Countertop and smart terminals
Chip, tap, and mobile wallets on hardware that's ready the day it arrives.
- EMV chip and contactless
- Mobile wallets, where the equipment supports them
- Wi-Fi, ethernet, or cellular
Payments. Simplified.
Card processing your business can actually understand.
For U.S. businesses: every fee in writing before you sign, a straight answer when switching won't save you money, and one named representative who answers.
Agency or school? Proposals and solicitations
Effective rate check
What are you really paying?
Three numbers from your last statement. Example figures are filled in. Replace them with yours.
$
$
$
3.29%your effective rate
$17,760in fees per year
$5.92per transaction
Effective rate is total fees divided by total card sales. This is an estimate from your numbers, one month times twelve. Statement totals can include equipment, PCI, and other charges. Not a quote. Send us the statement and we'll show you where every dollar goes.
Get a free rate review
Your rep is Justin Haag, founder.
Outside Cardeva, he leads a national team of 250 payments agents. You'll deal with him, not a queue. About Justin
“I cannot say enough great things about how smooth he made this transition for us.”
“The whole process has been much easier than what we were dealing with before.”
Excerpts from Google reviews of Justin’s work setting up merchants under a prior brand; results vary by business. Read both reviews
Solutions
Every way your customers pay, through one representative.
Pick what fits the way you sell today. Add the rest when you need it, through the same representative.
Point of sale
Full POS for restaurants and retail: menus, inventory, tips, staff, and reporting in one screen.
- Tableside and counter service
- Inventory and gift cards
- Reports you can read on your phone
Online payments
Take cards on your website with hosted checkout or payment links. Using a shopping cart already? Tell us which one and we'll confirm what connects before you sign.
- Hosted checkout
- Payment links by email or text
- Online and in-store sales, priced together in writing
Invoicing and virtual terminal
Send an invoice and get paid by card, or key in a phone order from any browser.
- Email and text invoices
- Card on file
- Enhanced data for corporate cards
Mobile and tap to pay
Take payments on a phone or tablet, on a job site, at a market, or at a customer's kitchen table.
- Bluetooth card readers
- Tap to pay on a phone
- The same rep as your store
Recurring and stored payments
Memberships, retainers, and installment plans that bill themselves.
- Scheduled billing
- Card on file for repeat charges
- Failed-payment follow-up, where your software supports it
Pricing
One price, explained line by line.
Every card sale has three costs inside it. Two of them are the same no matter who processes your payments. Only one is up to your processor.
Cardeva prices that one line as a markup you agree to before you sign, with every other fee on the account in writing too, and it stays on your statement where you can see it every month. That's interchange-plus pricing, and it's how we price most accounts.
Flat-rate processors bundle all three into one number. That's simpler to read and can cost more as your volume grows, because their margin is hidden inside the blend.
Thinking about surcharging, a cash discount or dual pricing? Those are priced their own way. See how fee programs work.
Get a free rate reviewAnatomy of a card salePer transaction
Set by the networks
Interchange
Set by Visa, Mastercard, and Discover, and paid to the bank that issued your customer's card; American Express sets its own wholesale rate. The same schedule for every processor.
Set by the networks
Network assessments
Set by the card networks and paid to them. Also the same everywhere.
Negotiable
Processor markup
The only line your processor controls. With Cardeva it's a markup you agree to in writing, not a margin buried inside a blended rate.
Ask any processor to show you these three lines separately. If they can't, that tells you something.
Every fee, in writing, before you sign
The quote lists every fee on the account. When your first statement arrives, we check it against that quote with you, line by line, and if a charge shows up that the quote didn't, we take it up with the processor for you. Ask any processor for the same thing and see what happens.
Cardeva vs. flat-rate apps
Flat-rate is simple to start. It can get expensive to stay.
The big-name apps are a fine first step. As volume grows, a blended rate can cost more than interchange-plus. Send a statement and we'll show you whether it does for you.
| What is compared | Flat-rate apps | Cardeva |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | One blended rate. Their margin is inside it, and you can't see it. | Usually interchange-plus: network cost plus our markup. Fee programs are quoted their own way. Every fee is in writing before you sign. |
| Your account | A sub-account under the app's own master account, on the app's terms. | Your own underwritten merchant account, in your business's name. |
| Large tickets | Quick sign-up with little review up front; large or unusual sales can be reviewed later. | Underwritten for your normal ticket size before you go live, so it is on file from the first sale. |
| Equipment | Their hardware, their ecosystem. | Terminals, POS, and online tools chosen to fit how you sell. |
Surcharging, cash discounting, dual pricing
Stop paying for your customers' card choice. Keep the customers.
Every “zero-fee” program moves the cost of cards to the customer. The good ones do it in the open, before the customer decides how to pay. That is the difference between a program that pays for itself and one that costs you regulars. We only set up the first kind.
Surcharging
A fee on credit card sales only, posted before the customer pays and printed on the receipt as its own line. Capped at 3% under Visa's rules, and banned or capped in a few states.
Best for large tickets and business-to-business invoices. We check your state first (state-by-state guide).
Cash discounting
Your posted price is the card price, and customers who pay cash get a discount. No cap and no notice period under the card-network rules; a few states set their own discount rules.
Best where cash is still common: trades, markets, service calls, small counters.
