Seven hundred and fifty-eight percent.
It’s a number that’s difficult to wrap one’s mind around — and the rate at which Chicago fintech company CardX has grown its direct sales since being acquired by Stax, an all-in-one payment technology provider.
“Our expansion has been explosive since the acquisition,” CardX CEO and founder Jonathan Razi told Built In Chicago. “We have entered a rapid period of hiring that’s not slowing down.”
But CardX’s impressive direct sales metric isn’t the only staggeric number in this story: Stax’s acquisition of CardX was its third in a string of additions that have hastened Stax’s breakneck 996 percent growth rate over the past three years.
What CardX Does
The proof is in the numbers: Stax’s acquisition of CardX has brought exponential growth to both parties. But the acquisition is about more than just the bottom line — it’s helping both companies provide a richer experience to their customers.
CardX is bringing its surcharging services to the table, which will ultimately help Stax’s merchant customers assuage compliance concerns and operational snafus that typically come with surcharging. On its part, Stax is providing CardX with a boost in distribution.
Surcharging 101
“Because of our strong flywheel, we’re able to bring something to Stax that is ahead of the market in delivering customer needs,” said Razi. “We saw the opportunity to connect with a partner that could level up our distribution.”
As in all great unions, both companies share a mutual admiration and anticipation for a bright future together.
“We were thrilled to partner with a company that valued disruption,” said Stax Merger and Acquisitions Manager Jonathan Field.
CardX’s Razi responded, “And we knew that their strong sales culture and our product would make for a great marriage.”
Describe the circumstances that led up to the company’s acquisition?
Jonathan Razi, CardX: We had reached an inflection point in the business where we could ultimately control our own destiny — we had strong product market fit and the business was operating at a profit. We were seeing more demand than ever before and had proven surcharging at scale.
Historically, we were boot-strapped to private equity investment. We went to market for a growth equity fundraise and received great bids, but were especially attracted to Stax’s vision and the private equity offer from Greater Sum Ventures
Jonathan Field, Stax: We saw the value and inevitability of surcharging and wanted to offer Stax customers with a seamless solution. We were excited about the opportunity to build out a more full payment experience — and allow merchants to control more within a single platform.
We were also excited by the prospect of being able to partner with the team who started surcharging and pushed it forward at the Supreme Court level — and ultimately acquired that team and their expertise.
Why do you consider the two companies to be a perfect match?
Jonathan Razi, CardX: CardX has been the strongest in product and regulatory strategy: working with states at the legal level, law makers, courts and attorneys general.
Our sales department was a smaller team with less structure. We saw the opportunity for a partner that has built a great direct strategy through sales and demand generation.
Jonathan Field, Stax: We knew there was an opportunity to uplevel a product-led company in CardX to the next level.
How will this merger drive greater value for CardX’s customers?
Jonathan Razi, CardX: Stax is an end-to-end payment provider. Bringing CardX, a function specialist, under the umbrella of Stax, a full-stack provider, affords us a greater level of control in terms of customer experience. It also gives us the ability and net new innovation without being constrained by legacy vendors.
Specifically, how is the company expanding both its employee and customer bases?
Jonathan Razi, CardX: Our expansion has been explosive. We have been able to build an entire inbound marketing engine.
How do you think this acquisition opens up greater opportunities for both existing employees and future new hires?
Jonathan Razi, CardX: This acquisition allows team members to specialize in specific areas as well as opportunities that only exist in a larger organization, like data analytics or partner marketing. Our subject matter experts now have the opportunity to influence a larger organization and be the true experts in a billion dollar company.
What excites you the most about this latest phase in CardX’s growth journey?
Jonathan Razi, CardX: We are already a company that is bigger, better and faster less than a year into the acquisition. We are hoping to manage CardX to the point that it is ten times bigger than it is today.
On a personal note, I’m thrilled with how much I’m learning — building and selling a company is the best learning experience. Merger integration is learning about how you bring together the best of both companies.
Jonathan Field, Stax: We can’t wait to bring the power of surcharging to all Stax Payments users and absorb their innovation. We are bringing the best of CardX to the Stax platform.
