CardX is a service provider account companies supplier that gives bank card surcharging for certified companies. Not too long ago acquired by Stax, CardX had spent years growing not solely the know-how but additionally its working relationship with state lawmakers to supply automated surcharging instruments with the strictest compliance to surcharging rules. It’s this experience that made CardX Mastercard’s unique surcharging associate.
CardX is accessible to small companies in 48 states together with New York and Maine
Extra disclosures required for surcharging compliance.
, plus the District of Columbia. Month-to-month charges begin at $29.
CardX at a Look
Is It Value Switching to CardX?
Compliance and automation are what make CardX probably the greatest turnkey options for bank card surcharging. As soon as retailers are accredited, CardX takes care of every thing so retailers don’t want to fret about sophisticated setups. There aren’t any long-term contracts or cancellation charges, however observe that CardX prices a small month-to-month payment, so this supplier is especially splendid for normal retailers (not for infrequent sellers).
Characteristic-wise, CardX presents easy-to-use billing and recurring fee instruments, together with safe card-vault performance, which I discover helpful for companies that settle for funds through bill and supply subscriptions. CardX additionally has wonderful instruments for accepting funds on-line (through Lightbox integration) and through electronic mail, messaging, or telephone (digital terminal).
Whereas it additionally works for in-person funds, CardX will not be for everybody. For one, CardX at the moment doesn’t have a card terminal POS integration, so it’s not my first selection for retailers and eating places. Additionally, you will seemingly get charged the next debit transaction payment for in-person funds in comparison with when utilizing CardX’s digital terminal.
The fee terminals are additionally considerably costly (though this isn’t uncommon at no cost bank card processors). CardX offers you with the choice to pay a month-to-month plan that features terminal safety as an alternative of buying the {hardware} outright. Companies that settle for card-present funds ought to contemplate these extra prices when making their choice.
CardX Charges
CardX prices a month-to-month payment, which begins at $29 monthly, based mostly on annual gross sales quantity. This provides retailers entry to each card-present and card-not-present fee processing. Retailers should not have to fret about bank card transaction charges, as is the character of bank card surcharging. Nonetheless, retailers will nonetheless should shoulder acceptance charges when prospects go for their debit playing cards.
Cost Processing
Word that CardX charges assist limitless gross sales quantity transactions with accompanying larger month-to-month charges so it’s appropriate with any enterprise dimension.
{Hardware}
CardX’s month-to-month plan for {hardware} comes with a terminal safety characteristic. This implies free alternative and {hardware} tech assist so retailers won’t have to fret about additional prices if there are any points with the system.
In the event you at the moment use the identical Dejavoo {hardware}, don’t hesitate to ask CardX whether it is potential to reprogram your system as an alternative of buying a brand new one.
CardX Necessities for Signing Up
Like some other conventional service provider account companies suppliers, CardX has an software, underwriting, and approval course of in place. A fast on-line sign-up kind is accessible however it’s also possible to attain CardX account specialists by telephone, electronic mail, or through the dwell chat on its web site. The CardX gross sales group may be very responsive and you’ll anticipate a response inside 24 hours.
Utility
Click on on the “Get Began” button on the CardX web site to start your service provider account software with CardX. It will take you to a quiz-type web page that may ask you to reply eight questions resembling enterprise location, the way you need to settle for funds, and speak to particulars. As soon as full, a CardX accounts consultant will attain out to you to proceed the applying course of.
Word that whereas CardX’s subscription plans assist annual gross sales volumes from $0–$120,000, the best applicant retailers are anticipated to have a minimum of $5,000 in month-to-month gross sales ($60,000 annual) for the aim of underwriting. Your CardX consultant will offer you choices in case your gross sales quantity falls under this threshold.
Contract
CardX presents month-to-month contracts. There aren’t any cancellation charges even in case you are paying a month-to-month payment for the cardboard terminal. You’ll solely want to supply CardX with a 30-day written superior discover when you want to discontinue the service.
You may overview CardX Shopper Phrases of Service under.
CardX Compliance
For companies, CardX is accessible in 48 US states and within the District of Columbia. It additionally serves New York and Maine however with some extra disclosure necessities. CardX covers each card community rule on bank card surcharging and is Mastercard’s official surcharging associate.
Onboarding
As soon as accredited, CardX will register your corporation for credit score surcharging with the cardboard networks in your behalf. It would then offer you a brand new Service provider ID. Word which you could have a number of service provider IDs if your corporation operates in a couple of location and you’ll handle all of your accounts in a single dashboard.