Dual pricing
Both prices shown side by side, the card price first and the cash price beside it, and the customer chooses before paying.
Best for restaurants, fuel, auto repair, and anyone with a menu or price board.
Surcharge, cash discount, and dual-pricing programs are governed by card-network rules and by state and local law, which differ by state and change over time. Availability, caps, and disclosure requirements depend on where you operate and what you sell. Cardeva confirms eligibility for your state and your payment types before any program starts, and program setup is subject to your acquirer's approval. This page is general information, not legal advice. See our Terms of Use.
Industries
Built for how your business gets paid.
Pick your industry to see the setup that fits, what to ask before you switch, and what we put in writing.
Gyms, studios, and membership businesses
Recurring membership billing with card-on-file and front-desk checkout on one account, so the monthly draft runs without chasing anyone. Tell us your membership software and we'll confirm in writing what it connects to. For gyms and studios
Auto repair and service shops
Big repair tickets, estimates and invoices with the cash price and card price built in, and payment links by text before pickup. For auto repair shops
Restaurants and hospitality
Tableside ordering, tip management, and a POS that keeps the line moving. Larger hotels and venues: tell us the systems you run and we'll confirm the fit. For restaurants and bars
Salons, barbershops, and spas
Online booking, walk-ins and waitlists, deposits that protect your time, and checkout with tips on one system. For salons and barbers
Professional services
Law firms, accountants, and advisors. Retainers, large invoices, and card-on-file billing that runs itself.
Government and municipalities
Utility bills, permits, taxes, court and citation payments, with the service-fee options the card networks allow for eligible public payments. For government
Schools and higher education
Tuition, fees, meal accounts, activities, and campus stores. Send us the solicitation and we'll tell you in writing whether we can respond, and who would hold the contract. For schools
Healthcare and home care
Copays, care plans, and recurring billing, with card on file so families aren't chased for payment.
Retail
Inventory, gift cards, and a counter that takes tap, chip, and wallets without slowing anyone down. For retail and convenience
Gas stations
Chip and tap at the pump on many existing dispensers, a register connected to your pumps, and EBT inside. For gas stations
Home services and contractors
Get paid at the kitchen table by card, or send the invoice from the truck and get paid before you leave the driveway. For contractors
B2B and wholesale
Tax, purchase order, and line-item detail on corporate and purchasing card sales, which may qualify eligible sales for lower interchange. For B2B
Multi-location and franchises
Groups with several locations, franchise systems, and U.S. companies selling abroad: every location priced in writing, and the same team that answers. For multi-location
Switching
Four steps. The first one takes a photo.
Step 1
Send your last statement
A photo or PDF of last month's processing statement is all we need to start.
Step 2
Get a line-by-line comparison
What you pay today, what you'd pay with Cardeva, and the difference, in writing.
Step 3
We set everything up
We handle the application with the acquiring bank and processor, and your equipment arrives set up. Your existing bank account stays exactly where it is.
Step 4
Go live with a named rep
You get a direct number. When something comes up, you call a person who already knows your account.
Locked into a contract? Send it with the statement. We'll tell you what leaving costs and whether it's worth it, and we'll say so plainly if it isn't.
FAQ
Straight answers.
Do I have to change banks?
No. Deposits go to the business checking account you already use.
What will my rate be?
Most accounts are priced interchange-plus: the card networks' published cost plus our markup. Fee programs and higher-risk accounts can be priced differently. Whatever the structure, we quote it, and every other fee on the account, after we see your statement, and all of it is in writing before you sign anything.
I'm under contract with another processor. Can I still switch?
Usually, yes. Send us the contract with your statement. We'll read the termination terms and show you what leaving costs, so you can decide with real numbers instead of guessing.
How fast do I get my money?
Funding schedules depend on your account and industry. We'll tell you yours in writing before you sign, not after.
What does equipment cost?
It depends on what you need, and we quote it plainly, in writing. If the equipment you already own can be reprogrammed instead of replaced, we'll tell you that too.
What about PCI compliance?
Which parts of PCI compliance fall on you depends on the equipment and software you use. We confirm that in writing for your setup, walk you through the annual questionnaire, and tell you plainly which parts are yours.
Can I pass card fees to my customers?
Yes, three ways, none of them allowed in Puerto Rico. A surcharge on credit cards only, capped at 3% under Visa's rules and never above your own cost, posted at the door and the register and on the receipt, with 30 days' notice to your acquirer (the bank behind your merchant account), and not allowed in a few states. A cash discount, where the posted price is the card price and cash pays less. Or dual pricing, where both prices are displayed and the customer picks. The rule that matters most isn't in any rulebook: customers accept a fee they saw coming and walk away from one that surprises them. We set up the kind they see coming.
Who is Cardeva?
An independent merchant services brand based in Arizona, for businesses and public agencies across the United States. From the first call you work with a named representative, not a queue.
Free rate review
Send a statement. Get a straight answer.
Fill this in, attach your statement if it's handy, and we'll take it from there. Government agencies and schools have their own form.
- Your true effective rate today
- What you'd pay with Cardeva, line by line
- A plain answer on whether switching is worth it
Justin Haag, founder
You'll deal with him, not a queue. About Cardeva
Cardeva will never call, text, or email you asking you to sign anything unless you contacted us first.