May 27, 2009
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News: UpClick Nuzzles On Interchange Fee Business
The credit card processing business just became more competitive with the entry of a new player whose focus is to increase their customer's earnings. UpClick officially launched its new company on May 26th after a three month trial period. The new card processing company targets software companies specifically and promises to reduce customer costs with best practices, new channels and innovative tools. The Montreal based company introduced its UpClick 3.0 program which combines three different products into one neat package. UpClick includes a free payment processing service, a cross-selling system and an affiliate marketing platform which is managed on a user friendly website. UpClick presents a new concept by eliminating the credit card processing fees charged to businesses. Of course there is a catch. The no fee applies to purchases totaling less than $40. For debit or credit card transactions of $40 and higher the company charges a flat fee of 6.9%. In exchange for the no fee transactions, the business would give UpClick authorization to sell their buyers software products such as eBooks and back-up CD's during the checkout process.
In response to the increasing interchange fees charged by Visa and MasterCard, a surge of companies entered the market offering the low or no cost credit card processing fees. UpClick has been the most recent company to jump on the bandwagon to offer these discounted rates. UpClick will absorb debit and credit card processing fees while placing their own client's products alongside the merchants at the checkout point. The ads display the merchant's name and product information along with UpClick's logo. The company's clients market a wide range of computer products ranging from antivirus programs to audio converters. During checkout, if the customer buys one of the cross sell products, the merchant is paid a 20% commission, the cross sell merchant gets 50%, and UpClick keeps the rest to pay interchange fees and chargebacks. The company hopes there will be a sufficient amount remaining to go toward earnings. Additionally, UpClick will handle all customer service concerns and chargeback issues.
To date, during the soft launch period, UpClick's credit card transaction amounts have grown to $500,000 a month. The company now expects to turn a profit by the end of May. Owners of the company believe that delivering value to their customers will bring them success in the long run. It's a gamble they are willing to take