Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to another Nacho Tuesday! Today, I have James from Phix here. Without further ado, we’d love for you to introduce yourself, tell us about what you do at Phix, and share more about the company. James Fischer Hi, everyone! My name is James Fischer, and I’m currently the Director of Support Engineering at Phix. I’ve been with the company for four years, working in a variety of roles across the organization. Phix is a full-stack acquirer processor directly connected to all the major credit card networks. We level the playing field by eliminating middlemen from the payment stack. Through these direct connections, we provide better technology, customer support, and pricing to every business using Phix. We serve businesses with simple needs—small and large, whether they’re brick-and-mortar stores or online e-commerce stores—as well as larger ISV (Independent Software Vendor) customers with more complex use cases, such as split payments and digital marketplaces. We also support registered payment facilitators. Host: You’re at Money 2020 in Las Vegas right now, right? James Fischer: Yes, I’m currently at Money 2020, taking this call from the glamorous Link Hotel, right next to the Venetian where the actual event is. If anyone watching is also at Money 2020, feel free to find me on LinkedIn and let me know! Phix has a booth at the Canonita, located in the Grand Canal Shops. Our team will be there all day, so if you’re around, stop by, and let’s talk payments. We have a full team of payments experts eager to discuss anything related to payments or Money 2020. It’s been a great event so far! Host: That sounds great! We also have a Fentex side to our platform, so maybe I should fly over there from Vegas and join you at your booth! James Fischer: Haha, if you’re here in the next few hours, we’ll be here all day! Host: I guess you’re learning about a lot of exciting things over there at the event! You’re right in the middle of it all. Can you share any of the latest trends you’re hearing about, particularly in the payments industry for businesses and in-person merchants? James Fischer: Sure! Having been at Phix for four years and seeing the evolution of the company, we started as a developer-friendly, API-first platform, primarily working with registered payment facilitators and offering technology plumbing. Over time, though, we’ve seen more demand for user-friendly, dashboard-first experiences. A couple of years ago, we pivoted and expanded into a low-code, no-code offering to meet this need. One key trend we’ve seen, not just at Money 2020 but over the last couple of years, is the push for faster time to revenue and quicker implementation. Becoming a registered payment facilitator can be an incredibly costly and time-consuming experience. For example, when Uber first entered the payments space, they had a team of about 400 payments engineers. Not many companies have that kind of resources. This is where Phix and other companies like us come in. We help reduce the barrier to entry by offering highly configurable, customizable, yet easy-to-use payment solutions that can be implemented quickly. Host: As they always say, time is money, right? So, getting those systems up and running quickly is crucial for businesses. James Fischer: Absolutely. And that ease of implementation is a big part of the trend toward easier payment acceptance. Many legacy payment players still rely on technology that was built in the ‘80s and ‘90s. When I hear “30 years ago,” I think about the mid-'90s, and that’s a long time in technology! These legacy systems were great for simpler use cases, but they’ve become outdated. Many of them have grown through acquisitions, which can lead to a patchwork solution. With one wrong move, the whole system could fall apart. At Phix, we’ve built everything from the ground up. We’re directly connected to the major networks, and our engineers have done things that others thought weren’t possible. But it’s all in place now, and we’re living it. The goal is to make payment acceptance easier and more seamless, so businesses can handle all their payment needs with one provider like Phix. Host: With the growth in international business and mobile commerce, people want their money faster and need to be able to send payments on the go. What are some of the newer, popular payment methods you see aligning with these trends? Which ones do you think will stick around over the next 10 years? James Fischer: You’ve got the classic payment methods like credit cards, debit cards, and bank transfers, and I don’t think those are going anywhere anytime soon. But with the rise of digital wallets, contactless cards, and newer methods like Zelle, PayPal, and Venmo, we’re seeing a growing demand for mobile payments. Many of the businesses we work with start with one payment method, like just credit or debit cards, or they dive in with multiple methods from the start. We make it easy for them to accept a variety of payment options, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. These options work in every channel—online, in-store, and via mobile apps. One of the more interesting trends we’re seeing is in the field services industry. We work with companies that provide software for plumbers, contractors, and other technicians who work in the field. They want to be able to take