Stax by Fattmerchant Review

Stax by Fattmerchant could save you up to 40% on credit card processing fees. But is it good for your small to medium-size business? Read this review to find out.

	Save Up to 40%
	Overall Score	4.3
	Price	4.5
	Customer Service	5.0
	Contract	5.0
	Ecommerce	4.5
	High Volume Business	5.0
	Low Volume Business	2.0

5-point scale (the higher, the better)

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Pros and Cons

• Flat monthly subscription fee, starting at $99
• 0% markup on Interchange
• No long-term contract

• Extra add-on fees
• Not for low-volume businesses

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Bottom Line

Simple subscription-based processor for higher volume businesses

• What is Stax?
  
• Pros & Cons
  
• Products & Services
  
• Packages & Fees
  
• Equipment
  
• How It Compares

What is Stax?

Stax by Fattmerchant has an interesting subscription-based pricing model. You only pay direct interchange costs on your transaction. Stax does not add a mark-up, and in exchange, you pay a monthly membership fee.

No markup is pretty unique in the world of merchant account providers. You can save a lot on processing fees. This structure is ideal for larger businesses processing at least $20,000 per month.

Stax offers a variety of credit card processing equipment and solutions for businesses of all types - whether you operate solely online, take phone orders, or take in-person sales.

Keep reading to learn more.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Subscription-based Pricing; no mark-up
  You pay a flat monthly fee starting at $99 per month. There is no per-transaction markup. The only fees you will pay is your subscription fee and the direct interchange costs per transaction.

• No Contract
  With month-to-month billing, you don't have to worry about being locked into a long term contract.

• Lots of Way to Accept Payments
  Fatttmerchant offers processing for mobile, contactless, online, invoicing, recurring billing, over the phone, ACH, and more. No matter how your business operates, there's a solution for you.

• Custom Statements and Invoices
  You can align your paperwork with your business' brand and logo.

• Integrated Payment Platform
  You can produce custom reports, manage inventory, and monitor sales data and customer retention across your business from every terminal in one centralized place.

Cons

• Extra Add-on Fees
  There are extra fees for add-on features like QuickBooks integration, equipment, and same-day funding.

• Expensive for Smaller Business
  Subscription pricing is not ideal for smaller businesses with unsteady sales. If you process less than $20,000 per month, you may find better value elsewhere.

Stax Products & Services

Here's a list of the features Stax offers:

Mobile Processing
Accept payments from your phone or tablet from anywhere. You can accept swipe, chip, and contactless payments with the mobile reader. You can even scan an image of customer credit cards with your phone's camera.

Virtual Terminal
If you take phone orders often, the virtual terminal can be a good option. You can:

• Accept payments over the phone and key in the payment information.

• Sync the sales with your physical terminal or mobile device to complete the sale for greater security.

The virtual terminal also includes access to invoicing, inventory, and your customer database.

Physical Terminals
If you accept payments in person, the Stax terminals make it easy to process card present transactions. You can accept swipe, chip, and contactless payments with the Stax terminals.

The Stax physical terminals integrate with the virtual terminal or mobile processing for a unified solution.

Invoicing and Recurring Billing
Create custom invoices and statements and set up recurring invoices for future billings. For subscription based businesses, you can create payment schedules, adjust payment amounts, and pause subscription billing.

Ecommerce Shopping Cart
Create your custom shopping cart to integrate your brand and logo. Customers remain on your website for the entire transaction, increasing the likelihood of a completed transaction.

ACH processing
Collect funds electronically directly from the customer's bank account.

Surcharge
You can add transparent surcharge fees and offset your processing costs by passing them onto your customers.

Developer API
If you have complex software needs, the Stax API makes it easy to integrate their processing with your software needs.

Backup Processing
Even if your Wi-Fi signal is weak or the power or internet goes down, keep on processing on the Stax mobile app.

Stax Packages & Fees

Stax by Fattmerchant offers three subscription tiers:

• Growth: $99 per month
  Includes digital invoicing, recurring invoices and scheduled payments, virtual terminal, ACH payments, free surcharging capabilities, backup processing, and basic analytics.

• Pro: $159 per month
  Includes everything in Growth plus: Text2Pay, website-hosted payment links, credit cards on file, accounting reconciliation, API capabilities, and enhanced analytics.

• Ultimate: $199 per month
  Includes everything in Pro plus: auto updates for stored credit cards, one-click shopping cart with catalog management, data exports, advanced analytics, and dedicated account manager.

If you process more than $500,000 annually, you can talk to Stax about custom pricing.

There are extra fees for certain add-on features. For example, if you're on the Growth plan but you'd like one-click shopping cart setup, you can add that feature. Payment gateway also has an additional fee.

When you talk to a Stax rep, all the add-ons will be clearly communicated so you know what your final monthly subscription price is.

Contract

Stax does not require a contract. It's month-to-month billing. You can cancel your service without worrying about an early termination fee. However, you must submit a 30-day written notice before the cancellation date.

Stax Equipment

Stax offers a small selection of payment processing equipment, including:

• Dejavoo terminals
  
• First Data terminals
  
• Ingenico Desk terminals
  
• Clover POS system
  
• Stax Pay Mobile card reader (BBPOS Chipper 2X BT)

Stax offers various equipment models like standard terminals, smart terminals, mobile-only card readers, and POS solutions. You can accept dip (chip cards), swipe (traditional magnetic card), and tap (contactless) credit card payments as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

How Stax by Fattmerchant Compares

Payment Depot
Like Stax, Payment Depot offers membership-based pricing. Both of them don't charge a percentage markup on interchange.

