Energy Advantage's CardCharge Calculator Saves Both Merchants and Consumers From High Credit and Debit Card Processing Fees

NORWALK, Conn., March 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Energy Advantage, Inc. today introduced CardCharge Calculator, a new technology that calculates the cost of acceptance for each individual credit or debit card transaction so that merchants can both reduce the cost of accepting high priced processing fees and either recoup some of their costs or pass the savings along to customers. CardCharge Calculator, is partnering with credit card gateways, processors and merchant service providers to make this patent pending technology available to e-commerce as well retail stores throughout the United States.

CardCharge service provides merchants with a real time, accurate calculations of what the total charges will be to any merchant, transaction by transaction for each purchase that is made with a MasterCard, Visa, American Express or Discover card. Based on each individual merchant's settings, CardCharge then takes these calculations and converts them into CardCharge Discounts, CardCharge Rewards Points, or Pass-through Fees to the customer. Merchants have the option to pass-through high priced card fees to their customers or give a discount when a customer uses a low-cost payment method.

Credit Card processing fees have risen dramatically in recent years and the practice of embedding those costs into the pricing of goods and services causes total costs to consumers to be higher than necessary. The CardCharge Calculator empowers merchants to better manage acceptance fees and provide discounts that correspond to the actual cost of processing various rewards cards, debit cards and other forms of payment.

When customers present their choice of payment, the CardCharge Calculator instantly takes the transaction subtotal, the card being presented, along with the merchant's preset characteristics, such as transaction volume, merchant type and discount or charge thresholds, and calculates the total card processing cost that would be involved if the transaction proceeds.  CardCharge instantly forwards the information to the merchant's system, along with the recommended amount of pass-through fees or discounts that are appropriate for the transaction.  If the customer approves the transaction with the modified transaction total, the merchant's system submits the transaction for approval and processing.  If the customer prefers to use a different method of payment with lower cost of acceptance, the CardCharge Calculator will re-calculate the transaction with a lower total transaction amount.

"The cost of processing certain credit cards can be two to three times as much as processing transactions with other cards," said Ed Levene, CardCharge President.  "In extreme circumstances, the cost to process a transaction with a particular credit card can be ten times as much as processing the same transaction with some debit cards.   It doesn't make sense for merchants to always be forced to absorb these costs.  CardCharge Calculator can not only reduce the merchant's cost of doing business but can provide a way for them to attract and retain customers through rewards and discounts."

CardCharge Calculator services are currently in the Alpha Testing phase of development, and the Beta Testing phase will begin soon.  Product release for general users is expected during the Spring of 2013.  Merchants who would like to be considered as a Beta Test site can contact Energy Advantage, Inc. at (203) 857-9200, or visit our website at www.cardchargecalculator.com.

SOURCE Energy Advantage, Inc.