payments on the go, so they use a payments app integrated with Phix. They can easily tap a card and complete the payment on their mobile phone. The payment is processed and in the merchant’s account within a day or two, depending on their payment schedule. It’s incredibly convenient, and it’s helping businesses manage their cash flow by reducing the time spent chasing clients for payment after a job is done. Host: Right, because they want that payment now, and the buyer also wants a seamless, easy way to pay for the goods and services they’re receiving. Nobody likes to owe money! Can you explain how embedded payments are becoming more popular and how they’re transforming the customer experience? James Fischer: Sure! Going back to that use case of having a fully embedded solution within your application, the key is that you don’t want customers to leave your app or website and jump to a different platform just to make a payment. Doing so raises questions like, “Is this the right person I’m paying?” or “Am I in the right place?” Embedding payment acceptance directly into your app or website is incredibly powerful, both for customers and merchants. Phix supports tens of thousands of merchants globally, and we want to continue growing that number. To put it in perspective, think of services like Netflix or Amazon Prime. They revolutionized immediate access to goods and services. You go online, need something urgently, and with a few clicks, it’s on its way to your door in two hours. Want to watch a movie? Click, pay, and you’re streaming it instantly—no need to go to a video store or deal with VHS anymore. That immediate satisfaction is exactly what we’re enabling for businesses through embedded payment solutions. Host: That’s a great point! It can feel strange when you're redirected to an unfamiliar payment site. Even with trusted platforms like PayPal, it can be unsettling. James Fischer: Exactly! When you’re redirected to a payment site you don’t recognize, you start questioning where your money is really going. Embedded payments help build trust by keeping the payment experience consistent and secure within the app or website the customer is already using. Host: What other key factors should businesses consider when initiating or streamlining their payment processes? James Fischer: Great question! First and foremost, you want to work with a partner who truly supports you and wants to see your success. At Phix, one of our core values is a “customer-first” mentality. We prioritize the customer above everything else, then the organization, and finally, the individual. Choosing a partner who has your best interests at heart is crucial. On a more practical level, it’s important for any business or platform considering payments to understand the various players involved in the process. We have a blog on our website that explains the entire payment ecosystem. In the past, I’d just swipe my credit card and get the goods, without giving a second thought to what was happening behind the scenes. But there’s a whole network involved: from the issuing bank, card network, payment facilitators, processors, to the acquiring bank on the other side. Each of these players takes a cut of the processing fee. Understanding the full payment flow, along with the associated costs, is vital. Then, you can look for ways to optimize margins and improve efficiency. Host: Most consumers don’t realize all that’s happening behind the scenes, but the fact is, businesses could put a lot more money in their pockets by optimizing these processes. It’s all about efficiency and understanding where improvements can be made. James Fischer: Exactly. When done right, customers shouldn’t even be aware of how things work behind the scenes—but for businesses, optimizing these processes can save a lot of money. Host: What other support services do you offer to help partners streamline their payment processes? James Fischer: We have an incredibly talented team here at Phix. Our directors of engineering, for example, actively participate in sales calls and customer discussions. We want to make sure our customers understand what’s involved in transitioning to Phix, especially if they’re new to payment processing. We also offer dedicated implementation engineering resources, ensuring that each customer has a dedicated customer delivery manager to guide them through the entire process. Our team is passionate about helping our customers succeed. That’s one of the things I love about Phix—everyone is genuinely invested in helping others. Additionally, our platform is an all-in-one solution, providing reporting, data analytics, and insights all within the same dashboard. This ties into our “dashboard-first” mentality. Every interaction someone has on the dashboard is carefully considered, and it directly informs our API and feature development. We’re proactive about supporting our customers. For example, we provide insight into transaction failure reasons. If transactions fail due to insufficient funds or incorrect address information, we can help optimize the system to avoid repetitive failed attempts. We also offer actionable steps to improve failure rates, optimize margins, and create a better experience for both merchants and buyers. Host: That’s impressive—especially that you involve engineers in both the sales and implementation process. A lot of companies