Payment Depot operates on a month-to-month basis. Pricing plans start at $79 per month. You'll pay a monthly subscription fee based on your annual sales volume, plus the interchange rates for each transaction without percentage markup.

	Stax by fattmerchant	Payment Depot
	SPECIAL OFFER Save Up to 40% - Learn More	SPECIAL OFFER Save 40% or More - Learn More
	Benefits and Features
Customer Service	Phone, Email, Fax, Live Chat Support, Fattmerchant Support Center	Phone, Email, Ticket Center, Social Media Platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)
Good For	Businesses processing $15,000 or more per month	Businesses processing $20,000 or more per month
Equipment	POS (EMV, Magstripe, Contactless, NFC), Mobile Payment Processing, Online Processing	POS (EMV, Magstripe, NFC, Contactless, Smart Terminals), Mobile Payment Processing, Online Payment Processing
Pricing Model	Subscription	Subscription
Swipe Rate	Interchange + $0.08	Interchange + 8¢
Online Rate	Interchange + $0.18	Interchange + 18¢
Monthly Fee	Starts at $99 per month	Start at $79/month (Process up to $250,000/yr) Custom quote (Process more than $250,000/yr)
Keyed-in Transaction Fee	Interchange + $0.18	Interchange + 18¢
Deposit Time	Next Day Funding (for approval) Standard Deposit Time is within 48-hours.	Next day deposits
	Save Up to 40% First Month Free Request a Savings Analysis	Save 40% or More First Month Free Save Over $400 Per Month on Average

Stripe
Stripe offers flat-rate pay-as-you-go pricing, rather than a monthly subscription fee. This works out better for smaller businesses. However, large businesses can get custom pricing.

Stripe is mostly known for being an online processing provider (for eCommerce, B2B, mobile apps, etc.). They offer excellent developer API tools that lets you completely customize your online checkout experience.

		StripeSquarePayment DepotVenmo
	Stax by fattmerchant	Stripe
	SPECIAL OFFER Save Up to 40% - Learn More	SPECIAL OFFER Online Payment Processing - Learn More
	Benefits and Features
Customer Service	Phone, Email, Fax, Live Chat Support, Fattmerchant Support Center	Phone (by request), Email, Live Chat, IRC
Good For	Businesses processing $15,000 or more per month	Online businesses; Customized checkout experience
Equipment	POS (EMV, Magstripe, Contactless, NFC), Mobile Payment Processing, Online Processing	Online Processing, Terminal, Stripe for Marketplace & Platforms, Billing Services (subscription & invoicing)
Pricing Model	Subscription	Flat rate
Swipe Rate	Interchange + $0.08	2.7% + 5¢
Online Rate	Interchange + $0.18	2.9% + 30¢
Monthly Fee	Starts at $99 per month	No monthly fees
Keyed-in Transaction Fee	Interchange + $0.18	3.4% + 30¢
Deposit Time	Next Day Funding (for approval) Standard Deposit Time is within 48-hours.	7-14 days after the first successful payment
Chargeback Fee	$25	$15
	Save Up to 40% First Month Free Request a Savings Analysis	Online Payment Processing

PayPal
PayPal is one of the most popular options for small businesses. It has different flat-rates based on the processing method. There is no monthly fee.

The biggest advantage of choosing PayPal is that you can accept PayPal and Venmo payments on your website and in-person. You even get a reduced processing rate for PayPal and Venmo QR code transactions. It offers the most payment options to customers.

The platform excels in online credit card transactions, but you do run the risk of cart abandonment, as your customer must leave your website to complete the payment.

		PayPalSquarePayment DepotVenmo
	Stax by fattmerchant	PayPal
	SPECIAL OFFER Save Up to 40% - Learn More
	Benefits and Features
Customer Service	Phone, Email, Fax, Live Chat Support, Fattmerchant Support Center	Phone, Email, Live Chat Support, PayPal Community
Good For	Businesses processing $15,000 or more per month	Accepting Paypal payments; Small businesses with average transaction under $100
Equipment	POS (EMV, Magstripe, Contactless, NFC), Mobile Payment Processing, Online Processing	POS (Chip, Swipe, Tap), Marketplaces & Partners, Invoicing, Online Processing
Pricing Model	Subscription	Flat rate
Swipe Rate	Interchange + $0.08	2.7%
Online Rate	Interchange + $0.18	2.9% + 30¢
Monthly Fee	Starts at $99 per month	No monthly fees; $30/month for PayPal Payments Pro
Keyed-in Transaction Fee	Interchange + $0.18	3.5% + 15¢
Deposit Time	Next Day Funding (for approval) Standard Deposit Time is within 48-hours.	Instant access to the funds in your PayPal account; Or instant deposit to your bank account for 1% fee or 1-2 business days for no fee
Chargeback Fee	$25	$20
	Save Up to 40% First Month Free Request a Savings Analysis

Bottom Line

Stax by Fattmerchant is best suited for the mid- to larger-size business that processes more than $20,000 per month. By having no per-transaction markup, you can save a lot on processing fees. And the flat-rate monthly subscription pricing keeps things simple.