In the event you signed up for a card terminal, you’ll obtain the system already programmed for CardX surcharging. Additionally, you will obtain compliant signages (if relevant). Lastly, CardX will schedule a service provider coaching session with you and your workers not simply to be taught the system, however to additionally undergo the protocols required when providing credit score surcharging to prospects.
Software program
CardX’s software program is constructed round sturdy compliance, with the system always up to date with any change in state rules. This ensures retailers are at all times as much as requirements wherever they function—from the quantity of surcharge fee being handed on to prospects, to how the charges are added to the acquisition to course of as one transaction and disclosed as a line merchandise on the receipt.
CardX fee know-how can also be designed to robotically detect debit and credit score transactions based mostly on card numbers indicated upon checkout. This implies your on-line checkout web page, digital terminal checkout, and card terminal system know when to use a surcharge or when to impose a debit transaction payment.
On-line Funds
CardX presents a lot of methods to simply accept distant funds. You may add a CardX API checkout web page integration to your web site, ship out fee hyperlinks, or run funds straight from the service provider portal. In all these strategies, CardX’ surcharging compliant fee know-how robotically detects when debit or bank cards are used and applies the right surcharge when wanted.
Ecommerce
Lightbox is CardX’s safe on-line fee platform. It might generate a fee button that results in a checkout web page linked to your web site. You may select between a ready-made code which you could copy and so as to add your web site, or click on on the hyperlink for added Lighthouse integration choices accessible within the information.

Lightbox comes with a ready-made code which you could simply copy and add to your web site. (Picture Supply: CardX)
Do you know? CardX’s customer-facing fee platforms include Mastercard Click on-to-pay, which works like a Mastercard-encrypted digital pockets that permits prospects to soundly pay anyplace on-line the place Mastercard Click on-to-pay is accessible.
Cost Hyperlinks
Lightbox may also be used to create a fee platform with a novel URL. CardX generates a novel fee hyperlink you’ll be able to ship to prospects through electronic mail or immediate messaging and even share/embed in your social media posts. There aren’t any coding abilities required to generate fee hyperlinks. All it’s worthwhile to do is copy the URL and share when wanted.
In contrast to on a web site, you’ll be able to’t customise the fields in a fee hyperlink. However from a compliance perspective—CardX covers all of it from the automated card detection characteristic, to the disclosures that prospects see on the checkout web page earlier than confirming fee.
Digital Terminal
The identical safe fee platform can also be accessible in your digital terminal. You should utilize it to run a single fee for brand new prospects. As soon as a fee is accomplished, a transaction file is created and a receipt is distributed to your buyer. CardX reveals the transaction particulars and offers you with the choice to avoid wasting/create a buyer profile.
Billing and Invoicing
Retailers can create and ship one-time and recurring invoices from the shopper profile. The system opens a brand new window the place you’ll be able to specify the quantity, billing cycle, and variety of funds. It additionally helps you to set when the primary fee might be collected.
When you save the brand new billing plan, CardX sends you a affirmation electronic mail and the brand new billing reveals up beneath the shopper profile. Receipts are despatched to the shopper each time their card is charged for this particular invoice.
The entire course of is easy and simple to finish, though it may use a product catalog element and the power to create line gadgets as an alternative choice to keying within the complete quantity. This manner retailers can overview itemized prices together with any taxes inside the service provider portal earlier than confirming the brand new plan.
Card-Current Funds
CardX lately switched to Dejavoo fee terminals for accepting in-person funds. In the mean time, nonetheless, there aren’t any prepared POS integrations accessible, so retailers that run their enterprise with a retail or restaurant POS must request customized integrations to be able to arrange the system.
This doubtlessly slows down the setup course of for retailers and restaurant retailers. And whereas utilizing the cardboard terminal with out the POS integration is feasible, not having this characteristic negatively impacts the omnichannel fee processing expertise.
Buyer Administration
The CardX buyer listing is simple and lets you search by buyer title, firm, electronic mail, telephone quantity, final 4 digits of the cardboard quantity, and billing standing. The names are clickable and can take you to the shopper profile. From there you’ll be able to edit buyer particulars, add, and edit bank card info It would additionally present any transaction accomplished by the shopper.

