word, but we welcome feedback from SurchX users regarding the company’s surcharging schedule, its monthly and annual costs, and its compatibility with other payment processors.

Does SurchX Use Deceptive Marketing?

Advertising & Sales Strategy

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Key Points

Employs Independent Resellers No
Advertises Deceptive Rates No
Discloses All Important Terms No

Inside Sales Team

SurchX appears to primarily market its services through traditional advertising and an in-house sales team. There is no evidence at this time that the company employs a large term of independently contracted sales agents, but its stated goal of hiring 150 new employees in 2019 may reflect a desire to expand its sales staff. At this time, there are no SurchX complaints related to the company’s sales team, which is a good sign that it maintains ethical sales practices. This compares favorably to our list of best credit card processors.

SurchX’s Savings Calculator

The SurchX website features an interactive calculator to help each merchant “estimate the impact to your bottom line.” The calculator simply asks users to enter their current net margin. It then appears to return their new net margin under SurchX, their net margin increase, and the breakeven abandon rate for their online shopping cart. In reality, the calculator simply adds 3.5% to the original margin number and runs the calculations using that number. The 3.5% increase likely represents SurchX’s average surcharge per transaction, but it may not reflect an accurate surcharge amount for every single merchant. In our estimation, the calculator is not especially misleading, but it’s also not especially useful.

SurchX Rate Quotes

The SurchX website also states that it will “add up to .5% to the transaction, if allowed.” Current surcharge laws in the U.S. allow merchants to surcharge up to 4% in states where surcharges are legal, which means that SurchX cannot add its markup to any transaction that would increase the merchant’s surcharge above 4%. In other words, SurchX can only add its markup of up to 0.5% in events when the merchant’s cost of accepting a card is less than 4%. At this time, we do not see any evidence of deceptive rate quotes or unethical sales conduct, but merchants should be sure to inquire as to how exactly the company’s product works before signing up. Merchants who are already using SurchX can double-check the company’s pricing with a third-party statement audit.

Does SurchX Deserve Your Business?

Review Summary & Our Thoughts

A Promising Concept, But Still Very New

SurchX has taken a clever approach by selling a surcharging tool that is not bundled with a specific merchant account. This makes it difficult to assess the company’s pricing and performance using criteria that we usually apply to merchant account providers. SurchX’s software has the potential to greatly expand the use of surcharges among e-commerce merchants, but we will need more information about its pricing, surcharging practices, and technology before we can issue an overall rating. For now, merchants should only consider SurchX if they understand the nuances of cash discount and zero-fee processing.

5-Star Rated SurchX Competitors

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About The Author

Phillip Parker is a Payments Industry Analyst and creator of this blog, CardPaymentOptions.com. Phillip is passionate about researching merchant service providers and payment industry trends. He is often quoted as an expert source in national publications such as INC Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Entrepreneur, and many others.

“I started this blog because I was disgusted by the business practices of the merchant services industry. I wanted to empower business owners by providing insight on how to avoid shady merchant account providers and costly credit card processing mistakes.” 

Phillip’s Processor Comparisons

Picking a credit card processor can be a headache, but we’ve made it easy. Phillip recommends comparing the best merchant services providers we’ve researched.

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