CardX, a Chicago-based B2B fintech startup that helps its clients avoid paying credit card transaction fees, has landed more financing as it continues to improve its tech and grow its team.
The startup, founded by CEO Jonathan Razi and COO Michael Tomko, announced Monday that it raised $2 million in debt financing from Pace Financial Group. CardX says it has now raised more than $8.6 million in total funding.
In 2017 when the startup came out of stealth mode, it raised $2.1 million in an equity round led by NXGEN International in Whitefish, Montana.
Founded in 2013, CardX sells credit card terminals, virtual terminals and consumer-facing online payment portals to enterprise clients that allow them to automatically require their customers to pay any associated credit card fees at their time of purchase. Credit card fees are, on average, about 3 percent of the purchase, and many rewards cards are even more than that, making credit card transactions expensive for businesses.
CardX's clients include businesses, government agencies and academic institutions, and the company says it has added more than 3,000 merchant locations in 2018.
Though some customers may not want to pay their credit card fees at certain businesses, CardX says their product helps support small business because now many businesses that did not previously offer credit card acceptance can.
The new financing will be used to further develop CardX’s tech and hire more employees in Chicago. The company says it plans to add 25 full-time employees, including software developers, solutions engineers, and other various roles within its operations and business development teams. The startup currently employs 19 people.
“The CardX team has built a great company with incredible potential for continued growth,” said John Carr, the managing director of Pace Financial Group, in a statement. “They have an excellent track record and we are very pleased to participate in funding their next stage of expansion.”