focus solely on sales, so you end up speaking with salespeople who might not fully understand the technical needs of the business. But by including engineers in the process, you ensure the customer’s needs are truly understood and met. It speaks volumes about your commitment to customer experience. Host: Kudos to your team for doing that! We just help facilitate it on our side, bringing people from various teams together. What’s really important is that engineers hear directly from our customers and prospects. We connect them with the developers on the customer side, fostering a developer-to-developer connection. This way, when we're building new products, designing features, or creating new specs, the team developing it has firsthand knowledge of the wants, pains, frustrations, and challenges that customers and prospects face. This eliminates the game of telephone, where a customer tells us, we tell the product manager, the product manager tells the engineer, and by the time it gets to the developer, the message is lost. By having direct communication, engineers understand the challenges, which helps them build the right solutions. We even bring our designers into the process, sharing mockups and wireframes with customers to get feedback on how new features feel and what we can tweak to meet their needs. Host: That’s great! So, what key data points should businesses prioritize when initiating and optimizing their payment processes to make informed decisions? You mentioned earlier that you provide feedback on why a transaction fails. Could you clarify anything else there? James Fischer: Sure! I would categorize this into two key areas. First is margin optimization. Unlike some competitors who use a black box for fees—where you pay a flat rate like 2.9% + 30 cents without knowing where that fee goes—we’re highly transparent with our customers. They know exactly what pricing was negotiated in their agreement, and we provide detailed reporting and analytics on the various fees that make up the total cost. This includes things like interchange fees, assessments, and other ancillary costs. On a transaction-by-transaction and merchant-by-merchant basis, you can dig into the profitability of each merchant. For example, if you see that one merchant isn’t as profitable as others, we can work together to investigate. Maybe they’re using high-fee credit cards, such as those offering rewards points. We can explore how these reward systems affect interchange fees and other costs. Another key area is understanding transaction failures. Analyzing why a transaction fails is crucial. Is it due to fraud, technical issues, or customer mistakes? We can dive into these reasons and work with merchants to reduce failures and improve profitability. The second area is chargebacks and compliance. Chargebacks are inevitable, and compliance is required. At Phix, we’ve simplified and demystified the chargeback process. Merchants can log into the Phix dashboard to view detailed reports on their chargebacks, allowing them to see which merchants are experiencing excessive chargebacks. We can then work with them to create a plan to reduce those chargebacks. Identifying the causes—whether fraud, quality issues, or technical reasons—helps us take actionable steps to address them. Compliance is another crucial area. In the past, managing compliance was a complex task that required working with multiple partners and platforms. Phix streamlines this by generating PCI compliance forms automatically. Merchants can easily sign off on them, knowing that they’re compliant and can sleep easier at night. Host: It sounds like you’re actively involved not just in the implementation of payment processing but also in the ongoing optimization, helping clients succeed, which naturally builds long-term relationships. With these insights, can you share some key strategies for optimizing transaction efficiency that you've seen work well with your customers and in the industry? James Fischer: Absolutely. The first strategy is focusing on transaction failure reasons. It’s not enough to just note that you had some failures and move on. You need to dig deeper: do you see any patterns or trends? Analyzing transaction failures gives you actionable insights. Fraud monitoring is another key area. Protecting both merchants and customers from bad actors is essential. We use a fraud monitoring service at Phix, which can be configured and customized for each customer. At the end of the day, our goal is to protect everyone involved. We also focus heavily on margin optimization and transaction efficiency. These are some of the more "non-technical" areas that make a big difference in improving overall transaction success. On the more technical side, we ensure that we have incredibly fast response times and strong uptime. Payments are a 24/7 business, and we don’t have the luxury of taking a break. We don’t schedule long maintenance windows—we're always on, and we’re ready to take transactions at any time, day or night. Host: That’s great to hear. Do you also track potential fraud patterns with end users, such as flagging particular users across multiple merchants? James Fischer: Yes, the fraud monitoring system we use at Phix can track patterns across multiple merchants. It looks at things like IP addresses, card BINs, and fingerprint data. If we notice suspicious behavior, such