CardX helps you to add a brand new card or edit an present bank card to replace expiry dates. It’s also possible to run a brand new transaction inside a buyer profile. (Picture Supply: CardX)
Reporting
The CardX reporting characteristic offers retailers with gross sales and deposit information. It comes with a lot of functionalities in addition to sorting and filtering instruments. This must be my favourite of all CardX service provider platform options as a result of the interface is clear—not overwhelming and nonetheless lets you carry out a variety of duties.
Gross sales
Beneath the gross sales tab, retailers can filter their search utilizing totally different identifiers or type based on their most well-liked column headers. I notably like how one can search transactions by card terminal ID. Word that CardX doesn’t assist any accounting integration however you’ll be able to simply export information in a CSV and Excel format to make use of in a separate software program.
From the gross sales information, retailers have the choice to void the transaction if the standing signifies “Licensed” and never “Funded.” The transaction file view offers retailers with detailed info which incorporates any charges deducted, which platform was used to course of the fee, and the cardboard verification instruments to authorize the fee.
Deposits
The filtering and sorting capabilities within the deposit tab are just like what you get within the gross sales tab, besides that the information are composed of each day batch deposits as an alternative of transactions. In the event you click on on the main points, CardX gives you a listing of all of the transactions included within the specific batch date.
Apart from transaction information, the deposit particulars view additionally shows the gross deposit quantity, service provider charges, and internet deposit quantity. It additionally offers you with a deposit ID and service provider ID to assist simply monitor the deposits along with your financial institution.
Fraud Safety
Fraud is a severe concern, notably for card-not-present heavy funds that CardX helps. This makes having fraud safety instruments vital. You may select one or a number of choices that allow you to decline a transaction if sure info is lacking throughout the fee course of.
The interface may be very easy in comparison with main rivals like Stripe, however I discover this degree of management adequate from a small enterprise standpoint. For rising companies, nonetheless, a extra fine-tuned management could also be wanted to ensure they don’t miss out on official gross sales.

CardX offers a easy interface that lets you management AVS and CVV settings. (Picture Supply: CardX)
CardX Ease of Use
I signed up for a demo account with CardX and had the prospect to check out the system. General, I discover the service provider portal interface very skilled, clear, and simple to make use of. Processing a transaction takes a number of seconds from hitting the “Cost” button, and loading the shopper listing lags at instances however this will likely simply effectively be from utilizing a demo model.
The dashboard offers fast entry to stories and the digital terminal, whereas the Account menu provides you entry to account info, electronic mail notification, consumer administration, fraud safety, and Lightbox platform settings. CardX doesn’t have its personal chargeback administration software however offers its retailers with entry to the Elavon chargeback platform.
One factor that I really feel CardX is vastly lacking out on is its invoicing and billing administration instruments—particularly because it caters largely to card-not-present funds. In the mean time, the service provider portal doesn’t have built-in performance to create detailed invoices and billing statements. There is no such thing as a method so as to add line gadgets or preview the doc that prospects obtain earlier than sending out that assertion. That is one thing that companies can be on the lookout for as they develop.
Deposit Pace
CardX presents next-business-day funding with automated batch settlements so retailers not have to fret about batch closing on the finish of the day. There is no such thing as a possibility for same-day funding. This is similar coverage adopted by Stax and Cost Depot.
Buyer Help
Buyer telephone assist is accessible throughout enterprise hours–Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Central time. A dwell chat characteristic can also be accessible inside the service provider portal. Go away your service provider account info and wait for somebody from CardX to reply.
What Customers Say in CardX Opinions
It’s fascinating that after 9 years within the business, there aren’t any accessible real-life consumer opinions on-line for CardX. The identical goes for Higher Enterprise Bureau the place CardX obtained A+ score. The shortage of on-line opinions makes it onerous to gauge how retailers really feel concerning the service, though some could interpret the shortage of on-line opinions as a optimistic signal for a fee processor that has been working for almost a decade.
Backside Line
It comes as no shock that CardX is now Stax’s compliance engine. By way of compliance and automation, CardX stands out from all different credit score surcharging platforms we’ve reviewed. Small ecommerce and repair professionals on the lookout for an easy-to-use and dependable credit score surcharging platform can’t go fallacious with CardX. The CardX charges are affordable and are true worth for cash.
As with each service provider processor, there’s at all times room for enchancment however we realized whereas doing this CardX overview that Stax already has a roadmap in place to broaden CardX and its options.