as repeated use of the same email or domain associated with high chargebacks or returns, we can flag it. We also track card testing, where someone repeatedly enters the same card number with slight variations (like changing the CVV or last four digits) in an attempt to guess valid combinations. Our system alerts us to these behaviors, so we can act quickly and prevent fraud. Host: That’s really cool! It sounds like the system benefits from network effects, growing more valuable over time. So, what are some of the common challenges businesses face when navigating payment processing? (20:17) How can businesses overcome obstacles in payment processing? I think if we look back at our journey—starting with a developer-first, API-first approach and evolving into a dashboard-first, low-code/no-code solution—one challenge businesses often face is seamless integration. They want a solution that, once implemented, doesn’t require constant maintenance on their end. That’s where we come in. We've built and maintain the solution, so our customers can focus on their core business, knowing we’ve got the technical side covered. The speed and ease of integration are key challenges. We've seen businesses juggling multiple gateways, each handling different parts of their payment process—one for acquiring, another for merchant payouts, and even a third for instant payouts. Managing multiple systems, banks, and tools can be a hassle. By consolidating everything under one roof, we simplify this process, offering a unified solution for payments, reporting, fraud management, chargeback management, and compliance. Another challenge is that businesses, especially online-only merchants, often face the complexity of expanding beyond just credit and debit card payments. With our platform, they don’t need to turn to other providers. Everything is handled within one system. In summary, businesses today need a unified, simplified payment processing solution. That’s exactly what we offer. (21:37) What other essential tools and technologies can SMBs use to streamline their payment processing? If you're an SMB with a great product idea, the first step is finding a partner that simplifies payment processing for you. At Finix, we’ve been focused on low-code/no-code solutions for the past year or so. Everything we offer is powered by our API, giving you full control over your integration, or you can use our out-of-the-box solutions for a quick setup. We handle merchant onboarding through either API integration or our branded hosted onboarding forms, which require no development work on your part. Card security? We offer hosted tokenization forms to protect sensitive card data, so you never have to handle raw card information. We also provide a full checkout solution, payment links, and even a virtual terminal within the Finix dashboard, all without requiring any integration. As your business grows, you can transition from using low-code/no-code solutions to building custom integrations with our API—all within the same platform. This flexibility allows you to scale at your own pace, without the hassle of switching providers. (25:10) With the payments market expected to grow to over $1.5 trillion by 2032, how does Finix position itself in the market? As the payments landscape grows, we stay ahead by listening to our customers and prospects to define our product roadmap. We want to support businesses that may not have a developer background while also offering more advanced solutions for tech-forward customers. Whether you need an API integration for one channel or a hosted solution for another, we provide the flexibility to adapt. We're constantly aware of industry trends and regulatory changes, and we're committed to helping businesses stay compliant with ever-evolving requirements. Blockchain, crypto, and compliance are all key topics we’re keeping an eye on as we continue to innovate and evolve our offerings. (27:05) Any last thoughts on why people should visit Finix.com? If you’ve been following the news, you may have seen that we recently raised $75 million in Series C funding. This is a huge milestone for us and reflects the incredible support we’ve received from our customers and partners. We’re focused on continuing to innovate and develop new functionality, and we’re excited to be one of the most recent payments companies to raise a significant round. It’s a signal to the industry that we’re here to stay and are committed to evolving with the market. At Finix, you’ll get to work with a great team, and we invite you to become one of our customer-first advocates. Visit Finix.com to learn more about how we can help streamline your payments, no matter your business size or complexity. (28:23) Why should businesses consider Finix for payment processing? Finix is designed for businesses of all sizes. Whether you're a small restaurant, a plumber, or a large enterprise, we offer payment solutions tailored to your needs. With our no-code, embedded options, you can start processing payments right away—no technical expertise required. We’re proud to partner with Nacho Nacho, and you can find our platform there as well, offering a special deal for new customers. Visit Finix.com today to discover how we can simplify your payment processing and help your business grow. Thank you, Andy, for having me. It's been a pleasure. Enjoy the rest of Money 2020!